A Freudian slip is when someone mistakenly says something that reveals their actual, unconscious feelings. A famous example is when David Cameron said he was raising money for the rich rather than the poor.
Along with coining the term Freudian slip, Sigmund Freud was also responsible for developing the theory of psychosexual stages of development.
- We will start by looking at Freud's stages of psychosexual definition.
- Then Freud's psychosexual theory will be explored and each
- Each of Freud's stages of psychosexual development will be delved into, and some psychosexual stages of development examples will be given to help your understanding.
- The psychosexual stages of development chart will summarise the psychosexual stages.
Stages of Psychosexual Development Definition
Have you heard of Sigmund Freud before? Probably, but do you know why he is so famous? Freud was an Austrian neurologist who became famous for his development of psychoanalysis and the psychosexual stages of development. He claimed that both of these principles rely on the id, ego and superego relationship.
The id is the most reflexive and primitive part of our unconscious. It is responsible for our pleasure, sex drive, and any other inherent reactions or pleasurable behaviours that people cannot control.
The superego is the voice of reason. It contains our conscience and personality. The superego is the part of our unconscious that helps us make good decisions.
The ego is the mediator between the id and the superego. It tries to marry the id's pleasure with reasoning from the superego.
In someone's psychosexual development, their id, ego, and superego develop to help them govern their bodies and make good choices.
Freud's Psychosexual Theory
Freud claimed that the psychosexual stages are set periods of development that children go through, mainly focusing on the time from birth to around age six.
He said that children go through five stages in their personality development, commonly referred to as the psychosexual stage model. The stages are oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital. These different stages are associated with the driving force in child development or libido, expressed in different ways and parts of the body.
Various fixations of sexual urges or instinctual drives represent the psychosexual development stages. During the growth process, other body parts become more prominent, which will be the source of possible frustrations or pleasures.
In describing personality development and the psychosexual stages, Freud wanted to say that development is associated with releasing the culminating energy of the id as children grow. Freud used the term sexual to describe pleasurable actions and thoughts.
Pleasurable can mean enjoyable and also sexually pleasurable.
Freud emphasised how important the first five years of a child's life are in forming their personality.
How the child deals with conflict and its resolution during these stages determines some childhood events that will shape his behaviour and experiences in adulthood.
The id, for example, needs to be controlled so that it can satisfy its social needs. The ego and superego also develop and balance the need for satisfaction and socially acceptable behaviours to exercise this control.
Freud believed that before someone could progress to the next stage, they had to resolve a conflict. Each stage has a specific conflict, and if the person does not solve it, they will develop a fixation later on in life.
Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development
Let's go over each of Freud's stages of psychosexual development.
Psychosexual Stages of Development: Oral Stage
This stage occurs between birth and the first year of life. The oral stage is about the experience of pleasure perceived through the mouth. This stage is related to eating and the pleasure from nursing on the nipples and sucking on the thumb.
These play an essential role in the baby's first year of life. When babies are about a year old, they begin to wean off many of these things. If caregivers do not handle this well, it can lead to conflict.
Fig. 1. Oral fixation.
What happens if the conflicts are not resolved at this stage? According to Freud, the consequences of unresolved conflicts at this stage relate to the month.
Smoking, overeating, excessive drinking, nail-biting, excessive sarcasm, or too much criticism can be examples of oral fixation.
The baby may also have been weaned either too soon or too late, resulting in fixation to relieve anxiety.
Psychosexual Stages of Development: Anal Stage
The anal stage occurs until the third year of life after the child has passed through the oral stage. During this phase, the focus is on the anus. In this stage, children experience pleasure in defecation and bladder emptying.
The anal stage is a crucial stage for the development of the ego. Through potty training, the child becomes aware of the social reality of going to the toilet.
Therefore, it is a phase in which children learn the rules of society.
What happens if the conflicts are not resolved during this stage? Freud suggests anal fixation tendencies can manifest in two different ways:
Anal retentive, which manifests in obsessive perfectionism.
Anal expulsive, which manifests in disorder and thoughtlessness.
