Theory of Psychosexual Development
- stages are associated with when certain behaviors naturally occur - based on the assumption of infant sexuality - sexuality was broader than reproductive activity - included deriving pleasure from the body, and sublimation
- the stages describe a normative sequence of different modes for gratifying sexual instinct - sources of pleasure - sources of potential conflict
- a child can become fixated at a particular stage - when under stress, an adult may regress to childish behavior
- development moves from autoeroticism to reproductive sexuality
Oral Stage – birth to age one
- the mouth is the main source of information and of pleasure - eating, sucking, biting/chewing - prototypes for later behaviors and character traits e.g., the gullible person; using "biting" humor; gum chewing and smoking
- two sources of conflict involve weaning and biting: may lead to a fixation
Anal Stage – 2nd and 3rd year of life
- pleasure is associated with expulsion or retention of feces - often the first attempt to regulate instinctual impulses - also when child begins to assert it's independence
- rigid, harsh training may lead child to rebel and hold back feces - if this reaction generalizes, may develop a retentive character: obstinate and stingy
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Create PDF with GO2PDF for free, if you wish to remove this line, click here to buy Virtual PDF Printer - or child may vent rage by expelling inappropriately - may become prototype for expulsive traits: tantrums, destructiveness, messy disorderliness
Phallic Stage – 4th and 5th year - the little boy wants to be the exclusive object of the mother's love - his main rival is the father - he wants to eliminate the father, and experiences guilt and fear because of that - fears castration - the Oedipus complex is resolved when the little boy identifies with the father, gaining the mother's love vicariously
- the little girl discovers she has no penis - assumes she has been castrated and blames the mother - desires a penis (penis envy) - chooses the father as a love object - resolved through maturation, realizing she can't possess the father
- increased interest in gender differences - genitals become the source of pleasure - not associated with reproduction, but with autoeroticism
Latency Period - a time of relative sexual calm - sexual impulses are channeled into sports, intellectual interests and peer relations
Genital Stage - genital organs mature - rebirth of sexual drive, now redirected to others - mature people satisfy their sexual needs in socially approved ways
Freud based his theory on clinical observations and rigorous self-analysis.
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Create PDF with GO2PDF for free, if you wish to remove this line, click here to buy Virtual PDF Printer Is Freud's theory testable? Can it be disconfirmed?
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