Sublimation (psychology) - Psychoanalytic Theory

Psychoanalytic Theory

In Freud's psychoanalytical theory, erotic energy is allowed a limited amount of expression, owing to the constraints of human society and civilization itself. It therefore requires other outlets, especially if an individual is to remain psychologically balanced.

Sublimation is the process of transforming libido into "socially useful" achievements, including artistic, cultural and intellectual pursuits. Freud considered this psychical operation to be fairly salutary compared to the others that he identified, such as repression, displacement, denial, reaction formation, intellectualisation and projection. Freud's daughter, Anna, in the The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence (1936) classes sublimation as one of the major 'defence mechanisms' of the psyche.

Whilst reading The Harz Journey by Heinrich Heine, Freud got the idea of sublimation. The story is about Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach who would cut off the tails of dogs that he found in his childhood and later became a surgeon. Freud concluded sublimation is if one does an action repeatedly throughout his life many times, but first starts doing it sadistically, he will end up doing a similar activity to the benefit of mankind.