The Psychosexual Stages of Development - Research Paper Example

The psychosexual stages of development Freud proposed a personality development theory focused on the impacts of sexual pleasure on the psyche of an individual. Different stages of development bring along different needs that, if not met, induce frustration. The child shows reluctance to move on to the next stage because of overindulgence. The combined effect of frustration and overindulgence is that a certain part of the libido is permanently locked into their stage of occurrence. Children who progress through the stages of development while resolving all the conflicts have little libido remaining in the developmental stages. Fixation at a particular stage makes the way of attaining satisfaction characterizing that stage dominating in the child’s personality as an adult. There are five stages of personality development identified by Freud; oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latency period, and genital period (Stevenson, 1996). The oral stage starts at birth. In this stage, the main focus of libidal energy is the oral cavity. Children who are excessively nursed and cared for in this stage become optimistic and gullible whereas those who are deprived of the care they need become pessimistic. The duration of the oral stage is about a year and a half. The anal stage generally lasts from the end of the oral stage till the age of two years. The child in this stage develops anal expulsive or anal retentive character based on the conflict between id, ego, and superego. The anal expulsive character is disorganized and messy whereas the anal retentive character is organized and neat. The most crucial sexual conflict occurs in the phallic stage in which, the genital region becomes the child’s erogenous zone. The conflict for boys is called as the Oedipus complex whereas that for girls is called as the Electra complex. Resolution of his conundrum moves the boy into the latency period. While girls also move into the latency period, they remain slightly fixated in the same stage. Phallic character develops from fixation at the phallic stage. Such a character is resolute and proud whereas failed resolution of this conflict induces fear and incapability of having close love in the individual. Sexual drive remains dormant during the psychosexual stage. Latency is a period when sexual desires remain repressed. Children use the repressed energy of libido into asexual activities. However, with the onset of puberty, genitals again become the libidal energy’s focus. Child’s energy is focused on genitals in the genital stage. The more the energy left used in the unresolved psychosexual developments, the lesser the child’s tendency to develop normal heterosexual relationships. The psychosocial stages of development Erikson proposed a developmental model for the whole lifespan, that consists of five stages in total up to 18 years of age and another three lie beyond that age well into the adulthood (Cherry, 2013). According to Erikson, an individual has plentiful room of sustained development and growth throughout the life. Erikson’s theory places immense emphasis on the period of adolescence considering it a critical stage in the development of personality. Personality has a predetermined order of development. The maturation timetable results in the development of an integrate set of competencies that operate together in an individual. The first psychosocial stage is infancy which lasts from birth till the child gets 18 months old. The basic conflict in infancy is between trust and mistrust whereas the important event in this stage is feeding. The second stage is early childhood lasting from two to three years of age. The basic conflict in early childhood is between autonomy and shame. This stage’s important event is toilet training. Preschool is the third stage that lasts from three to five years. The basic conflict in preschool is between initiative and guilt. Important event in this stage is exploration. School age is the fourth stage that lasts from six to 11 years. The basic conflict in school age is between industry and inferiority whereas the important event is school. The fifth stage is adolescence lasting from 12 to 18 years. The basic conflict in adolescence is between identity and role confusion with social relationships being the important event. Young adulthood is the sixth stage lasting from 19 to 40 years. The basic conflict in young adulthood is between intimacy and isolation. The important event in this stage is relationships. The seventh stage of middle adulthood lasts from 40 to 65 years. The basic conflict in middle adulthood is between generativity and stagnation. This stage’s important event is work and parenthood. The last stage is maturity that lasts from the age of 65 years till death. The basic conflict in maturity is between ego integrity and despair. Reflection on life is this stage’s important event. Merits and shortcomings The merit of the psychosexual development theory of Freud is that it has taken the study and understanding of psychology to a completely new level trespassing all previous records. Accordingly, this is one of the most popular theory in the field of psychology. At the same time, this theory is quite controversial because many people do not really identify with the patterns of development and the thoughts, desires, and aspirations Freud considers associated with each psychosexual stage of development. One strength of the psychosocial development theory of Erikson is the way it ties the important patterns of psychosocial development together across the whole life together. Erikson’s approach with respect to the developmental causes is vague. Erikson projects an increasingly descriptive view of the social and emotional development of humans which does not lay an adequate explanation of the way development occurs or the reason for which it occurs (McLeod, 2008). For instance, there is no explicit explanation of the way personality is influenced by the outcome of a particular psychosocial stage at a later point in time. The theory I subscribe to Of the two, the theory I subscribe to is Eriskon’s theory of psychosocial development. I believe that human psychology is more affected by the social experiences rather than patterns through which sexual maturity is obtained or the thoughts and feelings accompanying each stage of sexual development. While the different stages of sexual development do have an impact on one’s outlook on life as well as relations, the effect is far outweighed by the effect of social experiences. For one, this might be because of the fact that stages in the way of attainment of sexual maturity take long to alter whereas one’s social experiences alter and modify every single day. Besides, we get a lot of counseling and education about how to behave socially very easily and everywhere whereas guidance regarding how to deal with sexual feelings is almost non-existent particularly during the early stages and for the most part, the right courses of action have to be self-discovered. This inculcates more objectivity in the psychosocial development as compared to the psychosexual development. Freud suggested that specific body parts including anus, genitals, and mouth become sensitive to the sexual stimulation at specific points in the process of development. The libido of a child depends upon the behavior that influences his/her age’s primary erogenous zone so that the child cannot focus on the next stage’s primary erogenous zone unless the immediate zone’s developmental conflict has been successfully resolved. I think that every element of social behavior can simply not be explained in terms of sexual maturity. Sexual maturity is just one of the factors whereas most of the factors are related to the individual’s upbringing and social experiences. Nevertheless, there are certain aspects of Freud’s theory that I consider true e.g. the fact that “id is thought to be the seat of all our basic, innate, drives and impulses” (Heffernan, 2005, p. 4). References: Cherry, K. (2013). Erikson's Psychosocial Stages Summary Chart. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/library/bl_psychosocial_summary.htm. Heffernan, T. M. (2005). A Student's Guide To Studying Psychology. USA: Psychology Press. McLeod, S. (2008). Erik Erikson. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik- Erikson.html. Stevenson, D. B. (1996). Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development. Retrieved from http://www.victorianweb.org/science/freud/develop.html. Read More