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This paper will compare and contrast Psychoanalytical and humanistic theories. The two theorists concentrated on will be Freud (psychoanalytical theorist) and Maslow (Humanistic theorist). The first section going into psychoanalytical theory which explains human behaviors in terms of various components of personality placing central importance on unconscious psychological conflicts. The second section will go into humanistic theory, which emphasizes that people have free will and play an active role in determining how they behave. Then concluding the essay will contrast the differences between the two.

Freud popularized the theory of the conscious and unconscious mind. According to Freud the unconscious is what we are thinking about at a particular time and the preconscious is anything that can easily be conscious. Freud states that this only makes up a small part that the unconscious mind takes up the majority of who we are. The unconscious according to Freud is made up of our instincts or things we cant bear to look at for example memories related to some form of trauma. Freud also brought the theory of the id, the ego and the superego. The id related to the instant gratification which means the demand to take care of ones needs immediately, for example a baby screaming because its hungry. The baby knows what it wants and it wants it now. The Ego according to Freud works on the reality principle which says take care of a need as soon as an appropriate object is found. As the person learns through this period of time and works out needs and how to attain them it turns to the superego. Freud states that there are two parts to the superego. One being the "conscience" which is the internalization of punishments and warnings. The other is the "ego ideal" which comes from positive models and rewards presented. When the demands in the ego and superego become too much Freud states that the ego must defend itself. It does this by blocking the impulses and...