Horney’s Theory of Neurotic Needs

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsHorney’s TheoryTypes of Neurotic NeedsImpact on Personality10 Neurotic NeedsBehavioral EffectsCoping With NeurosisFrequently Asked Questions

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Horney’s Theory

Types of Neurotic Needs

Impact on Personality

10 Neurotic Needs

Behavioral Effects

Coping With Neurosis

Frequently Asked Questions

Close

Neurosis is an inability to adapt and a tendency to experience excessive negative or obsessive thoughts and behaviors. The term has been in use since the 1700s. In 1980, the diagnosis was removed from the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.” While no longer a formal diagnosis, the term is still often used informally to describe behaviors related to stress and anxiety.

Karen Horney (pronounced HORN-eye) was a psychoanalyst and theorist who suggested that people possess a number of neurotic needs that play a role in driving behavior. In her 1942 book “Self-Analysis,” Horney outlined her theory of neurosis, describing different types of neurotic behavior as a result of overusing coping strategies to deal with basicanxiety.

This article discusses Horney’s theory of neurotic needs, including those for power, prestige, and affection. It also covers the three broad categories of needs and how they contributed to Karen Horney’s theory of personality.

Horney’s Theory of Neurotic Needs

Horney’s theory proposed that strategies used to cope with anxiety can be overused, causing them to take on the appearance of needs.

According to Horney, basic anxiety (and therefore neurosis) could result from a variety of situations. She suggested that as children, people often have experiences that contribute to neuroticism, including:

Three Types of Neurotic Needs

Horney’s neurotic needs can be classified into three broad categories:

Neurotic people tend to use two or more of these ways of coping, which then creates conflict, turmoil, and confusion.

Karen Horney’s Theory of Personality

The three broad categories of neurotic needs essentially describe the various ways that people can cope with their social experiences. Horney believed that these coping strategies could affect a person’s personality and came up with three types of personalities:

Horney’s 10 Neurotic Needs

Well-adjusted individuals use all three coping strategies (toward, away, and against others), shifting focus depending on internal and external factors. So what is it that makes these coping strategies neurotic? According to Horney, it is theoveruseof one or more of these interpersonal styles.

1. The Need for Affection and Approval

Horney labeled the first need as the neurotic need for affection and approval. This need​ includes the desire to be liked, to please other people, and meet the expectations of others. People with this type of need are extremely sensitive to rejection and criticism and fear the anger or hostility of others.

2. The Need for a Partner

3. The Need to Restrict One’s Life

The third need centers on the neurotic need to restrict one’s life within narrow borders. Individuals with this need prefer to remain inconspicuous and unnoticed. They are undemanding and content with little. They avoid wishing for material things, often making their own needs secondary and undervaluing their own talents and abilities.

4. The Need for Power

The fourth need Horney described is known as a neurotic need for power. Individuals with this need seek power for its own sake. They usually praise strength, despise weakness, and will exploit or dominate other people. These people fear personal limitations, helplessness, and uncontrollable situations.

5. The Need to Exploit Others

People with a neurotic need to exploit others view others in terms of what can be gained through association with them. People with this need generally pride themselves on their ability to exploit other people and are often focused on manipulating others to obtain desired objectives, including such things as ideas, power, money, or sex.

6. The Need for Prestige

Individuals with a need for prestige value themselves in terms of public recognition and acclaim. Material possessions,personality characteristics, professional accomplishments, and loved ones are evaluated based on prestige value. These individuals often fear public embarrassment and loss of social status.

7. The Need for Personal Admiration

Individuals with a neurotic need for personal admiration arenarcissisticand have an exaggerated self-perception. They want to be admired based on this imagined self-view, not upon how they really are.

8. The Need for Personal Achievement

According to Horney, people push themselves to achieve greater and greater things as a result of basic insecurity. These individualsfear failureand feel a constant need to accomplish more than other people and to top even their own earlier successes.

