UNIT 3 Developmental Theories and Other Relevant Theories MODULE 5

Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory Maria Rita D. Lucas, PhD “The ego is not
master in its own house.” Sigmund Freud LEARNING OUTCOMES At the end of
this Module, you should be able to: explain Freud’s views about child and
adolescent development. ⚫draw implications of Freud’s theory to education.
INTRODUCTION Freud’s views about human development are more than a
century old. He can be considered the most well known psychologist because
of his very interesting theory about the unconscious and also about sexual
development. Although a lot of his views were criticized and some
considered them debunked, (he himself recanted some of his earlier views).
Freud’s theory remains to be one of the most influential in psychology. His
theory sparked the ideas in the brilliant minds of other theorists and thus
became the starting point of many other theories, notable of which is
Erikson’s Psychosocial theory in Module 7. ACTIVITY 1. Recall a recent
incident in your life when you had to make a decision. Narrate the situation
below. Indicate what the decision was about, the factors that were involved
and how you arrived at your decision

Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development Freud is the most popular

psychologist that studied the development of personality, also probably the
most controversial. His theory of psychosexual development includes five
distinct stages, According to Freud, a person goes through the sequence of
these five stages and along the way there are needs to be met. Whether
these needs are met or not, determines whether the person will develop a
healthy personality or not. The theory is quite interesting for many because
Freud identified specific erogenous zones for each stage of development.
These are specific “pleasure areas” that become focal points for the
particular stage. If needs are not met along the area, a fixation occurs. As an
adult, the person will now manifest behaviors related to this erogenous zone.

Oral Stage (birth to 18 months). The erogenous zone is the mouth. During
the oral stage, the child is focused on oral pleasures (sucking). Too much or
too little satisfaction can lead to an Oral Fixation or Oral Personality which is
shown in an increased focus on oral activities. This type of personality may
be oral receptive, that is, have a stronger tendency to smoke, drink alcohol,
overeat, or oral aggressive, that is, with a tendency to bite his or her nails, or
use curse words or even gossip. As a result, these persons may become too
dependent on others, easily fooled, and lack leadership traits. On the other
hand, they may also fight these tendencies and become pessimistic and
aggressive in relating with people.

Anal Stage (18 months to 3 years). The child’s focus of pleasure in this stage
is the anus. The child finds satisfaction in eliminating and retaining feces.
Through society’s expectations, particularly the parents, the child needs to
work on toilet training. Let us remember that between one year and a half to
three years the child’s favorite word might be “No!”. Therefore a struggle
might exist in the toilet training process when the child retains feces when
asked to eliminate, or may choose to defecate when asked to hold feces for
some reason. In terms of personality, fixation during this stage can result in
being anal retentive, an obsession with cleanliness, perfection, and control;
or anal expulsive where the person may become messy and disorganized.

Phallic Stage (ages 3 to 6). The pleasure or erogenous zone is the genitals.
During the preschool age, children become interested in what makes boys
and girls different. Preschoolers will sometimes be seen fondling their
genitals. Freud’s studies led him to believe that during this stage boys
develop unconscious sexual desire for their mother. Boys then see their
father as a rival for her mother’s

Affection. Boys may fear that their father will punish them for these feelings,
thus, the castration anxiety. These feelings comprise what Freud called
Oedipus Complex. In Greek Mythology, Oedipus unintentionally killed his
father and married his mother Jocasta.

Psychoanalysts also believed that girls may also have a similar experience,
developing unconscious sexual attraction towards their father. This is what is
referred to as the Electra Complex.

According to Freud, out of fear of castration and due to the strong

competition of their father, boys eventually decide to identify with them
rather than fight them. By identifying with their father, the boys develop
masculine characteristics and identify themselves as males and repress their
sexual feelings toward their mother. A fixation at this stage could result in
sexual deviancies (both overindulging and avoidance) and weak or confused
sexual identity according to psychoanalysts.

Latency Stage (age 6 to puberty). It’s during this stage that sexual urges
remain repressed. The children’s focus is the acquisition of physical and
academic skills. Boys usually relate more with boys and girls with girls during
this stage.

