Chapter 7 Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis

Chapter 7
Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis

Learning Objectives

After reading Chapter 7, you should be able to:

1. List Fromm's basic assumptions about personality.

2. Describe the existential (human) needs identified by Fromm.

3. Discuss Fromm's notion of the burden of freedom and how people

attempt to struggle with that burden.

4. Explain what Fromm means by positive freedom.

5. Describe Fromm's nonproductive character orientations.

6. Discuss Fromm's views on the productive orientation.

7. List and describe Fromm's three severe personality disorders.

8. Describe Fromm's research methods.

9. Discuss Fromm's psychohistorical study of Hitler.

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Summary Outline

I. Overview of Fromm's Humanistic Psychoanalysis

Erich Fromm's humanistic psychoanalysis looks at people from
the perspective of psychology, history, and anthropology.
Influenced by Freud and Horney, Fromm developed a more
culturally oriented theory than Freud and a much broader theory
than Horney.
II. Biography of Erich Fromm
Erich Fromm was born in Germany in 1900, the only child of
orthodox Jewish parents. A thoughtful young man, Fromm was
influenced by the bible, Freud, and Marx, as well as by socialist
ideology. After receiving his PhD, Fromm began studying
psychoanalysis and became an analyst by virtue of being analyzed
by Hanns Sachs, a student of Freud. In 1934, Fromm moved to the
United States and began a psychoanalytic practice in New York,
where he also resumed his friendship with Karen Horney. Much of
his later years were spent in Mexico and Switzerland. He died in
1980.
III. Fromm's Basic Assumptions
Fromm believed that humans have been torn away from their
prehistoric union with nature and left with no powerful instincts to
adapt to a changing world. But because humans have acquired the
ability to reason, they can think about their isolated condition—a
situation Fromm called the human dilemma.
IV. Human Needs
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Our human dilemma cannot be solved by satisfying our animal

needs. It can only be addressed by fulfilling our uniquely human
needs, an accomplishment that moves us toward a reunion with the
natural world. Fromm identified five of these distinctively human
or existential needs.
A. Relatedness
First is relatedness, which can take the form of (1) submission, (2)
power, or (3) love. Love, or the ability to unite with another while
retaining one's own individuality and integrity, is the only
relatedness need that can solve our basic human dilemma.
B. Transcendence
Being thrown into the world without their consent, humans have to
transcend their nature by destroying or creating people or things.
Humans can destroy through malignant aggression, or killing for
reasons other than survival, but they can also create and care about
their creations.
C. Rootedness
Rootedness is the need to establish roots and to feel at home again
in the world. Productively, rootedness enables us to grow beyond
the security of our mother and establish ties with the outside world.
With the nonproductive strategy, we become fixated and afraid to
move beyond the security and safety of our mother or a mother
substitute.
D. Sense of Identity
The fourth human need is for a sense of identity, or an awareness
of ourselves as a separate person. The drive for a sense of identity
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 Chapter 7 Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis

is expressed nonproductively as conformity to a group and

productively as individuality.
E. Frame of Orientation
By frame of orientation, Fromm meant a road map or consistent
philosophy by which we find our way through the world. This
need is expressed nonproductively as a striving for irrational goals
and productively as movement toward rational goals.
V. The Burden of Freedom
As the only animal possessing self-awareness, humans are the
freaks of the universe. Historically, as people gained more
political freedom, they began to experience more isolation from
others and from the world and to feel free from the security of a
permanent place in the world. As a result, freedom becomes a
burden, and people experience basic anxiety, or a feeling of being
alone in the world.
A. Mechanisms of Escape
To reduce the frightening sense of isolation and aloneness, people
may adopt one of three mechanisms of escape: (1)
authoritarianism, or the tendency to give up one's independence
and to unite with a powerful partner; (2) destructiveness, an
escape mechanism aimed at doing away with other people or
things; and (3) conformity, or surrendering of one's individuality
in order to meet the wishes of others.
B. Positive Freedom
The human dilemma can only be solved through positive freedom,
which is the spontaneous activity of the whole, integrated
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 Chapter 7 Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis

