Type of psychology: Psychopathology
Psychopathology
Fields of study: Anxiety disorders; behavioral and cognitive models;
psychodynamic and neoanalytic models
Anxiety disorders; behavioral and cognitive models;
psychodynamic and neoanalytic models
Anxiety is a central concept in many different schools of psychology, and there are
many widely varying theories concerning it; theories of anxiety often have spawned approaches
to treating anxiety disorders.
Key concepts
• ego
• libido
• operant conditioning
• Pavlovian conditioning
• phobia
• preparedness
• repression
• three-systems approach
• two-factor theory
• vicarious transmission
The concept of anxiety is one of the most often-used and loosely defined
concepts in psychology. It can be used to describe a temporary state (“He
seems anxious today”) or an enduring personality trait (“He is an anxious
person”). It is used to assign cause (“He stumbled over the words in his
speech because he was anxious”) and to describe an effect (“Having to give a
speech makes him anxious”). It is seen as the result of discrete objects or situations,
such as snakes or heights, or as evolving from basic existential problems
such as the trauma of birth or the fear of death. All major theories in
psychology in some way confront anxiety.
Because of its preeminence in the field of psychology, there are many different
theories about the nature and origin of anxiety disorders. The two
most important and influential viewpoints on anxiety are the Freudian and
the behavioral viewpoints. Although these theories attempt to explain many
anxiety disorders, an examination of how they apply to phobias presents a
good indication of how they work. A phobia can be defined as an anxiety disorder
involving an intense fear of a particular thing (such as horses) or situation
(such as heights).
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