Part II    Psychodynamic Theories38
fei75766_ch02_019-071.indd 38  02/19/20 08:59 AMhumiliation, humor, andtheenjoyment obtained from other people’s suffering. The
aggressive tendency ispresent ineveryone andistheexplanation forwars, atroci -
ties,andreligious persecution.
Theaggressive drive alsoexplains theneed forthebarriers thatpeople have
erected tocheck aggression. Forexample, commandments suchas“Love thyneigh -
borasthyself” arenecessary, Freud believed, toinhibit thestrong, though usually 
unconscious, drive toinflict injury onothers. These precepts areactually reaction 
formations. They involve therepression ofstrong hostile impulses andtheovert and
obvious expression oftheopposite tendency.
Throughout ourlifetime, lifeanddeath impulses constantly struggle against 
eachother forascendancy, butatthesame time, bothmust bowtothereality princi -
ple,which represents theclaims oftheouter world. These demands oftherealworld 
prevent adirect, covert, andunopposed fulfillment ofeither sexoraggression. They 
frequently create anxiety, which relegates many sexual andaggressive desires tothe
realm oftheunconscious.
Anxiety
Sexandaggression share thecenter ofFreudian dynamic theory withtheconcept of
anxiety. Indefining anxiety, Freud (1933/1964) emphasized thatitisafelt,affective, 
unpleasant stateaccompanied byaphysical sensation thatwarns theperson against 
impending danger. Theunpleasantness isoften vague andhardtopinpoint, butthe
anxiety itself isalways felt.
Only theegocanproduce orfeelanxiety, buttheid,superego, andexternal 
world eachareinvolved inoneofthree kinds ofanxiety—neurotic, moral, andreal-
istic.Theego’s dependence ontheidresults inneurotic anxiety; itsdependence on
thesuperego produces moral anxiety; anditsdependence ontheouter world leads to
realistic anxiety.
Neurotic anxiety isdefined asapprehension about anunknown danger. The
feeling itself exists intheego,butitoriginates from idimpulses. People mayexperi -
enceneurotic anxiety inthepresence ofateacher, anemployer, orsome other author -
ityfigure because theypreviously experienced unconscious feelings ofdestruction 
against oneorbothparents. During childhood, these feelings ofhostility areoften 
accompanied byfearofpunishment, andthisfearbecomes generalized intouncon -
scious neurotic anxiety.
Thesecond typeofanxiety, moral anxiety, stems from theconflict between 
theegoandthesuperego. After children establish asuperego—usually bytheageof
5or6—they mayexperience anxiety asanoutgrowth oftheconflict between realistic 
needs andthedictates oftheirsuperego. Moral anxiety, forexample, would result 
from sexual temptations ifachild believes thatyielding tothetemptation would be
morally wrong. Itmayalsoresult from thefailure tobehave consistently withwhat 
theyregard asmorally right, forexample, failing tocareforaging parents.
Thethird typeofanxiety, realistic anxiety, isclosely related tofear.Itisdefined 
asanunpleasant, nonspecific feeling involving apossible danger. Forexample, we
mayexperience realistic anxiety while driving inheavy, fast-moving traffic inanunfa-
miliar city,asituation fraught withreal,objective danger. However, realistic anxiety 
isdifferent from fearinthatitdoesnotinvolve aspecific fearful object. Wewould Final PDF to printer