INTRODUCTION Freud said that we are only conscious of a small amount of our mind’s events and that most of it rests hidden from us in our unconscious. (boundless) Erik Erikson discussed psychosocial stages. His ideas were greatly influenced by Freud, going along with Freud’s theory regarding the structure and topography of personality. (McLeod, 2008) Freud’s psychosexual theory of development: According to Freud, life was built on both tension and pleasure. Tension was because of the accumulation of libido or sexual energy and pleasure is from its discharge.
Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality explains the development of personality based on the interaction between Structural Modal agencies, namely id, ego and superego. The hedonistic id is the innate and primitive component present since birth, consisting instinctual drives: Eros, which is the life instinct as well as Thanatos which is the death instinct. Id operates on the pleasure-principle, demanding immediate gratification to avoid pain elicited when demands are not satisfied, regardless of the consequences. However, instant gratification may be impossible at times, hence inducing psychological tension. To minimize the arising tension, id engages in the primary process of forming mental images of desired objects, including
The child becomes aware of anatomical sex differences which sets in motion the conflict between attractions to others and Freud here called Oedipus complex in boys and electra complex in girls. Latency state ( 5 or 6 to puberty) Much of the child's energies are channeled into developing new skills and acquiring new knowledge and play becomes largely confined to other children of the same gender. Genital stage (Puberty to Adult) This is the last stage of Freud's psychosexual theory of personality development and begins in puberty. It is a time of adolescent sexual experimentation, the successful resolution of which is settling down in a loving one-to-one relationship with another person in our 20's. Sexual instinct is directed to heterosexual pleasure, rather than self pleasure like during the phallic stage.
Throughout each of the psychosexual stages, specific erotogenic zones, when stimulated, give rise to erotic pleasure. The earliest manifestations of infantile sexuality- nonsexual- associated with bodily functions- feeding and bowel and bladder control. As the libidinal energy shifts from the oral zone to the anal zone to the phallic zone, each stage of development is thought to build on and to subsume the accomplishments of the preceding stage. Freud suggested that phallic erotic activity in boys is a preliminary stage leading to adult genital activity. Freud postulated that the female has two
3. Psychoanalysis: A Synoptic View 3.1 Freudian Psychoanalytical Theory of Personality Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory of personality argues that Human behavior is the result of the interactions among three component parts of the mind: the id, ego and superego. Conflicts among the parts of the minds shape behavior and personality. These conflicts are mostly unconscious. And Psychoanalytic Theory is a framework for understanding the impact of the unconscious on thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
Jung, Adler, and Horney all agreed with the fundamentals of Freud’s psychoanalysis theory. However, they had significant theoretical differences in the effects of human nature and the role it plays in the development of the adult personality over a lifetime. Psychoanalysis Theory Freud’s primary techniques included free association and dream analysis, in order to uncover repressed memories of
According to Freud, psychological development in childhood stage depends on various factors, and it takes place at various psychosexual stages categorized as oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages. These stages are called psychosexual because of each of them is influenced by sexual drives and instincts which varies in female and male children. Freud believed that the behavior of an individual revolves round tension and pleasure which later produces sexual energy responsible for pleasure upon its discharge (Freud and Strachey). The human personality of an individual grows in such a way that is similar to the extension of sexual energy. As the human body matures, the accumulated human personality gets discharged automatically depending on the situation.
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) believed in a psychodynamic approach to psychology and focused on how the unconscious mind motivates the actions of a person. He believed that the psyche was divided into three parts (tripartite), the id, the ego and the superego, and all three develop at different stages in our lives. Whether we acknowledge the presence of this subconscious or not, it influences greatly the actions we engage in. The id (it), according to Freud, is the part of the brain that seeks pleasure, and is the most primitive part that makes up the personality. It holds all of our primal instincts and seeks immediate gratification.
According to Freud, conflicts happen during each of these stages can have a lifelong impact on personality and behavior. And if these psychosexual stages completed successfully, it resulted in a healthy personality. On the other hand if certain issues not resolved at suitable stage, fixation can occur. Fixation is a persistent focus on an earlier psychosexual stage. Erik Erikson’s psychosocial development theory is on developed eight-stage.
Like Freud, Erikson assumes that a crisis occurs at each stage of development. For Erikson (1963), these crises are of a psychosocial nature because they involve psychological needs of the individual (i.e. psycho) conflicting with the needs of society (i.e. social). According to the theory, successful completion of each stage results in a healthy personality and the acquisition of basic virtues.