Karen Horney Case Study

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Abstract
Karen Horney was known for her study of the neurotic personality. The purpose of this paper will be to focus on what environmental factors can contribute to the development of personality. I plan on further explaining what Horney identified as the three ways of dealing with the world that are formed by an upbringing in a neurotic family; moving toward people, moving against people and moving away from people. Horney was convinced, as will be later discussed, by her own experiences and those of her subjects, that children grow up having their basic needs met, will develop healthy self-concepts and ways to interact with others.

Karen Horney was trained in Berlin and during her studies; she met Oskar Horney whom
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She then settled in New York and joined the New York Psychoanalytical Institute. During this time Horney’s theories stirred up controversy and she was considered outspoken. Horney was an earlier follower of Freud however; she became cynical of Freudian orthodoxy (Ingram, 2012). Horney proposed that the person was not ruled by the pleasure principle but by the need for safety and rejected the idea that the instincts were the source for all motivation. She also viewed that sexual difficulties were the result rather than the cause of personality disorders (Smith, …show more content…
Horney believed that all human beings had an inner “force” that have unique characteristics in each individual (Smith, 2006). Each individual needs love and friction to develop healthily. When an environment does not meet the needs of the individual, the individual develops basic anxiety. Basic anxiety results when pathogenic conditions in childhood cause children to feel unsafe or unloved resulting then with a sense of helplessness. Horney believed, contrary to Freud, that people are not inherently good or bad, they can become destructive as a result of a negative environment. Horney looked at basic needs such as love and affection in which all humans need. A childhood lacking warmth and security and a feeling of isolation and helplessness can lead to neurosis. What about these needs make a human neurotic? A neurotic’s need for approval or affection can be an unrealistic and excessive amount. The needs are to be met by everyone and at all times. Since the neurotic’s needs are so exaggerated, these needs cannot be met therefore resulting in anxiety. Anxiety can also set in if the neurotic believes their needs will not be met in the future. Human recognition is not only a desire but also an essential psychological need (Rendon, 2008). Horney presented ten neurotic needs. The first need is for affection and approval, the wanting to please others and to be likeable. Second, would be

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