The Freudian Theory of Dreaming Research (OCR GCSE Psychology): Revision Note

Freudian theory of dreaming core study: Freud (1918)

Background

• Freud developed his ideas independently, rather than building on existing dream research

• The study began when the 'Wolf Man' (Sergei Pankejeff, a patient of Sigmund Freud) sought treatment from Freud for depression and anxiety

• Through psychoanalysis, Freud used the Wolfman’s dreams to explore unconscious conflicts

• This case became one of Freud’s most famous examples of how dream analysis can reveal repressed trauma and shape treatment

Aim

• To investigate whether analysing a patient’s dreams could uncover unconscious conflicts contributing to mental illness

• To use the Wolf Man’s dreams as evidence for repression and wish fulfilment within Freud’s psychoanalytic theory

Method

• Type of study:

  • A clinical case study conducted through detailed interviews and therapeutic sessions between 1910 and 1914

  • Freud analysed the material around 15 years later, making this a longitudinal study

• Sample:

  • One participant: Sergei Pankejeff (the Wolf Man), a wealthy Russian man in his 20s

  • He sought help for depression, anxiety, and long-standing emotional difficulties

    His background included:

    • his sister’s suicide

    • his father’s mental illness and later suicide

    • chronic bowel problems and enemas as a child

    • a fear of being separated from his parents

• Procedure:

  • Freud used psychoanalysis, involving regular interviews and dream interpretation

  • The participant recalled a recurring childhood dream:

    • As a young boy, he was lying in bed when a window opened by itself. In a walnut tree outside sat six or seven white wolves, staring at him. Terrified, he screamed for help

  • Freud analysed the manifest content (wolves, window, fear) and interpreted the latent content as symbolic repressed material

Results

• Freud interpreted the dream as evidence of deep unconscious conflict:

  • He linked it to a 'primal scene' — the Wolf Man allegedly witnessing his parents having sex as a young child

  • The wolves watching him symbolised a reversal of this event

  • The wolves symbolised:

    • his father

    • sexual anxieties

    • castration fears

  • The white wolves were connected to the white bed linen from the primal scene

  • Their large tails were interpreted as phallic symbols (father’s penis/power)

  • The walnut tree symbolised a Christmas tree, linking the dream to wish fulfilment at Christmas

    • The presents on the tree were replaced by wolves – this was associated with the Wolf Man’s desire for affection from his father

  • The fear in the dream represented his terror of his father, displaced onto wolves, so it could be expressed safely

Conclusions

• Freud concluded that:

  • the case shows how the unconscious mind shapes mental illness

  • dreams act as a route for repressed desires and unresolved trauma to appear in symbolic form

  • manifest content hides deeper latent content enriched with symbolic meaning

  • the Wolf Man’s reported improvement supported Freud’s claim that psychoanalysis can help uncover and resolve unconscious conflict

• This case was used by Freud as strong evidence for:

  • repression

  • wish fulfilment

  • symbolic dream content

  • the value of psychoanalysis

Criticisms

• Subjectivity

  • Freud’s interpretations relied entirely on his own opinion, making them highly subjective

  • Another psychologist may have interpreted the dream completely differently

• Unscientific

  • The theory cannot be tested or falsified – the unconscious cannot be directly observed or measured

  • There is no objective evidence that the 'primal scene' actually happened

• Small sample

  • One individual cannot represent all dreamers or all people with mental health problems

  • This means that the results cannot be generalised

• Memory accuracy

  • Freud depended on the Wolf Man accurately recalling childhood dreams and events

  • Childhood memories are unreliable and may have been distorted

• Overemphasis on sex and aggression

  • Freud assumed most dreams symbolised repressed sexual desires

  • Critics argue dreams can reflect many aspects of daily life, not just forbidden urges