Psychosexual Stages of Development: Phallic Stage
The phallic stage occurs between the third and sixth years of life, during which the superego develops. The focus is on the genitals. In Freud's view, the child goes through the Oedipus complex during this stage.
It is an essential moment for overcoming unconscious desires directed towards the mother in boys and the father in girls. Identification with the father in boys or the mother in girls occurs.
The Oedipus complex comes from the Greek myth in which Oedipus marries his mother after killing his father. When Oedipus discovered this, he mutilated himself by gouging his eyes. Freud suggested that boys have a sexual desire for their mothers and want to possess them exclusively, and to do this, they would have to get rid of the father. If the father figures this out, he can get rid of what the son loves most: his penis. The boy then imitates the father and takes on a male role to get over this.
The Electra complex refers to girls who desire their fathers. They are aware they do not have a penis, which leads to penis envy. Girls repress their penis envy and instead focus their desire for the father, blaming the mother for their lack of a penis. Later, the girl associates more with their mother and takes on her feminine role, according to Freud.
If unresolved conflicts are not resolved at this stage, they manifest themselves in reckless and narcissistic behaviours.
Psychosexual Stages of Development: Latency Stage
The sexual energy drive from the previous stage becomes latent so the child can focus on the world around them. The focus of the latency stage is hidden. It begins around the age of six and lasts until puberty.
During this stage, there is a lot of general growth and the gaining of new knowledge.
Fig. 2. The latency stage has a focus on learning.
Psychosexual Stages of Development: Genital Stage
The genital stage is the final stage that culminates in the psychosexual energy in the genitals. It is directed toward the formation of adult relationships. This stage focuses on the formation of romantic relationships, which takes place after puberty.
Freud believed that these romantic and pleasurable relationships were only within heterosexual relationships.
Any fixation from a previous stage can lead to a person preferring sexual pleasure from that stage (such as someone with a fixation from the oral stage would prefer oral sex).
The ego and superego are formed during this process, and the child experiences conflicts between frustrated desires and social norms.
An individual may not resolve conflicts in any psychosexual stage. In this case, they may later develop psychological problems due to fixation on a particular phase.
Psychosexual Stages of Development Chart
Let us look at the psychosexual stages of development chart for a quick overview of Freud's stages of psychosexual development.
Stage | Description | Consequences of unresolved conflict |
Oral: 0 – 1 years | The focus of pleasure is on the mouth – the mother's breast is the object of desire. | Oral fixation – smoking, biting nails, sarcastic, critical. |
Anal: 1 – 3 years | The focus of pleasure is on the anus. The child finds pleasure in holding back and expelling faeces. | Anal retentive – perfectionist, obsessive. Anal expulsive – thoughtless, messy. |
Phallic: 3 – 5 years | The focus of pleasure is on the genital area. The child experiences an Oedipus or Electra complex. | Phallic personality – narcissistic, reckless, possibly homosexual. |
Latency: 6 – Puberty | Earlier conflicts are repressed, and there is less focus on sexual fixations. | |
Genital: After puberty | Sexual desires become conscious with the onset of puberty. | Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships. |
Psychosexual Stages of Development Examples
Let's look at examples of Freud's psychosexual stages of development.
A baby loves her dummy and always wants it in her mouth. Freud would say that she is in the oral fixation stage of her development since she always has to have something in her mouth.
A three-year-old starts to copy his dad. Freud would say that the child recognises they are the same gender and is learning about masculinity.
In middle school, a student is focused on learning and developing new friendships. Freud would put this student in the latency stage of development since there is less focus on their own body and reproductive organs.
Psychosexual Stages Of Development - Key takeaways
- The psychosexual stages definition is the stages children experience associated with the driving force in child development or libido, expressed in different ways and parts of the body.
- Freud claimed that children go through five stages in their personality development, commonly referred to as Freud's stages of psychosexual development.
- The stages are oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital.
- The different stages are associated with the driving force in child development or libido, expressed differently and in several body parts.
- Psychosexual stages of development examples that suggest a child is fixated on a specific stage are narcissistic tendencies or difficulty forming relationships.
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