Chapter 24. Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development

Learning Objectives

anal stage
according to Freud, the psychosexual stage during toddlerhood; pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; the child struggles with demands for control
latency stage
according to Freud, the psychosexual stage during the elementary school years; sexual feelings have been repressed (pushed into the unconscious), and sexual interest is now dormant
Electra complex
Freud’s term for the romantic feelings that a preschool girl has toward her father
Oedipus complex
Freud’s term for the romantic feelings that a preschool boy has toward his mother
fixation
according to Freud, being stuck at a particular stage of psychosexual development
oral stage
according to Freud, the psychosexual stage during infancy; the mouth is the focus of pleasure, activated through sucking, biting, and chewing
genital stage
according to Freud, the psychosexual stage during adolescence; sexual feelings re-emerge and are directed toward appropriate romantic targets
phallic stage
according to Freud, the psychosexual stage during early childhood; the pleasure zone is the genitals; the child struggles with incestuous sexual feelings
id
according to Freud, an unconscious component of the personality; present from birth, it is the repository of the sexual and aggressive urges that help humans survive
psychosexual stages
according to Freud, the five stages of personality development from infancy to adulthood
identification
according to Freud, the child’s way of resolving the Oedipal/Electra conflict by trying to become like the same-sex parent
repression
Freud’s term for pushing troubling feelings and memories into the unconscious; the basic defense mechanism that people use to deal with anxiety
libido
according to Freud, the “life force,” or “psychic energy,” that drives human behavior
superego
according to Freud, the component of the personality that holds our moral values and societal standards; develops during the phallic stage as the child identifies with the same-sex parent and takes on that parent’s values
Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
true
true
true
Learning Objectives:

Identify the five stages in Freud’s theory of psychosexual development.

Describe the relevant developmental issues at each stage of psychosexual development.

Review

concept_review

Review

Select the NEXT button to continue with the Review.

asset/activities/freud_stages/images/review.svg

1. Freud maintained that children develop through five psychosexual stages during which the libido—the “life force,” or pleasure-seeking energy contained within the id—is focused on different parts of the body.

Review

concept_review

Review

Select the NEXT button to continue with the Review.

Baby is chewing on a toy
Tetra images/Getty Images

2. During the oral stage (0 to 18 months), pleasure centers on the mouth, as the infant explores the world by sucking and tasting different objects.

Review

concept_review

Review

Select the NEXT button to continue with the Review.

asset/activities/freud_stages/images/anal_stage.svg

3. During the anal stage (toddlerhood, 18 to 36 months), bowel and bladder elimination becomes a source of gratification.

Review

concept_review

Review

Select the NEXT button to continue with the Review.

The first image is a father and daughter hugging
DigitalVision/Getty Images
The second image is a woman carrying her son on her back while he kisses her cheek
iStock/Getty Images

4. During the phallic stage (3 to 6 years), the pleasure zone shifts to the genitals. The young boy experiences the Oedipus complex, involving feelings toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for his father. The young girl develops romantic feelings toward her father (sometimes called the Electra complex) and sees her mother as a rival.

Review

concept_review

Review

Select the NEXT button to continue with the Review.

asset/activities/freud_stages/images/phallic_stage.svg

5. Children eventually deal with these threatening feelings by repressing them and trying to become like the rival parent. Through this identification process, they come to incorporate their parents’ values into their own superego—Freud's term for the child's internalized ideals.

Review

concept_review

Review

Select the NEXT button to continue with the Review.

The first image is an older girl throwing a baseball The second image is a teenage boy comforting a teenage girl with his arm on her shoulder

6. A period of latency (age 6 to puberty) in which sexual feelings are dormant is followed by the genital stage (from puberty into adulthood) in which the person begins to experience romantic and sexual feelings toward peers.

Review

concept_review

Review

Select the NEXT button to continue with the Review.

A man is smoking a cigarette
EyeEm/Getty Images

7. Freud believed that strong conflict could cause the libido to fixate, or “get stuck,” at a particular stage and produce maladaptive behavior in adulthood. For example, fixation at the oral stage might lead to excessive eating and smoking, as the adult tries to recapture the oral pleasure of infancy.

Practice: Psychosexual Development

hover_review
true

Practice: Psychosexual Development

Roll over each photo to see the stage of psychosexual development linked to that age.

0 to 18 months has a baby with a toy in her mouth

0 to 18 months

18 to 36 months has a toddler girl sitting on a small toilet

18 to 36 months

3 to 6 years has a young boy being carried on his mother's back while he kisses her cheek

3 to 6 years

6 years to puberty has an older girl petting a dog

Age 6 to puberty

From puberty on has a teenage girl with her arm around the shoulders of a teenage boy

from puberty on

Tetra Images/Getty Images
iStock/Getty Images
iStock/Getty Images
E+/Getty Images
DigitalVision/Getty Images

Focus of the libido:

pleasure centers on the mouth, activated through sucking, biting, and chewing

pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; child struggles with demands for control

pleasure zone is the genitals; child struggles with incestuous sexual feelings

sexual feelings have been repressed, and sexual interest is now dormant

sexual feelings are directed toward appropriate romantic targets

Quiz 1

dnd_test

Quiz 1

Drag each stage label to the drop area on the appropriate photo. When all the labels have been placed, select the CHECK ANSWER button.

0 to 18 months has a baby with a toy in her mouth
Tetra Images/Getty Images
18 to 36 months has a toddler girl sitting on a small toilet
iStock/Getty Images
3 to 6 years has a young boy being carried on his mother's back while he kisses her cheek
iStock/Getty Images
6 years to puberty has an older girl petting a dog
E+/Getty Images
From puberty on has a teenage girl with her arm around the shoulders of a teenage boy
DigitalVision/Getty Images
Select the NEXT button and move to Quiz 2.
Perhaps you should go back to review the stages of psychosexual development.
Phallic
Oral
Anal
Latency
Genital

Quiz 2

matching_test

Quiz 2

Match the stages with their descriptions by dragging each colored circle to the appropriate gray circle. When all the lines have been placed, select the CHECK ANSWER button.

Select the NEXT button and move to the Conclusion.
Perhaps you should go back to review Freud’s stages of psychosexual development.
Oral stage
Anal stage
Phallic stage
Latency stage
Genital stage
Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; child struggles with demands for control.
Sexual feelings are directed toward appropriate romantic targets.
Sexual feelings have been repressed, and sexual interest is now dormant.
Pleasure centers on the mouth, activated through sucking, biting, and chewing.
Pleasure zone is the genitals; child struggles with incestuous sexual feelings.

Conclusion

end_slide
Congratulations!
You have completed the activity Title