Describe how Freud's patient load may have influenced his theories about all people's minds and behavior. How does this weaken his assertions about humankind?

This essay hasn't yet been marked by one of our teachers

You can view 2 essays on Psychology that have been Marked by Teachers

The first 200 words of this essay...

Describe how Freud's patient load may have influenced his theories about all people's minds and behavior. How does this weaken his assertions about humankind?

Freud's patient load was mostly of the upper class, and much hasn't changed even today. Only movie and rock stars really have the capital to splurge out on practices like psychoanalysis and such so we see a very limited variety of people being treated. The same can be said of Freud's patients of his time. His patients mostly came from the upper class, and most of the patients were women. The Victorian society was a very patriarchal one, and women were seen as second class citizens. Everyone from all different walks of life were in consensus on one thing; and that was that women were inferior to men. This in itself would be enough to influence Freud's theory, as he probably, as most people of the time, truly believed that women were the inferior race. Also, the fact that his patients only hailed from a very small percentage of the population, and that among the small percentage he treated almost all of his patients were women would indicate that his theories on mankind as a whole