Karen Horney

KAREN HORNEY

          Karen Horney opposed the biological determinism of Freud.  She also questioned the libido theory, offering in its place the state of anxiety during early childhood. She stressed the two basic needs in childhood: security and satisfaction and not libido. She felt that the condition of helplessness, hostility or indifference could be prevented if parents provide genuine affect toward the child. In order to combat basic anxiety, individuals adopt one of the adjustment techniques. For neurotics, the real self is displaced by the ideal self and their lives are governed by a list of unrealistic should instead of goals based upon their own experiences. Before I discuss further on the contributions of Horney to psychology, let me give a brief biography.

                Karen Danielsen Horney was born in Germany on September 6, 1885 to Clotilde abd Berndt Wackels Danielsen. When she was nine years old, Karen became ambitious and even rebellious. She also developed something of a crush on  her own brother, but was embarrassed when he harshly pushed her away. This led to her first depression that plagued her throughout her life. She died in 1952 at the age of 67.

                Her interest in feminine psychology was stimulated by two factors: Psychoanalysis was created by a man who spoke almost entirely of men and boys. Second, certain clinical observations appeared contradictory to Freud’s theory of libido. She contradicted the hypothesis of penis envy as the primary determining factory in the psychology of women. She said that both men and women might develop fantasies about castration in their effort to cope with the Oedipal situation. She further observed that men and boys express jealousy over women’s ability to bear and nurse children or called as womb envy. She suggested womb envy and penis envy may be complementary.

                Since basic anxiety causes feelings of helplessness and fear, people must find ways to keep it to a minimum. Horney called the different forms of basic anxiety Neurotic Trends or Needs and listed ten strategies form minimizing these. The ten neurotic needs are as follows:

1.    1..   Need for affection and  approval – this means that individual lives to be loved and admired by others.

2.   2.  Need for a partner who will run one’s life – this means that the individual needs to be affiliated with someone who will protect him or her from danger and fulfill all his or her needs.

3.      3.  Need to live one’s life within narrow limits – the individual is very conservative and avoids defeat by attempting very little.

4.      4.  Need for power – the individual tends to glorify strength and despise weakness.

5.    5.    Need to exploit others – the individual being taken advantage of by others and yet thinks constantly about how to take advantage of other people.

6.     6.   Need  for social recognition – the individual lives to be recognized; his or her highest goal is to gain prestige.

7.       7. Need for personal admiration – the individual likes to be flattered and complimented and wants to be seen as the idealized image they have of themselves.

8.       8. Need for ambition and personal achievement – the individual has an intense desire to become famous, rich or important, regardless of the means.

9.       9. Need for self sufficiency and independence – the individual goes to great extremes to avoid being obligated to anyone and does not want to be tied down to anything or anyone.

10.    Need for perfection and unavailability – the individual attempts to be flawless because of hypersensitivity to criticism.

Karen Horney made significant contributions to humanism, self-psychology, psychoanalysis and feminine psychology. Her refutation of Freud’s theories about women generated more their  own therapists, emphasizing the personal role each person has in their own mental health and encouraging self – analysis and self – help.