Sigmund Freud and the Theory of Psychosexual Development

Sigmund Freud was born in Moravia in 1856. In 1860 his family moved to Vienna, where Freud spent the rest of his life. His ambition to become an important figure showed itself early. While studying at the University of Vienna’s Faculty of Medicine, he was determined to make a major discovery and make a name for himself. At the same time he had fallen in love with Martha Bernays, and he needed to earn money quickly so that they could marry and live comfortably.

After a four-year engagement, Freud and Bernays married in 1886. During the engagement Freud won a research grant to observe Jean-Martin Charcot’s work on hypnosis in Paris. In the same period he began to develop his views on the power of the unconscious. His work with Josef Breuer, his observations of his patients and his examination of his own inner world finally led to the publication of The Interpretation of Dreams in 1900.

Freud’s relationships with his mother and father have been studied closely. Although his father had several children from an earlier marriage, Freud was his mother’s first child and the apple of her eye. His mother was 21 when he was born. By contrast, Freud’s relationship with his father was rather distant and at times even hostile. Years after his father’s death, Freud said he was still trying to cope with the guilt he felt about that relationship. Freud is the founder of psychoanalysis; by laying the field’s foundations, he opened the way for the psychoanalytic theorists who came after him.

It is possible to say that Freud’s concept of the Oedipus complex reflects the feelings he had towards his own parents. In his writings Freud often makes allusions that can be interpreted in this way.

What is the theory of psychosexual personality development?

In his theory of psychosexual development, Freud divides personality development into five stages:

1. Oral stage (0–18 months)
2. Anal stage (18 months – 3 years)
3. Phallic stage (3 – 5/6 years)
4. Latency stage (6–12 years)
5. Genital stage (adolescence, 12–18 years)

Freud stated that the traces left by the first three stages after birth are decisive for a person’s personality traits, and therefore especially important.

According to Freud, the conflicts of each developmental stage must be resolved and the basic needs specific to each stage must be met. A person whose needs are not met, or who is frustrated, may show abnormal patterns of behaviour later in life. Freud also argued that parent–child relationships in early childhood affect personality development, and that a warm, loving, tolerant and permissive approach, especially in the first five years, makes an important contribution to it.

Oral stage (0–18 months)

• The pleasure zone is the mouth. Sucking, chewing and biting are the main sources of pleasure.
• A person who passes through this stage successfully gains positive capacities such as being able to give to and receive from others, and a basic sense of trust.
• Restricting these tension-relieving activities in infancy (for example, early weaning) or overindulging them (excessive breastfeeding) prevents the baby from satisfying these needs properly. This can result in behaviours such as insecurity, tension, passivity, overeating, smoking or alcohol dependence, and nail biting.

Anal stage (18 months – 3 years)

• The pleasure zone is the anus, and activities related to it are the main sources of pleasure. As the muscles mature, the baby gains control over holding and releasing stool and takes pleasure in this.
• Toilet training is very important at this stage and should be handled peacefully. Instead of rigid or premature toilet training, it is better to wait until the child is ready.
• Otherwise the child becomes angry with a parent who expects things the child is not ready for, and protests by soiling everywhere. In this case the child may later become wasteful, tormenting, destructive, prone to temper tantrums, slovenly, messy and stubborn. Alternatively, the child may hold stool in the bowels to escape pressure and punishment and to gain approval. In that case the child may later become someone who hides feelings and is overly orderly, stingy, a collector and rigid in their views.
• A child who passes through this stage successfully later becomes creative, productive, autonomous and enterprising.

Phallic (Oedipal) stage (3 – 5/6 years)

• In the phallic stage the source of pleasure is the genitals. It is also the period in which children get to know their own bodies and become aware of their sexual identity.
• In this stage boys experience the Oedipus complex and girls the Electra complex, which need to be worked through successfully. The Oedipus and Electra complexes involve the child’s closeness to the parent of the opposite sex and the fear of being punished for this closeness by the parent of the same sex (the mother for a girl, the father for a boy).
• Children begin to acquire moral values in the phallic stage. For this reason, a rigid attitude towards sexuality should be avoided, and shaming, blaming or punishment should not be used.
• A child who passes through this stage successfully acquires a sexual identity and begins to learn gender roles.
• A child who does not may become someone who experiences intense guilt, sexual difficulties and excessive jealousy.

Latency stage (6–12 years)

• A child who has passed through the earlier stages successfully has acquired a sexual role, brought the ego under control and is moving towards completing personality development. In other words, this is the stage in which the traits gained earlier are consolidated.
• Sexuality is latent: the child does not dwell on it, plays with children of the same sex and is not interested in the opposite sex.
• The child learns to control impulses.
• Interest now focuses on acquiring social and intellectual skills.
• The child begins to learn the social roles associated with their own sex.
• The child identifies with peers, teachers and other people they consider important.
• A child who passes through this stage successfully becomes hardworking, enterprising, outgoing and secure. One who does not may become introverted and insecure, with feelings of inferiority.
• The latency stage can be described as a period of calm before the storm of adolescence.

Genital stage (adolescence, 12–18 years)

• In the genital stage, sexual drives increase.
• Sexual interest turns towards people outside one’s own body and family, and the young person grows closer to the opposite sex.
• By the end of this stage the person reaches sexual maturity and has formed an identity.
• Besides sexuality, the person becomes interested in friendship, choosing a profession and marriage.
• According to Freud, unresolved family conflicts may resurface in the genital stage and need to be resolved then. If they are not, the person has difficulty entering a mature loving relationship and behaving independently as an adult.
• If the genital stage is passed successfully, the person forms an identity and becomes productive and happy, able to develop meaningful relationships.
• If not, the person may become someone who behaves in an overly dependent or overly independent way.