personality, and which is achieved when a person becomes

reunited with others.
Vi. Character Orientations
People relate to the world by acquiring and using things
(assimilation) and by relating to self and others (socialization), and
they can do so either nonproductively or productively.
A. Nonproductive Orientations
Fromm identified four nonproductive strategies that fail to move
people closer to positive freedom and self-realization. People with
a receptive orientation believe that the source of all good lies
outside themselves and that the only way they can relate to the
world is to receive things, including love, knowledge, and material
objects. People with an exploitative orientation also believe that
the source of good lies outside themselves, but they aggressively
take what they want rather than passively receiving it. Hoarding
characters try to save what they have already obtained, including
their opinions, feelings, and material possessions. People with a
marketing orientation see themselves as commodities and value
themselves against the criterion of their ability to sell themselves.
They have fewer positive qualities than the other orientations
because they are essentially empty.
B. The Productive Orientation
Psychologically healthy people work toward positive freedom
through productive work, love. and reasoning. Productive love
necessitates a passionate love of all life and is called biophilia.
VII. Personality Disorders
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 Chapter 7 Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis

Unhealthy people have nonproductive ways of working, reasoning,

and especially loving. Fromm recognized three major personality
disorders: (1) necrophilia, or the love of death and the hatred of all
humanity; (2) malignant narcissism, or a belief that everything
belonging to one's self is of great value and anything belonging to
others is worthless; and incestuous symbiosis, or an extreme
dependence on one's mother or mother surrogate.
VIII. Psychotherapy
The goal of Fromm's psychotherapy was to work toward
satisfaction of the basic human needs of relatedness,
transcendence, rootedness, a sense of identity, and a frame of
orientation. The therapist tries to accomplish this through shared
communication in which the therapist is simply a human being
rather than a scientist.
IX. Fromm's Methods of Investigation
Fromm's personality theory rests on data he gathered from a variety
of sources, including psychotherapy, cultural anthropology, and
psychohistory.
A. Social Character in a Mexican Village
Fromm and his associates spent several years investigating social
character in an isolated farming village in Mexico and found
evidence of all the character orientations except the marketing one.
B. A Psychohistorical Study of Hitler
Fromm applied the techniques of psychohistory to study several
historical people, including Adolf Hitler—the person Fromm
regarded as the world's most conspicuous example of someone
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with the syndrome of decay, that is, necrophilia, malignant

narcissism, and incestuous symbiosis.
X. Related Research
Although Fromm's writings are brilliant and insightful, his theory
ranks near the bottom of personality theories with regard to
stimulating research. Reasons for this may be Fromm’s broad
approach, and that his ideas are more sociological than
psychological in many ways. However, topics of interest to
Fromm, such as alienation from culture and nature in general, can
be studied psychologically at the individual level and can have
implications for well-being. For example, Mark Bernard and his
colleagues found, as they predicted, that perceived discrepancies
between one’s values and those of society lead to feelings of
estrangement, and that these feelings of estrangement lead to
anxiety and depression (Bernard, Gebauer, & Maio, 2006). These
findings support Fromm’s ideas. Another area of research
influenced by Fromm’s ideas is that of political beliefs. Jack and
Jeanne Block (2006) made a longitudinal study, first assessing the
personality types of preschoolers, then following up almost 20
years later on the political beliefs of the participants, who were
now young adults. They found that children described as easily
offended, indecisive, fearful, and rigid were more likely to be
politically conservative in their 20s, and those described as self-
reliant, energetic, somewhat dominating, and relatively under-
controlled were more likely to be politically liberal in their 20s.
This research not only shows how people deal differently with their
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“burden of freedom,” but also how powerfully predictive

personality types are, even when measured at very early ages.
XI. Critique of Psychoanalytic Social Theory
The strength of Fromm's theory is his lucid writings on a broad
range of human issues. As a scientific theory, however, Fromm's
theory rates very low on its ability to generate research and to lend
itself to falsification; it rates low on usefulness to the practitioner,
internal consistency, and parsimony. Because it is quite broad in
scope, Fromm's theory rates high on organizing existing
knowledge.
XII. Concept of Humanity
Fromm believed that humans are the "freaks of nature," because
they lack strong animal instincts while possessing the ability to
reason. In brief, his view is rated average on free choice,
optimism, unconscious influences, and uniqueness; low on
causality; and high on social influences.

