Freud's Psychosexual Stages

The five stages of personality that Freud came up with are called the psychosexual stages. Four stages are associated with different sensitive parts of the body which become the center of attention as a baby grows up. They are called psychosexual because the word sexual is defined by Freud as the following: any pleasurable feeling associated with the stimulation of these sensitive zones. And these stages affect the person later on in life. As we go through each of the stages, one may become fixated upon a certain stage due to either: unsatisfied frustration or over-satisfaction. Freud said that every decision one makes is a result of the influence of the unconscious which is influence by the five stages.

The 5 Stages:
1) Oral Stage
Time of establishment: Birth – 1 year.
Center of attention: Satisfaction of the mouth (including tongue and lips).
Common example: Thumb sucking, some babies put everything they see into their mouth.
The 2 general personality features affected by experiences during the oral stage:
a) Oral Receptive: derived from the pleasure of received and digest food. This type of person makes relationships which are dependent on others. They are gullible and are interested in getting information, knowledge and material goods.
b) Oral Aggressive: derived from the pleasure of eating but more chewing and biting, they have more emphasis on the use of teeth. They are said to be sarcastic and argue a lot, they tend to be more protective by holding firmly to other people. They are also aggressive in relationships.

2) Anal Stage
Time of establishment: 2 – 3 years.
Center of attention: Anus.
Common example: Gratification when relieving tension in the toilet and stimulating the anus. Toilet-training.
The 2 general personality features affected by experiences during the oral stage:
a) Lack of potty training: Person tends to be disorganized, messy, stubborn, and aggressive. They are more prone to having emotional outbursts and temper tantrums.
b) Over - potty training: more organized, orderly and always ‘save’ for the future.

3) Phallic Stage
Time of establishment: 4 – 5 years.
Example: Satisfaction through masturbation.
This is the last infantile stage and results in the psychological and sex-role differences. It also affects the development of the superego.

Differences between boys and girls:
Boys:
Develop possessive love for mothers and are jealous of the fathers.
Oedipus complex develops in the boy has strong desire for his mom and hates his father
Experience Castration Anxiety - fear of losing their “boy parts”. Which are at this point the vital organ of pleasure
Girls:
Develop love for their dads
Electra complex in the girl has strong love for her dad and hates her mom.
Display Penis-Envy in girls want to obtain their own penis.

If a male is fixated: - he may devote his life for sexual gratification which he had missed as a child
- He may get attracted to other men.
If a female is fixated: - she may have more difficulty to identify with her mother. As they blame her for not getting a penis.

4) Latency Stage
Time of establishment: 6 – 12 years.
During this stage there is an absence of any certain sensitive area which influences a child.

5) Genital Stage
Time of establishment: puberty +
This phase is when the person feels sexual love, lust and affection towards others.

General Fixations
Fixated Stage Possible Outcomes
Oral Oral Personality or Bipolar Disorder
Anal Anal Retentive Personality, Anal Expulsive Personality, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
Phallic Phobia Disorder
Latency No Fixation
Genital Healthy Adult

Sources: Websites:

"Freud." Free Revision Notes. Revision Notes. 07 April 2008
<http://www.revision-notes.co.uk/revision/69.html>

Tucker, Melissa Ann. "Sigmund Freud." Southern Methodist University. Southern Methodist University. 7 Apr 2008 .

Images: people.smu.edu/mtucker/children.gif