Kanye West

Kanye West

A Neo-Analytical Analysis

Neo-Analytic Theorist: Erik Erikson

Neo-Analytic Theorist: Alfred Adler

Neo-Analytic Personality Theory

Neo-Analytic Theorist: Alfred Adler

• Unlike Freud, Erikson did not believe that identity was fixed in childhood but that identity formation is a lifelong process. Erikson believed that identity developed through a series of eight stages as life goes on. “The outcome of each stage is dependent to some degree on the outcome of the previous stage, and successful negotiation of the ego crises is essential for optimal growth.”

• Intimacy versus Isolation

• Adults need to form intimate, loving relationships with other people.

• Success leads to strong relationships and results in the virtue of love, while failure results in loneliness and isolation.

• Although Kanye west has been in 2 committed relationships in the past, one with Alexis Phifer that resulted in a 2 year engagement and the other with Amber Rose who he dated for a year and a half, he is now engaged to Kim Kardashian which some people believe is a very superficial relationship and not based on real love.

• This approach to personality psychology that is concerned with the individual’s sense of self (ego) as the core of personality
• Generally under this approach a person does not have free will to make choices and their destiny is set (but this is open to interpretation)

Adler, an ego psychologist, de-emphasized sexual motivation and emphasized:

1. Behavior motivated by striving for superiority: He believed that all of us begin life with a sense of inferiority. He believed that a striving for superiority was THE motivating force in life.

2. However he didn’t believe that achievement = mental health. He argued that well-adjusted people express their striving for superiority through concern for the social interest.

• Superiority Complex

o Kanye West exhibits arrogance by well-known tendencies to discuss his greatness in order to overcome his insecurities.

• Aggression Drive

o Kanye is driven to lash out against the paparazzi as a reaction to perceived loss of control.

• Individual Psychology

o Kanye allows external motivation to affect his perceived niche in society.

Neo-Analytic Theorist: Karen Horney

Freud and the "Ego"

Karen Horney believed strongly in the importance in self-realization and growth for each individual. She also identified the Ideal-Self which is basically a composite of the "shoulds". Kanye West appears to have developed Horney's second approach to Neurotic Coping which is "Moving Against" people, he strives for recognition and power. This is very obvious with his choice of a mate. Kayne's girlfriend Kim Kardashian is also a narcissist, whose family has a lot of power in the entertainment industry. Most of his recent interviews has shown that he is in fact trying to reaffirm an illusion of what his Ideal-Self should be.

A Kanye West Personality Analysis

Brought to you by:

Brittany Smith

Myrtha Despinasse

Hilary Larson

Shenika Blanks

Tajh T. Stegall

Key Features of Kanye's Personality

• Kanye is a very talented, creative individual who also is a narcissist. Narcissism has been described by psychoanalytic thinkers (Freud 1914; Kernberg 1970, 1975; Kohut 1966; Kohut and Wolf 1978; Miller 1979; White 1980) as a kind of syndrome that develops in relation with poor ego development, and lack of integration of the self.
• According to Freud, the ego (ideal) is the ideal of perfection that the ego strives to emulate. For Freud, the ego-ideal is closely bound up with our super-ego. The super-ego is "the vehicle of the ego ideal by which the ego measures itself, which it emulates, and whose demand for ever greater perfection it strives to fulfil.” It is also tied up with childhood narcissism (the belief in one's own perfection), which in adulthood can take as its substitute the perfection of the ego-ideal. Kanye is the typical case of an adult narcissist.

Limitations of the Approach

Doesn't bring into consideration the Ego, Id, Superego.

• Kanye seems to have an overactive "Id" with an under active "Superego"
• As with his many award show and other media appearances his pleasure seeking "Id' takes over a lot while his "Superego" tends to fail and lead him to act out.

• Egotistical
• Narcissistic
• Exaggerated Since of Self
• Lack of Empathy
• Need for Control
• ISFP-- "The Artist"
• Impulsive

Neo-Analytic Theorist: Carl Jung

Neo-Analytic Personality Theory

References

Limitations of the Approach

• Kanye’s possible archetypes : Shadow, hero, demon and magician

• Functions and Attitudes

o Two major attitudes: Introversion and Extroversion

o Jung thought of these as two separate and opposing constructs but now seen as two opposite poles on the same dimension

• Extroversion

o Directing the libido or psychic energy toward things in external world

• Introversion

o Directing the libido or psychic energy toward things in the internal world

• Kayne’s Myers Brigg: ISFP

o Introversion, Sensing, Feeling, Perceiving

o “The Artist”

o Keenly in tune with their senses, have strong appreciation for art, likely to be artists, must feel as though they are living their lives right and will rebel against anything that conflicts with that, have a strong affinity for aesthetics and beauty, they are original and independent, need their personal space, may come off as carefree but take life very seriously, action oriented, they are “doers” and get bored with traditional teaching methods and prefer to be “hands-on”

• Agreed with the basis of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, but changed and adapted the theory to incorporate own beliefs, ideas and theories.

• Believed that it was incorrect that personality was shaped almost entirely by childhood events but also:

o Sexual urges as a primary motivator

o Negative view on human nature

o Lack of social and cultural influences on behavior and personality

• Christian, M. A. (2007). Dr. Donda West Tells How She Shaped Son To Be A Leader In 'Raising Kanye' (cover story). Jet, 111(19), 61.
• Kernberg, O. (1970). Factors in the psychoanalytic treatment of narcissistic personalities. Journal of American Psychoanalytic Assessment, 18, 51–85.
• Kernberg, O. (1975). Borderline conditions and pathological narcissism. New York: Jason Aronson.
• Kohut, H. (1966). Forms and transformations of narcissism. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 14, 243–272 Freud, S. (1914). On narcissism: An introduction. Standard Edition, 12, 213–226.
• Maniacci, M.P. (2007). His majesty the baby: Narcissism through the lens of individual psychology. The Journal of Individual Psychology, 63(2), 136-145.
• Severson, R. (1990). Adler, agon, and aggression. Individual Psychology: Journal Of Alderian Theory, Research & Practice, 46(3), 324-357.
• "Kanye West – ISFP – Myers Briggs Type." The Intuitive Musician. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.
• "Portrait of an ISFP - Introverted Sensing Feeling Perceiving(Introverted Feeling with Extraverted Sensing)." Portrait of an ISFP. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2013.

• Sometimes relies on abstract or vague concepts
• Maybe Kanye is fixated in the phallic stage of the Psychosexual development.
• He never was able to go through the Oedipus complex being that his father and mother go divorced at an early age. So he was unable to identify with his father.