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Drive theory (psychoanalysis)

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In Freudian psychoanalysis, drive theory (German: Triebtheorie

, German: Trieblehre

)[1] refers to the theory of drives, motivations, or instincts, that have clear objects.[citation needed] In 1927 Freud said that a drive theory was what was lacking most in psychoanalysis. He was opposed to systematics in psychology, rejecting it as a form of paranoia, and instead classified drives with dichotomies like Eros/Thanatos drives, the drives toward Life and Death, respectively, and sexual/ego drives.[1]


In 1947, Hungarian psychiatrist and psychologist Leopold Szondi, aimed instead to a systematic drive theory.[1][3] Szondi Drive Diagram has been described as a revolutionary addition to psychology, and as paving the way for a theoretical psychiaty and a psychoanalytical anthropology.[1][4]

See alsoEdit


  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Mélon, Jean (1996) Notes on the History of the Szondi Movement, (French original [1]) Text for the Szondi Congress of Cracow, August 1996.
  3. Leopold Szondi [1947] (1952) Experimental Diagnostics of Drives, Introduction of the first edition, quotation:
  4. Livres de France (1989), Issues 106-109 quotation:

Further readingEdit

[[Category:Psychoanalytic theory}}

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