key term - Basic Anxiety

Definition

Basic anxiety is a fundamental sense of insecurity and apprehension that arises from an individual's perceived inability to control or manage threats in their environment. This concept was developed by the Neo-Freudian psychologist Karen Horney and is closely tied to her theories on the development of neurotic personality traits.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Basic anxiety is rooted in a person's early childhood experiences, particularly in their relationship with their parents or primary caregivers.
2. Horney believed that basic anxiety arises when a child does not feel safe, loved, and accepted, leading to a fundamental sense of insecurity and vulnerability.
3. Individuals with high levels of basic anxiety often develop neurotic personality traits, such as an exaggerated need for love and approval or a compulsive drive for power and control.
4. The idealized self-image is a defense mechanism that allows individuals to cope with basic anxiety by creating an unrealistic, grandiose vision of themselves.
5. Horney's theory of the three coping strategies (moving toward, moving against, moving away) suggests that people respond to basic anxiety in different ways, depending on their personality and life experiences.

Review Questions

• Explain how basic anxiety develops according to Karen Horney's theory.
  • According to Horney, basic anxiety develops during an individual's early childhood experiences, particularly in their relationship with their parents or primary caregivers. When a child does not feel safe, loved, and accepted, they develop a fundamental sense of insecurity and vulnerability, which Horney termed 'basic anxiety'. This early experience of not feeling secure and valued shapes the individual's personality and leads to the development of neurotic needs and coping strategies later in life.
• Describe the role of the idealized self-image in Horney's theory of basic anxiety.
  • Horney believed that individuals with high levels of basic anxiety often develop an idealized self-image, which is an unrealistic, grandiose vision of themselves. This defense mechanism allows the person to cope with their feelings of inadequacy and insecurity by creating a more positive, powerful self-image. The idealized self-image serves to compensate for the individual's underlying basic anxiety and provides a sense of control and self-worth that is lacking in their real-life experiences.
• Analyze how the three coping strategies (moving toward, moving against, moving away) proposed by Horney relate to an individual's experience of basic anxiety.
  • Horney's theory of the three coping strategies suggests that people respond to basic anxiety in different ways, depending on their personality and life experiences. Those who 'move toward' others may seek excessive affiliation and approval as a way to alleviate their feelings of insecurity. Individuals who 'move against' others may adopt a more assertive, dominant, or even aggressive stance in an attempt to gain a sense of control and power over their environment. Finally, those who 'move away' from others may withdraw and isolate themselves as a means of avoiding the perceived threats that contribute to their basic anxiety. Understanding these coping strategies can provide insight into how individuals with high levels of basic anxiety attempt to manage their feelings of vulnerability and lack of control.

Related terms

Neurotic Needs:

Neurotic needs are compulsive, exaggerated desires that develop as a defense mechanism against basic anxiety, such as the need for affection, the need for power, or the need for social recognition.

Idealized Self-Image:

The idealized self-image is an unrealistic, grandiose vision of oneself that a person develops to compensate for feelings of basic anxiety and inadequacy.

Moving Toward, Moving Against, Moving Away: These are the three main coping strategies that individuals may adopt in response to basic anxiety, involving either seeking affiliation, asserting dominance, or withdrawing and isolating themselves.