Test Items

Fill-in-the-Blanks

1. Fromm said that human, or _______________________, needs

grow out of attempts to find meaning in life.

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2. Compared with Freud, Fromm put more emphasis on

_________________ influences.

3. The ______________ ___________ refers to Fromm's notion that

humans have acquired the ability to reason yet lack strong animal
instincts.

4. To Fromm, ___________________ needs represent our attempts

to avoid insanity.

5. A sense of _________________ refers to our capacity to be aware

of ourselves as a separate entity.

6. The need to feel at home again in the world is called

________________________.

7. Fromm said that people have felt more _______________ as they

have gained more economic and political freedom.

8. The human need of _____________is the drive for union with

another person.

9. Necrophilia is the opposite of _________________________.

10. To Fromm, ____________is the most common mechanism of

escape in American society.
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 Chapter 7 Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis

11. Fromm believed that ________________ is the successful

solution to the human dilemma.

12. Fromm called _______________ the "freaks of the universe."

13. To Fromm, the _______________ orientation is a result of

modern commerce.

14. Fromm called the sketching of a psychological portrait of a

prominent person _______________________.

15. Fromm believed that _______ was the epitome of a person

suffering from the syndrome of decay.

True-False

_____ 1. Fromm adopted a belligerent attitude toward people while

serving in battle during World War I.

_____ 2. Compared with Freud, Fromm placed more emphasis on

biological determinants of psychic conflict.

_____3. Fromm's social theories were influenced by Karl Marx.

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_____4. Although Fromm had some differences with Freud, he

remained a loyal follower of Freud throughout his lifetime.

_____5. Fromm believed that a symbiotic relationship is the ideal form

of relatedness.

_____6. Malignant aggression is unique to the human species,

according to Fromm.

_____7. People have developed existential needs to keep from going

insane.

_____8. To Fromm, depression stems from feelings of malignant

aggression.

_____9. Sadism is one attempt at decreasing basic anxiety.

_____10. The cycle of conformity and powerlessness can be broken

only by achieving positive freedom.

_____11. Fromm believed that the nonproductive orientation has both a

positive and a negative aspect.

_____12. The exploitative character is an outgrowth of modern

capitalism.

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 Chapter 7 Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis

_____13. Fromm believed that a lack of satisfaction of any of the five

human needs can result in insanity.

_____14. Masochistic and sadistic tendencies are strategies of uniting

with another person.

_____15. Fromm believed that political and economic freedom lead to

feelings of isolation and powerlessness.

_____16. Psychologically disturbed people, Fromm said, have failed to

establish union with other people.

_____17. Exploitative characters believe that the source of all good is

outside themselves.

_____18. Fromm believed that symbiotic attachment to the mother is

based on the need for security rather than on sex.

_____19. In a study of a Mexican village, Fromm found no evidence of

the hoarding personality.

_____20. Fromm emphasized similarities rather than differences

between humans and other animals.

_____21. Fromm listed Winston Churchill as 20th century's most

notable example of a person with the syndrome of decay.
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 Chapter 7 Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis

Multiple Choice

_____1. As an adolescent, Erich Fromm

a. aspired to be a famous general in the German army.
b. assumed that people in his native land were less belligerent
than those in enemy nations.
c. made two unsuccessful attempts to commit suicide.
d. none of these.

_____2. Fromm believed that the rise of capitalism has contributed to

a. the growth of personal freedom.
b. a greater degree of happiness among people.
c. feelings of anxiety, isolation, and powerlessness.
d. higher levels of community cohesion.

_____3. Which of these people was NOT an important influence on

Fromm's thinking?
a. Sigmund Freud
b. Thomas More
c. Karl Marx
d. Johann J. Bachofen
e. Karen Horney

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_____4. One of Fromm's basic assumptions is that people have been torn
away from a union with nature, and lacking adequate animal
instincts, they must rely on reason. This condition is called
a. the rational imperative.
b. the human dilemma.
c. manifest destiny.
d. transcendence.

_____5. According to Fromm, the four basic elements in the process of

love are knowledge, care, respect, and
a. responsibility.
b. affection.
c. interest.
d. cooperation.

