Freud's theory of psychosexual development

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Despite the progress in psychological science, Freud's ideas still continue to influence various areas of human life. The theory invented by him has a particularly strong influence on art and psychology. However, phrases such as "Freudian slip" or "Oedipus complex" can be heard everywhere.

The role of Freud's concept

Freud's theory turned all ideas about what motives drive human behavior upside down. The founder of psychoanalysis was the first to attempt to discover the hidden causes of the actions of one of the most unreliable witnesses, namely the human mind. Briefly, Freud's theory describes the causes of human life conflicts as follows: difficulties in childhood lead to problems, neuroses and pathologies in adulthood. In the personal development of the child, the founder of psychoanalysis identified several phases. In the process of passing through these phases, a small person must solve problems that are important for his formation.

Research base of the founder of psychoanalysis

Anya dream, Freud believed, is a meaningful mental phenomenon that can be included in reality. Freud's main theory - psychoanalysis - was based on observations of a different nature. Already in his first works, the scientist referred to classical literature and its characters. To understand the complex mechanisms that govern human behavior, Freud studied not only the unconscious motives of his patients and their dreams, but also the complex characters of literary heroes, such as Shakespeare's Hamlet, Goethe's Faust.

The process of psychosexual development

What is Freud's theory of psychoanalysis? The main process that is explored with the help of this concept is psychosexual development. It is a strict sequence of stages of unfolding the instinctive energy inherent in the child, which is aimed at transforming physiological phenomena into a dimension of the psyche, which allows the body to adapt to the world around it. The ultimate task of development is the formation of consciousness, as well as socialization.

In Sigmund Freud's theory, this instinctive energy is called libido. She moves from one erogenous zone to another over time. Each of these zones at various stages of human life adapts to discharge libido and is associated with a specific developmental task.

What is fixation?

If this process occurs with difficulties, then these problem points, according to Freud's theory, are designated as fixations at a certain stage. As a rule, such violations are associated with eithera state of frustration in childhood, or with over-care. The presence of fixation leads to the emergence of special character traits in adulthood. A person regresses to early forms of satisfaction in difficult life circumstances. This is accompanied by a breakdown in adaptation to the outside world.

The main task of psychosexual development is the binding of sexual activity directly to the genitals, the transition from autoeroticism to heteroeroticism.

Oral stage

According to Freud's theory, there are several stages in this process. These are the oral, anal, phallic, genital stages. The first of these stages lasts approximately from birth to one and a half years. Babies are fed from the mother's breast, and at this stage, the mouth area is very closely connected with the process of satisfying physiological needs, getting pleasure. That is why the area of the mouth and those structures that are directly connected with it become the main focus of the baby's activity.

Freud was convinced that the mouth remains one of the most important erogenous zones throughout life. Even in adulthood, you can observe the residual effects of this period in the form of chewing gum, biting nails, smoking, kissing and overeating. All this is considered by the supporters of Freud's theory as attachment of the libido to the oral zone. It should be noted that the oral phase is divided into two stages - passive and aggressive. The passive phase takes place before the child has teeth. Then comes the aggressive-oral phase. Child withbegins to express his frustration with the help of his teeth. Fixation in this phase leads adults to develop personality traits such as cynicism, argumentativeness, and exploitation of others to satisfy their own needs.

According to Freud's theory, pleasure and human sexuality are closely intertwined. In this context, the latter is understood as a process of excitation that accompanies the process of saturation of the child. The first sources of pleasure for him are the mother's breast or an object that replaces it. Over time, the mother's breast loses its significance as an object of love. It is replaced by a part of his own body - the child sucks his finger to reduce the tension that inevitably arises from the lack of mother's care.

Micropsychoanalysis

Recently, the concept that psychosexual development does not begin at birth, but still in the womb, is becoming more widespread. Already during this period, the development of emotions, inclinations, the ability to enjoy one's own body.

Freud managed to debunk the common myth about the "golden childhood" - an age that knows no difficulties. It was replaced by the myth of the "beautiful age" of the prenatal period, when mother and child are in complete unity. However, micropsychoanalysts have shown that in reality no symbiosis exists at this time. Mother and child can be in a complex, and often conflicting relationship. The child is born withnegative experience of struggle and confrontation. And from this point of view, the trauma of birth is not the very first in a person's life.

Anal stage

The next stage after oral in Freud's psychoanalytic theory of development is called anal. This stage begins at the age of about one and a half years and lasts up to three. During this period, the child learns to go to the potty on his own. He enjoys this process of control very much, as it is the first function that requires him to be aware of his own actions.

Freud was convinced that the way a parent teaches a child to potty has an impact on his development in later stages. All future forms of self-control begin at this stage.

If difficulties arise in the relationship between the child and the parent, this has an impact on the formation of character. For example, a child refuses to go to the potty, and then pisses in his pants, feeling the joy of causing inconvenience to the mother. The child develops the so-called anal character, manifested in greed, pedantry, striving for perfectionism.

