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Unit 8: Foundations of Organisational Behaviour

understanding, predicting and controlling organisational behaviour. According to Nadler, Notes
Hackman and Lawler, "A conceptual framework is perhaps best defined as a device that provides
categories or labels which help us to collect and organise data; a model goes one step further by
providing a representation of the real world and how it functions." The theories or frameworks
that we discuss in this unit provide background information important in developing a specific
conceptual model for organisational behaviour.
The conceptual models are given below:

1. Freudian Psychoanalytic Model
2. Social Cognitive Framework
3. Humanistic Psychology Framework

8.6.1 Freudian Psychoanalytic Model

The most influential theorist in the field of personality has been Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939),
who conceived the first comprehensive theory of personality. Freud became convinced that
"hysterical disorders" were rooted in forbidden childhood wishes and fears. He found that these
feelings were invariably related to aggression or to sexuality, and the childhood experiences
connected with them had been forgotten until hypnosis or free association brought back the
memories. Psychoanalysis is based on the assumption that each of us has an unconscious mind.
The unconscious has thoughts, memories and emotions, although it often affects our behaviour
in an illogical fashion. These ideas can be summarized into what can be called the psychoanalytic
framework. Although Freud is most closely associated with the framework, others such as Carl
Jung, Alfred Adler, Karen Horney, and Eric Fromm, who all broke away from Freud, made
additional contributions and extended the approach.

Box 8.1: An Example of Freud's Psychoanalysis

Elisabeth has been a secluded invalid for two years, unable to walk or stand for long because of
intense pain in her thighs. Since no organic cause is apparent, she is referred to Freud.

In therapy she tells of having nursed her beloved late father. When she recalls having rested his
swollen legs on her thighs each morning to bandage them, the pains recede.

She recalls that nursing him kept her from having a social life; his death left her bereft. She envied
her newly married sister's happiness.

Elisabeth says her leg pains started the day she had a long walk and intimate conversation with
her sister's husband. She confesses having wished she had a husband like him. The sister was ill
at the time with pregnancy complications, from which she soon died.

When Freud says, "So for a long time you have been in love with your brother-in-law," Elisabeth
voilently denies it. Her leg pains flare up again.
Freud probes deeper. Sobbuing; she recalls arriving at her sister's deathbed and thinking, "Now he
is free to marry me." After this cathartic realization, she is healthy again.

Freud's conclusion: Revolted by her shameful thought, Elisabeth repressed it. By inducing physical
pains in herself, she spared herself the painful recognition that she loved her sister's husband.

Source: An example of Freud's psychoanalysis, (Based on Breuer and Freud, 1895/1957.)

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