_____6. Transcendence is the need for humans to

a. seek self-realization in a basically sick society.
b. rise above their passive and accidental existence.
c. move beyond their human nature and into the realm of
superhumans.
d. feel restless and anxious with the realization that they are
constantly geographically mobile.

____7. Rootedness is the need for humans to

a. remain fixed in the relationship with parents.
b. rise above their passive and accidental existence.
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c. feel at home again in the world.

d. return to their pre-human past.
e. feel restless and anxious with the realization that they are
forever geographically mobile.

_____8. Fromm believed that a frame of orientation is necessary in order

for people to
a. achieve personal identity.
b. achieve group cohesiveness.
c. make their way through the world.
d. rise above their animal nature.

_____9. When existential needs are not satisfied, people will

a. become motivated by human needs.
b. become motivated by essential needs.
c. develop extraordinary willpower.
d. none of these.

____10. According to Fromm, the freaks of the universe are

a. people.
b. women.
c. planets.
d. snakes.

_____11. In Fromm's view, people with basic anxiety

a. suffer from the burden of freedom.
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b. express their anxiety by moving toward people.

c. eventually suffer a psychotic break.
d. represent a small minority of all people.
e. all of these.

_____12. Authoritarianism may take these two forms.

a. power and destruction
b. sadism and masochism
c. love and hate
d. effective and ineffective

_____13. The spontaneous activity of a healthy individual represents

a. positive freedom.
b. essential freedom.
c. existential chaos.
d. transcendence.

_____14. The two components of positive freedom are

a. work and love.
b. thought and action.
c. faith and hope.
d. desire and restraint.

_____15. Freud's anal character is similar to Fromm's ______ character.

a. hoarding
b. marketing
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c. exploitative
d. receptive

_____16. Which nonproductive character is a product of modern

commerce?
a. hoarding
b. exploitative
c. marketing
d. receptive

_____17. Biophilia is
a. the psychic illness of the modern age.
b. a passionate love of life.
c. the principal component of the syndrome of decay.
d. an erotic desire to hoard one's childhood toys.

_____18. Fromm believed that psychopathology stems from

a. unconscious guilt.
b. modes of assimilation.
c. modes of socialization.
d. lack of rootedness.

_____19. People who suffer from malignant narcissism

a. tend to be sadistic in their relations with others.
b. devalue that which belongs to others while overvaluing that
which they possess.
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 Chapter 7 Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis

c. usually possess a strong mother fixation.

d. are characterized by necrophilia and the loss of self-identity.

_____20. A person with moral hypochondrias

a. is overly concerned with physical symptoms.
b. is overly concerned with psychological symptoms.
c. suffers from the syndrome of decay.
d. is preoccupied with guilt.

_____21. Which of these is NOT part of Fromm's syndrome of decay?

a. malignant narcissism.
b. moral hypochondrias.
c. incestuous symbiosis.
d. necrophilia.

_____22. In his concept of humanity, Erich Fromm emphasized

a. neuroses.
b. differences between humans and other animals.
c. similarities between women and men.
d. the human need to achieve self-actualization.

Short Answer

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 Chapter 7 Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis

1. Explain Fromm's concept of existential dichotomies.

2. List and discuss the five human needs as seen by Fromm.

3. What did Fromm mean by "burden of freedom"?

4. Discuss Fromm's four nonproductive orientations and one

productive orientation.
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5. Discuss Fromm's concept of the syndrome of decay.

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Answers

Fill-in-the-Blanks True-False Multiple Choice

1. existential 1. F 1. d
2. social 2. F 2. c
3. human dilemma 3. T 3. b
4. existential 4. F 4. b
5. identity 5. F 5. a
6. rootedness 6. T 6. b
7. isolated 7. T 7. c
8. relatedness 8. F 8. c
9. biophilia 9. T 9. d
10. conformity 10. T 10. a
11. positive freedom 11. T 11. a
12. humans 12. F 12. b
13. marketing 13. T 13. a
14. psychohistory 14. T 14. a
15. Hitler 15. T 15. a
16. T 16. c
17. T 17. b
18. T 18. c
19. F 19. b
20. F 20. d
21. F 21. b
22. T 22. d

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