Genital Stage (puberty onwards). The fifth stage of psychosexual

development begins at the start of puberty when sexual urges are once
again awakened. In the earlier stages, adolescents focus their sexual urges
towards the opposite sex peers, with the pleasure centered on the genitals.

Freud’s Personality Components Freud described the personality structures

as having three components, the id, the ego and the superego. For each
person, the first to emerge is the id, followed by the ego, and last to develop
is the superego.

While reading about the three components, use the graphic organizer below
to put your notes and questions about them.

The id. Freud says that, a child is born with the id. The id plays a vital role in
one’s personality because as a baby, it works so that the baby’s essential
needs are met. The id operates on the pleasure principle. It focuses on
immediate gratification or satisfaction of its needs. So whatever feels good
now is what it will pursue with no consideration for the reality, logicality or
practicality of the situation. For example, a baby is hungry. It's id wants food
or milk… so the baby will, cry. When the child needs to be changed, the id
cries. When the child is uncomfortable, in pain, too hot, too cold, or just
wants attention, the id speaks up until his or her needs are met.
Nothing else matters to the id except the satisfaction of its own needs. It is
not oriented towards considering reality nor the needs of others. Just see
how babies cry any time of day and night! Absolutely no regard of whether
mommy is tired or daddy is sleeping. When the id wants something, it wants
it now and it wants it fast!

The ego. As the baby turns into a toddler and then into a preschooler, he/she
relates more with the environment, the ego slowly begins to emerge. The
ego operates using the reality principle. It is aware that others also have
needs to be met. It is practical because it knows that being impulsive or
selfish can result to negative consequences later, so it reasons and considers
the best response to situations. As such, it is the deciding agent of the
personality. Although it functions to help the id meet its needs, it always
takes into account the reality of the situation.

The superego. Near the end of the preschool years, or the end of the phallic
stage, the superego develops. The superego embodies a person’s moral
aspect. This develops from what the parents, teachers and other persons
who exert influence impart to be good or moral. The superego is likened to
conscience because it exerts influence on what one considers right and
wrong.
The Three Components and Personality Adjustment Freud said that a well-
adjusted person is one who has strong ego, who can help satisfy the needs of
the Id without going against the superego while maintaining the person’s
sense of what is logical, practical and real. Of course, it is not easy for the
ego to do all that and strike a balance. If the id exerts too much power over
the ego, the person becomes too impulsive and pleasure-seeking behavior
takes over one’s life. On the opposite direction, one may find the superego
so strong that the ego is overpowered. The person becomes so harsh and
judgmental to himself and others’ actions. The person’s best effort to be
good may still fall short of the superego’s expectations.

The ability of a learner to be well-adjusted is largely influenced by how the

learner was brought up. His experiences about how his parents met his
needs, the extent to which he was allowed to do the things he wanted to do,
and also how he was taught about right and wrong, all figures to the type of
personality and consequent adjustment that a person will make. Freud
believed that the personality of an individual is formed early during the
childhood years.

Topographical Model The Unconscious. Freud said that most what we go

through in our lives, emotions, beliefs, feelings, and impulses deep within are
not available to us at a conscious level. He believed that most of what
influence us is our unconscious. The Oedipus and Electra Complex mentioned
earlier were both buried down into the unconscious, out of our awareness
due to the extreme anxiety they caused. While these complexes are in our
unconscious, they still influence our thinking, feeling and doing in perhaps
dramatic ways.

The conscious. Freud also said that all that we are aware of is stored in our
conscious mind. Our conscious mind only comprises a very small part of who
we are so that, in our everyday life, we are only aware of a very small, part
of what makes up our personality; most of what we are is hidden and out of
reach.

The Subconscions. The last part is the preconscious or subconscious. This is

the part of us that we can reach if prompted, but is not in our active
conscious. Its right below the surface, but still “hidden” somewhat unless we
search for it. Information such as our telephone number, some childhood
memories, or the name of your best childhood friend is stored in the
preconscious.

Because the unconscious is so huge, and because we are only aware of the
very small conscious at any given time, Freud used the analogy of the
iceberg to illustrate it. A big part of the iceberg is hidden beneath the water’s
surface.

The water, may represent all that we are not aware of, have not experienced,
and that has not been made part of our personalities, referred to as the
nonconscious.