Horney’s Theory, The Disagreeable Parts, and Alternative Recommendation

Criticism of Karen Horney
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Criticism of Karen Horney
Karen Horney is a pioneer in female psychiatry and feminist psychology. Rather than biological variations, she was steadfast in her conviction that differences between men and women arise from disparities in culture and socialization and not by contrasts in elemental composition. The paper will criticize Horney’s theory, highlight the disagreeable parts, and offer an alternative.
Criticism
Karen Horney’s study produced significant advances in psychology, and she was honored for her work. Karen remains well known for her concept of cultural influences on an individual’s personality. This idea outlines the effects of a person’s culture in society, particularly their formative experience, on the individual’s personality (Horney, n.d). Even though people may acquire neuroses at any point in their life, the majority of instances of neurosis begin as a consequence of events that occurred during infancy. The ability to develop emotions of safety and contentment and feelings of love and belonging depends on parents’ capacity to exhibit genuine care while maintaining proper discipline. If some prerequisites remain unsatisfied, the child develops a deep dislike for their parents. The child will acquire fundamental anxiety if these requirements are not addressed. In this case, they will feel helpless and alone in a harsh world (Horney, n.d). In Karen’s opinion, Basic Anxiety and Basic Hostility are intertwined in an eternal cycle since each of the two symptoms might cause the other two to manifest themselves. As a result, it results in the development of neurosis. However, this outcome is not always the case. Conferring to Karen Horney’s study, there are three forms of normal defenses against anxiety: spontaneous movement away from, against...