Stages of psychosexual development

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Stages of psychosexual 
development 
Sigmund Freud is commonly known as the ‘father’ of the 
psychodynamic approach to personality. 
In his view, human behaviour is determined by the interaction of 
various unconscious psychological processes of the mind. Freud 
referred to these unconscious areas of the mind as the ​id​, ​ego​ and 
superego​. 
Freud believed that the nature of the conflicts among the id, 
ego, and superego change over time as a person grows from 
child to adult. 
Specifically, he maintained that these conflicts progress through a 
series of five basic stages, each with a different focus, as outlined in 
the following table. 
He called his idea the ​psychosexual theory of development ​, with 
each psychosexual stage directly related to a different physical 
centre of pleasure (‘erogenous zones’). 
Stage and age Erogenous zone 
Oral: 0 to 1 years of age Mouth 
Anal: 1 to 3 years of age Anus 
Phallic: 3 to 6 years of age Gentials 
Latency: 6 to 12 years of age None 
Genital: 12+ years of age Genitals 
Across these five stages, the child is presented with different 
conflicts between their biological drives ​(id)​ and their social and 
moral conscience ​(superego)​ because their biological 
pleasure-seeking urges focus on different areas of the body. 
The child’s ability to resolve these internal conflicts 
determines their future ability to cope and function as an adult, 
according to Freud. 
Failure to resolve a stage can lead one to become fixated in that 
stage, leading to unhealthy personality traits. By contrast, 
successful resolution of the stages leads to a healthy well-adjusted 
adult. 
Variations on Freud’s personality theory 
Although Freud’s theories have helped to expand our initial 
understanding of personality, they have been criticised for their 
focus on abnormal aspects of human personality. It is commonly 
said that this approach does not acknowledge the dimensional 
nature of normal experience which can be perceived as abnormal at 
its extreme. 
Freud’s theories have also under valued the influence of social and 
cultural experiences in shaping the development and expression of 
personality. Furthermore, Freud’s theories are not supported by 
sound empirical (experimental) data and are difficult to disprove 
with research. 
Critics also highlight that many of Freud’s assumptions and 
approaches of psychodynamic theory are profoundly male 
dominated, anti-feminist, and misogynistic. 
The Neo-Freudians 
Neo-Freudian approaches or theories that built and further 
expanded upon Freud’s original work were developed by a number 
of his students and colleagues who had worked closely with Freud. 
One of the most well-known neo-Freudian theories was put forward 
by Carl Jung, who introduced the idea of a collective unconscious, 
which he deemed a ‘universal’ version of Freud’s personal 
unconscious, holding mental patterns, or memory traces, that are 
common to all of us. 
These ancestral memories, which Jung called archetypes, are 
represented by universal themes as expressed through various 
cultures’ literature and art, as well as people’s dreams. Jung also 
emphasised that the libido is more a general energy source that 
drives creativity, productive adjustment and self- oriented growth. 
Jung believed that the persona literally referred to a ‘mask’ or 
facade that we adopt based on our conscious experiences and 
our collective unconscious. 
Jung proposed that this persona served as a compromise between 
who we really are (our true self) and what society expects us to be. 
The resulting facade is put on to show the world the best version of 
ourselves and hide those parts of ourselves that are not aligned 
with society’s expectations.