Stages of Psychosexual Development

The first stage of the psychosexual development is the ‘oral stage’ this is developed from the ages 0-1, this is when the child is breast feeding and being weaned. The focus of oral pleasure is the mouth, children also take comfort and knowledge of the world via their mouth. Oral characteristics can include an enjoyment of food, drink and attitudes. 

The second stage is the ‘anal stage’ this is developed between the ages of 2-3 and this stage focus’ on organs and the pleasure now shifts to the anus. The child is now fully aware they are a person in their own right and that their wishes can bring them into conflict with demands from the outside world. Freud believed this type of conflict tends to come to a head in potty training.

The third stage of the psychosexual development is the ‘phallic stage’ this is 3-6 years and the start of this stage is focused of organ. The pleasure has shifted to the genitals as the child becomes fully aware of their gender. This concides with a growing awareness of the child’s exclusion from some aspects of its parents lives for example sleeping in the same room. Three way relationships are known as Oedipus complex. This is where a rivalry relationship develops between the child and the same sex parent for affection of the opposite sex parent. Freud believed on an unconscious level, a boy is expressing instinctive wishes to have sex with mother and to kill his father.

The fourth stage is the ‘latent stage’ this is from the age of 6 up until puberty. Libido is suppressed which is a person’ssex drive or desire for sexual activity. During this stage the ‘ego’ and ‘superego’ continue to develop, this means a period of calm were the child enters school and becomes interested in their friends relationships, hobbies and activities. The sexual energy that was present before this stage is still there but it is used to keep up with being social and working hard in school. The Latent Stage is important because it helps develop self-confidence and social skills.

The last stage is the Genital Stage; this stage begins during puberty and lasts until death. This is where they are attracted to the opposite sex and they are focused on their genitals but are interested in the well-being of others.

Oral fixation has two possible outcomes:

• Oral receptive personality is preoccupied with eating and drinking and this reduces the tension through oral activity such as eating, drinking, biting nails and smoking. Their personality is generally passive, needy and sensitive to rejection. 
• Oral aggressive personality is hostile and verbally abusive to others using mouth-based aggression. 

Anal fixation: This may be caused by too much punishment during the toilet training stage.

• Anal retentive personality is stingy with compulsive seeking of order and tidiness. This person is usually stubborn and a perfectionist. 
• Anal expulsive personality is the opposite to the anal retentive personality as it lacks self control and people who are like this are generally messy and careless about things.

Phallic stage:

Around the age of 5 or 6 towards the end of the phallic stage, the boys experience Oedipus complex and the girls experience the Electra conflict. The process which they learn to identify with the same gender parent by acting like that parent. 

• Boys suffer castration anxiety. The son believes that the father knows about his desire and defensively identifies with his father. 
• Girls suffer penis envy. The daughter initially is attached to their mother but shifted attachment occurs when they realised that they lack penis. The girl desires her father because she sees him as a mean to obtain a penis substitute (child). The girl then represses her desire for her father and incorporates the values of her mother and accepts her inherent in society. 

Page produced by Jess Presland, Abi Hunter and Abbie Evans