9. The Need for Independence

This need is described as a neurotic need for self-sufficiency and independence. These individuals exhibit a “loner” mentality, distancing themselves from others in order to avoid being tied down or dependent on other people.

10. The Need for Perfection

People with a neurotic need for perfection and unassailability strive for complete infallibility. A common feature of this neurotic need is searching for personal flaws in order to quickly change or cover up these perceived imperfections.

Recap

How Neurotic Needs Affect Behavior

Neurotic needs can lead to different types of behavior depending on the individual, their needs, and the situation. For example:

Research suggests that people who are high in neuroticism tend to be more prone to negative emotions. This can contribute to a higher risk for feelings of anxiety, self-consciousness, anger,irritability, depression, and emotional instability.

Neuroticism has been associated with physical health issues, including lower immunity, heart problems, and an increased risk of death.It is also linked to lower marital satisfaction, increased worry, work-related problems, and overall lower quality of life.

How Neuroticism Affects Behavior

Notice the Effects of Neurotic Needs

Reframe Your Thinking

When you find yourself feeling negative about a situation or engaging in unhelpful behaviors, try to step back and reassess how you think about the situation. Purposelychallenging your negative thoughtscan be helpful for creating a more positive perspective and mindset.

Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulnessis a practice that involves focusing on the present moment. As you practice mindfulness, you become more aware of how you are feeling and what you are thinking. While you observe these feelings, you focus on simply being aware of them without judging them or acting upon them.

Researchers have found that mindfulness might be a useful approach for combating neurotic, negative thoughts that contribute to worry, anxiety,and relationship problems.

Focus on Relationships

Social support is important for mental well-being and can be helpful when you are dealing with difficult emotions. Spend time working on strengthening your relationships, but be aware of how neurotic needs such as the need for affection, approval, power, or other needs might affect your relationships.

Talk to a Professional

A therapist can help you better understand neuroticism and how it affects your behavior. They can also help you identify and change negative thinking patterns and develop other coping skills that will help you better tolerate distress and anxiety.

RecapStrategies that can help people cope with neurosis include cognitive reframing, mindfulness, and social support. Therapy can also be helpful for changing negative thinking patterns that contribute to neurosis.

Strategies that can help people cope with neurosis include cognitive reframing, mindfulness, and social support. Therapy can also be helpful for changing negative thinking patterns that contribute to neurosis.

A Word From Verywell

While neuroticism is no longer considered a mental health diagnosis, researchers continue to investigate this aspect of personality. While popular culture often paints some neurotic behaviors as quirky, neurosis may play a role in mood and anxiety problems that are detrimental to your well-being.

Recognizing your own neurotic tendencies can help you better understand your own behaviors. By addressing these issues, people can often improve their overall mental health and wellness.

The Best Online Therapy ProgramsWe’ve tried, tested and written unbiased reviews of the best online therapy programs including Talkspace, Betterhelp, and Regain.

Jung, Adler, and Horney were considered neo-Freudians. All three developed their own theory of psychology. Horney is often considered the founder of feminist psychology. Jung developed an approach known as analytical psychology, while Adler founded an approach known as individual psychology.Learn More:Who Were the Neo-Freudians?

Jung, Adler, and Horney were considered neo-Freudians. All three developed their own theory of psychology. Horney is often considered the founder of feminist psychology. Jung developed an approach known as analytical psychology, while Adler founded an approach known as individual psychology.

Learn More:Who Were the Neo-Freudians?

