Karen Horney's theories of neurosis : an empirical clinical study - OpenUCT
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Karen Horney's radical rethinking of neurosis — not as biological fate but as a social survival strategy — gets its most rigorous empirical test yet.
Horney's Theory of NeurosisPsychoanalytic TheoryDefensive StrategiesPersonality Typology
Theory Briefing
- Horney's theory frames neurosis as a defensive solution to anxiety, not a fixed illness — a deeply social and relational view.
- Her typology of three neurotic styles — moving toward, against, or away from people — is put to empirical clinical scrutiny in this study.
- If the data holds, it validates Horney's challenge to Freud: that culture and relationships, not biology, are the engines of psychological suffering.