Analysis Of Freud's Psychoosexual Stages

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Freud's proposed theory indicates that the psychosexual stages are known as oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages, which profoundly make up a person’s personality. “These are called psychosexual stages because each stage represents the fixation of libido (roughly translated as sexual drives or instincts) on a different area of the body.” (Saul McLeod, 2008) Concerning the oral, anal, phallic, and genital stages it is believed that if there is an overindulgence or lack of indulgence, people’s psychological development is influenced. The conflicts presented in each psychosexual stage must first be satisfied before a character can move to the next stage, and too much stimulation in one stage or not enough stimulation can define one’s …show more content…

Inherently representing the conflict between the id, which is the natural impulse of ridding bodily waste, and the “ego and superego, which represent the practical and societal pressures to control the bodily functions.” (Stevenson, 2000) According to Freud’s Psychosexual Theory, there are two types of personalities that can branch, “anal-retentive personality” or “anal-expulsive personality.” Anal-retentive personality” in which a parent is strict with toilet disciplining would make a child inherently obsessively organized, neat, disciplined, methodical, systematic and more passive-aggressive. On the other hand, “anal-expulsive” which is when a parent is too lenient in toilet disciplining would lead to an unorganized, thoughtless, inconsiderate, and rebellious, bold personality. This stage lasts until three years old in which the next stage takes over. (McLeod, …show more content…

In this stage, a child starts to become more aware of its genitals and that of others. The phallic stage introduces the “Oedipus complex” in males and “Electra complex” in females. Other psychologists disagree with this stage. The theory of these complexes is the desire to be with the opposite sex parent and eliminating the same sex parent. The Oedipus conflict is a young males desire for his mother and sees his father as his rival, stopping him from being with his mother, henceforth, giving him the desire to take his father out of the picture. However, he is overwhelmed with castration anxiety, which is the fear he has toward his father if his father is to find out and castrates him. This fear forces him to suppress his desire toward his mother, and he then sets out to resolve his castration anxiety problem, which is called identification. To do this, the boy starts copying actions and adopts his father’s behaviors, in a way to identify himself as a man. On the other hand, the Electra complex is where a girl suffers from penis envy where she shifts her attachment from her mother to her father, and in turn, blames her mother for lack of male genitals. The girl hopes that she can have a male child to satisfy her penis envy. Eventually, the phase resolves, and the girl accepts that she doesn't have male genitalia. The phallic stage lasts from three years old till five or six years old. (Stevenson,

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