Psychoanalysis is described as both a form of treatment and a comprehensive personality theory. What else is it described as?

• A. A cognitive model
• B. A sociocultural approach
• C. A comprehensive personality theory
• D. A behavioral framework

Answer: (C)

Psychoanalysis is being looked at not just as a therapy but as a way of understanding how personality is formed and expressed. It argues that much of our mental life is unconscious and that personality develops through early experiences, organized around structures like the id, ego, and superego, with defense mechanisms shaping how we cope. This broad explanatory scope—covering motivations, development, and patterns of thought and behavior—fits neatly as a comprehensive personality theory. It isn’t a cognitive model, which centers on information processing; it isn’t a sociocultural approach, which emphasizes social and cultural influences; and it isn’t a behavioral framework, which focuses on observable actions and learning.