Learn More:How Sigmund Freud Viewed Women

6 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Townsend JS, Martin JA.Whatever happened to neurosis? An overview.Prof Psychol Res Pract. 1983;14(3):323-329. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.14.3.323Aydin S, Ceylan H, Aydin E.A research on reference behavior trend according to Horney’s personality types.Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2014;148:680-685. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.014Widiger TA, Oltmanns JR.Neuroticism is a fundamental domain of personality with enormous public health implications.World Psychiatry. 2017;16(2):144-145. doi:10.1002/wps.20411Turiano NA, Graham EK, Weston SJ, et al.Is healthy neuroticism associated with longevity? A coordinated integrative data analysis.Collabra Psychol. 2020;6(1):33. doi:10.1525/collabra.268Ozer DJ, Benet-Martínez V.Personality and the prediction of consequential outcomes.Annu Rev Psychol. 2006;57:401-21. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190127Drake MM, Morris DM, Davis TJ.Neuroticism’s susceptibility to distress: Moderated with mindfulness.Pers Individ Differ. 2017;106:248-252. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2016.10.060Additional ReadingHorney K.Self-Analysis. Norton.

6 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Townsend JS, Martin JA.Whatever happened to neurosis? An overview.Prof Psychol Res Pract. 1983;14(3):323-329. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.14.3.323Aydin S, Ceylan H, Aydin E.A research on reference behavior trend according to Horney’s personality types.Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2014;148:680-685. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.014Widiger TA, Oltmanns JR.Neuroticism is a fundamental domain of personality with enormous public health implications.World Psychiatry. 2017;16(2):144-145. doi:10.1002/wps.20411Turiano NA, Graham EK, Weston SJ, et al.Is healthy neuroticism associated with longevity? A coordinated integrative data analysis.Collabra Psychol. 2020;6(1):33. doi:10.1525/collabra.268Ozer DJ, Benet-Martínez V.Personality and the prediction of consequential outcomes.Annu Rev Psychol. 2006;57:401-21. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190127Drake MM, Morris DM, Davis TJ.Neuroticism’s susceptibility to distress: Moderated with mindfulness.Pers Individ Differ. 2017;106:248-252. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2016.10.060Additional ReadingHorney K.Self-Analysis. Norton.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Townsend JS, Martin JA.Whatever happened to neurosis? An overview.Prof Psychol Res Pract. 1983;14(3):323-329. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.14.3.323Aydin S, Ceylan H, Aydin E.A research on reference behavior trend according to Horney’s personality types.Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2014;148:680-685. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.014Widiger TA, Oltmanns JR.Neuroticism is a fundamental domain of personality with enormous public health implications.World Psychiatry. 2017;16(2):144-145. doi:10.1002/wps.20411Turiano NA, Graham EK, Weston SJ, et al.Is healthy neuroticism associated with longevity? A coordinated integrative data analysis.Collabra Psychol. 2020;6(1):33. doi:10.1525/collabra.268Ozer DJ, Benet-Martínez V.Personality and the prediction of consequential outcomes.Annu Rev Psychol. 2006;57:401-21. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190127Drake MM, Morris DM, Davis TJ.Neuroticism’s susceptibility to distress: Moderated with mindfulness.Pers Individ Differ. 2017;106:248-252. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2016.10.060

Townsend JS, Martin JA.Whatever happened to neurosis? An overview.Prof Psychol Res Pract. 1983;14(3):323-329. doi:10.1037/0735-7028.14.3.323

Aydin S, Ceylan H, Aydin E.A research on reference behavior trend according to Horney’s personality types.Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2014;148:680-685. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.07.014

Widiger TA, Oltmanns JR.Neuroticism is a fundamental domain of personality with enormous public health implications.World Psychiatry. 2017;16(2):144-145. doi:10.1002/wps.20411

Turiano NA, Graham EK, Weston SJ, et al.Is healthy neuroticism associated with longevity? A coordinated integrative data analysis.Collabra Psychol. 2020;6(1):33. doi:10.1525/collabra.268

Ozer DJ, Benet-Martínez V.Personality and the prediction of consequential outcomes.Annu Rev Psychol. 2006;57:401-21. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190127

Drake MM, Morris DM, Davis TJ.Neuroticism’s susceptibility to distress: Moderated with mindfulness.Pers Individ Differ. 2017;106:248-252. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2016.10.060

Horney K.Self-Analysis. Norton.

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