Sigmund Freud

Father of Psycho-sexual Theory of Development

1856 - 1939

• Born in 1856, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire

• Freud’s father was a small time merchant

• Freud’s mother was the second wife for Freud’s father

• Freud had 2 half brothers, who were 20 years older than he

• Freud’s family background was Jewish but he was an avowed atheist

• In this time period, as a Jewish man, Freud’s only career options were medicine and law

• He chose medicine and specialized in neurology

• In 1886 Freud married, moved to Vienna, Austria and opened a practice specializing in nervous and brain disorders

• In 1900 he introduced the world to ‘Freudian slips’ which he described as slips of the tongue where the thoughts of the unconscious mind were revealed;

i.e. - ‘can I give you a hand?’ said to a one armed person

• Super Ego is part ofthe Preconscious mind

• Ego*

• Id is part of the Unconscious mind

* Ego is floating is all 3states

• Because the unconscious is so large, and because we are only aware of the very small conscious at any given time, this theory is likened to an iceberg, where the vast majority is buried beneath the water’s surface

• The water would represent everything that we are not aware of, have not experienced, and that has not been integrated into our personalities, referred to the as nonconscious

Psychoanalytic Theory

• Stated that the mind is divided into 2 parts:

– The conscious – the part of which we are aware

– The unconscious – the part of which we are not aware

The unconscious mind has more influence than the conscious has on our personality & behaviour

• The unconscious is further divided into 3 parts:– the id – encourages us to seek physical

satisfaction (sexual, nutritional)– the superego – prompts us to do the moral

thing, not the one that feels the best– the ego – referees between the id and

superego, and deals with external reality (our conscious self)

• Freud believed that these 3 parts (id, ego, superego) affect our personality development, and our individual behaviour

• He also maintained that our early childhood experiences, usually involving our relationships with our parents & family, are stored in our unconscious mind

Psycho-sexual Theory

• Freud believed that individual sexual satisfaction or frustration was the key element in personality development

• He also stated that the sex drive was the greatest shaper of personality, and that sexuality was even present in infants

Psycho-sexual Theory

By Sigmund Freud

Duration Pleasure Zone

Main Characteristics

Tasks to Achieve

1. Oral Stage

* Duration: from birth to 1 year of age• Pleasure zone: mouth• Main characteristics: main source of

pleasure is the mouth, lips, tongue, etc.– The main concern is with immediate

gratification of urges dominated by the id

* Tasks to achieve: satisfactory feeding & weaning

• Did you ever notice how little children tend to put everything in their mouths? This makes perfect sense from Freud’s perspective, who says that that is their primary pleasure zone

2. Anal Stage

• Duration: from 1-2 years of age

• Pleasure zone: Anus

• Main characteristics: controlling and controlling the bowels and bladder; the ego starts to control the id

• Tasks to achieve: potty and toilet training

Anally retentive?

• Perhaps you have heard this term… typically it refers to someone who is extremely stubborn; won’t let go of something once it is over; bears a grudge forever

3. Phallic Stage

• Duration: from 2-6 years of age• Pleasure zone: phallus• Main characteristics: some pleasure is

gained from playing with the genitals. This pleasure is associated with the same sex parent leading to the Oedipus and Electra Complexes

• Id demands, ego tries to satisfy id, and superego tries to impose moral choices

• Did you ever notice how sometimes little children will unashamedly put their hands down their pants and walk around in public? Freud says that since the genitals are a source of pleasure they also provide comfort to a young child.

• Oedipus Complex – little boys have a sexual attraction towards their mothers and a sense of jealousy/hatred towards their fathers

• Electra Complex – little girls have a sexual attraction towards their fathers and a sense of jealousy/hatred towards their mothers

• Freud says that these Complexes are not resolved through murder, but through gradual identification with the same sex parent (assuming the goals, ambitions, mannerisms,& other personality traits)

4. Latency Stage

• Duration: from 6-11 years of age

• Pleasure zone: none

• Main characteristics: Oedipus and Electra Complexes are resolved and identification with same sex parent occurs, and loss of interest in opposite sex. Id, ego, superego continue to compete

• Tasks to achieve: none

5. Genital Stage

• Duration: from 11 years on

• Pleasure zone: genitals

• Main characteristics: increasing concern with adult ways of experiencing sexual pleasure

• Tasks to achieve: good relationships with members of both sexes

Fixation

• Freud says that a person can become stuck or fixated at any stage and may not progress beyond it, continuing to find pleasure in the pleasure zone associated with that stage

• i.e. – gum chews, pencil biters, smokers are said to be fixated at the Oral Stage

Penis Envy

• Freud believed that girls suffered from penis envy because boys had penis’ and girls were without them

• Sigmund Freud died in 1939 in England at the age of 83, from cancer of the jaw (following years of cigar smoking – he himself claimed to be orally fixated)