Karen Horney Definition Psychology
For example horney rejected freud s views on female psychology.
Karen horney definition psychology. She disagreed with freud about inherent differences in the psychology of men and women and she traced such differences to society and cultur. Theory of personality karen horney was born september 16 1885 to clotilde and berndt wackels danielson. Her work has influenced how psychology views gender differences. Her theories questioned some traditional freudian views.
Her critique of some of sigmund freud s views led to the founding of feminist psychology. Horney s theory proposes that strategies used to cope with anxiety can be overused causing them to take on the appearance of needs. Karen horney was a german psychoanalyst who practiced in the united states during her later career. Horney was considered a neo freudian someone who believed in the basic foundation of freud s principles but she disagreed on some parts as well.
Her father was a ship s captain a religious man and an authoritarian. In addition to this she made important contributions to the areas of self psychology and her emphasis on the role that self analysis and self help play in mental health. Karen horney made significant contributions in the areas of humanism self psychology psychoanalysis and feminine psychology. Psychoanalytic theorist karen horney developed one of the best known theories of neurosis.
Though many aspects of freudian theory accounted for horney s issues she felt psychoanalysis was limited by its male bias. Horney disagreed with sigmund freud s view of women and countered his idea of penis envy which refers to a girl s reaction upon realizing that she is different from boys with her own idea of womb envy. Horney underwent psychoanalysis as a young woman and felt it helped her understand her own inner thoughts and behaviors. Karen horney pronouned hor neye was a neo freudian psychologist known for her theory of neurotic needs her research on feminine psychology and her critiques of freud s emphasis on the concept of penis envy.
This was particularly true of her theories of sexuality and of the instinct orientation of psychoanalysis. She is credited with founding feminist psychology in response to freud s theory of penis envy. His children called him the bible thrower because according to horney he did.