Phallic stage

Lasts 3, 5 to 6 years. At this stage, the child begins to explore his own body, to examine his genitals. He has a genuine interest in the parent of the opposite sex. Then there is identification with the parent of the same sex, as well as instilling a specific gender role. If difficulties arise at this stage, then this leads to self-identification.with the opposite sex, as well as difficulties in communicating with partners.

The interests of the child are concentrated at this stage around their own genitals. At this stage, a complex mental formation arises, known in Freud's theory of psychoanalysis as the Oedipus complex.

Some researchers emphasize that it is better in this case to speak of an oedipal conflict, because it is directly related to the desire to achieve a parent of the opposite sex and the impossibility of having one in reality. The resolution of this conflict leads to a transition from the desire to have your own mother to the need to become like your father. The oedipal situation can accompany a person throughout his conscious life, even if he managed to successfully go through it in childhood. Manifestations of this stage are experiences of rivalry, envy, jealousy, the dependence of attractiveness for the opposite sex on achievements. Also, the oedipal situation can metaphorically denote an unconscious desire to regress to an early symbiotic relationship with the mother.

Role of oedipal conflict

This phenomenon performs several important tasks for development. First, in the oedipal situation, for the first time in the relationship between mother and child, a third one appears - the father. The child passes from the mere connection with the mother to relationships with other objects. Dyadic relations turn into triad ones, where the father is included. Thus, there is a gradual transition to life in a group.

Also, the oedipal situation makes the childface reality. In the ancient Greek myth of Oedipus, the truth became known only after the crime had taken place. The Oedipus complex forces the child to face the terrible truth that he is not an adult. However, with a positive resolution of the conflict, relations with him will continue. From the point of view of Melanie Klein, who continued to develop the psychoanalytic theory of Z. Freud, this situation is resolved simultaneously with the transition of the child from the so-called paranoid phase to the depressive one. In the latter, the child integrates the experience of both good and bad relationships with the same parent and maintains a constant relationship with him. For the first time he sees the difference between his claims and possibilities, between the psyche and physical reality.

What else is there to get through a difficult period?

The child is in the so-called third position. He is not a participant, but an observer of the mother-father relationship. This is the basis for a special psychic formation, which is known in Freud's psychoanalytic theory as the observing ego. Also in the process of resolving the Oedipus complex, the formation of the super-ego occurs. It is believed that the child is more easily identified with such a parent who has a greater potential for frustration.

Unlike other stages of development, when the main task of the child is to overcome the resistance of the environment, during the oedipal conflict, he must take the position of the loser and be metaphorically expelled from the parental couple. If this does not happen, then the unresolved situation becomes the basisfor further revisions. We can say that it is precisely from the difficulties of resolving the Oedipus complex that the neurotic character is formed.

According to Freud's theory of development, neurosis is directly related to the conflict between two opposing aspirations - to individuation and belonging. Before the onset of the phallic stage, the child is primarily concerned with issues of physical survival, as well as separation and dependence in the dyadic relationship with the mother. In this respect, the echo of the Oedipal conflict, as Freud believed, really haunts a person throughout his life.

Latent phase

According to Freud's theory of personality, this stage lasts from 6 to 12 years and is characterized by a decrease in sexual interest. Libido at this stage is divorced from the sexual object, it is directed to the development of universal human experience, which is enshrined in science and culture. Also, energy is directed to building friendships with peers and surrounding adults who are not part of the family circle.

Genital stage

With the onset of puberty, sexual and aggressive impulses are restored. Together with them, interest in the opposite sex is renewed. The initial stage of this stage is characterized by biochemical changes within the body. The reproductive organs mature, a large amount of hormones are released. This provokes the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics (for example, coarsening of the voice in boys, the formation of mammary glands in girls).

Freud's personality theory states that all individuals go through a "homosexual stage" in early adolescence. An explosion of energy is directed at a person of the same sex - it can be a teacher, a neighbor or a friend. This happens in the same way as in the process of resolving the Oedipus complex. While homosexual behavior is not a universal experience at this stage, adolescents tend to prefer the company of same-sex friends. However, over time, the partner of the opposite sex becomes the object of libido. Normally, in adolescence, this leads to courtship and the creation of a family.

Perfect human character

According to Freud's personality theory, the genital character is an ideal personality type. This is a mature and responsible person in social and sexual relations (not prone to adultery). He finds satisfaction in heterosexual love (he was able to overcome the "unhappy love" complex). Although Freud himself was opposed to sexual promiscuity, he was still more tolerant of it than most of his contemporaries. The founder of psychoanalysis understood that the discharge of libido during intercourse provides the possibility of physiological control over the impulses that come from the genitals. Control, in turn, allows you to contain the energy of instinct, and it reaches its highest point without the consequences of guilt or conflict.

Freud believed that in order to form an ideal character (which he considered genital), a person must abandon the passivity inherent in early age, whenlove and security came easily, demanding nothing in return. A person must learn to work, to postpone satisfaction for a certain period of time, to show love and care towards other people. First of all, he must take an active role in various life situations.

And vice versa, when various traumatic situations arise at an early age with a certain fixation of the libido, the normal entry into the genital stage becomes difficult, and in some cases even impossible. Freud argued that serious life conflicts in later life are just echoes of early difficulties that occurred in childhood.