Question

Describe the Psychosexual stages of development of Freud.

Answer 1

According to Sigmund Freud, development of personality is based on the assumption of infantile sexuality. These stages are termed as ‘psychosexual’ because it is the sexual urges that drive the acquisition of psychological characteristics. Freud described a succession of stages revolving around body zones, namely mouth, anus and genitals and he termed these zones as erogenous zones.

Freud believed that if a child’s need at one of the psychosexual stages is either unsatisfied or over satisfied, fixation would take place, that is, the child continues to show attachment to an old stage even after moving to a new one, resulting in an immature personality develop¬ment and several psychological disorders. Libido is the form of psychic energy by which life instincts perform their work. Release of libido is closely related to pleasure. Description of the stages :

Oral stage: This is the first stage which lasts for about a year. In this stage, pleasure is centered in the region of the mouth. The infant first obtains sensual pleasure by sucking (swallowing) and later by biting. He/she is almost completely dependent upon their mother for sustenance. Thus, a feeling of dependence arises during this period.

Pleasure derived by swallowing may be displaced in later life by pleasure gained by acquiring knowledge or possessions. A gullible person, for example, is fixated at the oral incorporative level. Such a person will swallow almost anything he or she is told. It is also seen in concrete forms like smoking or psychological forms such as dependence. Biting or oral aggression may be displaced in the form of sarcasm and argumentativeness. It may produce a critical “biting” personality.

Anal stage: This is the second stage, which lasts till three years of age. This occurs when parents provide “toilet -training” to their children and teach them how to avoid prohibited behaviour related to excretion. The process of elimination becomes the primary focus of pleasure. It is associated with two types of stimulation around the anal region¬folding on” and “letting go”.

The first sub-stage involves pleasure around expulsion of feces (letting go). Freud maintained that fixation at these sub-stage results in adult characteristics of messiness and disorder, cruelty, destructiveness and temper tantrums. The second sub-stage involves pleasure from holding the feces (holding on), fixation at which results in excessive compulsiveness, over conformity, exaggerated self-control.

Fixation depends on the particular method of toilet training used by the mother. Extremely harsh toilet training results in fixation at the second sub-stage (holding on). It may also make the child obstinate and stingy. In contrast, fixation stemming from very relaxed toilet training may result in people who are undisciplined, impulsive and extremely generous, i.e., fixation at the first sub-stage (letting go).

However if the mother praises the child when he or she excretes in the appropriate place, this may be the basis of creativity and productivity, (iii) Phallic stage: During this stage, sexual and aggressive feelings associated with the functioning of the genital organs come into focus. Personality development occurs in separate ways for boys and girls. In this stage, the child has sexual feelings for the parent of the opposite sex and hostile feelings for the parent of the same sex.

In case of a boy child, he wants to possess his mother and remove his father. These feelings express themselves through a child’s fantasy during masturbation and in the alteration of love and rebellious action towards the parents. This is known as ‘Oedipus Complex’. This stage is from three to five years and although it is modified and suffers repression after the age of five years, it still remains a vital force of personality throughout life.

The boy’s incestuous cravings for mother and his growing resentment towards father bring conflict with parents, especially the father. He imagines that his dominant rival (father) is going to harm him. His fear regarding what the father may do to him centers around harm to his genital organs because they are the source of lustful feelings. His fear that his father will remove the offending organ is known as ‘Castration anxiety’. This leads to three things :

1. Repression of sexual desires towards father and hostility towards mother.
2. Identification of the boy with the father.
3. Repression of Oedipus complex causes the superego to undergo its final development.

In case of the girl, she wants to possess the father and replace the mother. This is known as ‘Electra complex’. She exchanges her original love object (the mother) for a new love object (the father). This occurs because she realizes she does not have a protruding sex organ (the penis) instead she has only a cavity. Several important consequences follow this traumatic discovery :

1. She holds her mother responsible for this castrated conditioning, thereby weakening her feelings for the mother.
2. She transfers her love to the father because he has the valued organ.
3. She envies him as he has the organ. This is known as ‘Penis envy’. It is a female counterpart of ‘Castration anxiety’.

The girl’s Electra complex goes through some modification due to realistic barriers that prevent her from gratifying the sexual desires for father. It is resolved when the girl surrenders her sexual desires for her father and identifies once again with her mother.

Adult male fixated at phallic stage behave in a reckless manner and attempts all the time to assert their masculinity. In case of women, fixation results in flirtatiousness, seductive¬ness. Some women become excessively assertive. Fixation at this stage is considered to be a primary source of neurotic pattern.

Latency: Between the ages of 6 to 7 years the child passes through this stage. The child’s libido is now channelized through sublimation into non-sexual activities such as intellectual pursuits, athletics and peer relations. Latency can be viewed as a preparation for the final stage. The sexual instincts are dormant in this stage because of the development of the ego and superego and also due to physiological changes in the child’s body.

Genital stage : With the onset of puberty contes a resurgence of sexual and aggressive drives, with increased awareness and interest in the opposite sex. During this stage, the reproductive organs mature, the endocrine system release sex hormones leading to a state of excitability and sexual activity. The early adolescents normally select their romantic partner. They mature into responsible social sexual beings and experience satisfaction through heterosexual relationships. If there is any traumatic experience in early childhood then development during this stage becomes difficult.