I'm interested in this subject and here's some theories I've been reading about and quite illuminating they are to as to the way people behave and develop as individuals.
Freud developed a theory of personality (psychoanalytic theory) as a way to explain the dynamics that may create pathological behaviours in people. Innate drives interact with early experiences and may produce conflicts that lead to unhealthy behaviours. The personality consists of the id, ego and superego. The id and ego are often in conflict because they are driven by the opposing pleasure and reality principles. Conflicts cause the individual to experience anxiety. The ego protects itself against anxiety using defence mechanisms such as repression, displacement, projection, denial and intellectualisation.
Freud assumed that the mind is metaphorically divided into three parts. First, there is the id. This contains innate sexual and aggressive instincts, and is located in the unconscious mind. The sexual instinct is known as the libido. The id works in accord with the pleasure principle, with the emphasis being on immediate satisfaction. Second, there is the ego. This is the conscious, rational mind, and it develops during the first 2 years of life. It works on the reality principle, taking account of what is going on in the environment, ie in reality. Third, there is the superego. This develops at about the age of 5 and embodies the child's conscience and sense of right and wrong. It is formed when the child adopts many of the values of the same sex parent (the process of identification).
Psychosexual development involves the attachment of the libido to various body regions at different stages of development, oral, anal and phallic stages are followed by a latent period and finally a genital stage. The phallic stage is important in moral development and includes the Oedipus (Electra) complex, which leads to identification. Personality development is the consequence of over or under gratification at any stage, leading to a fixation (libido attached to that stage). Anxiety later in life leads to regression to a previously fixated stage.
Freud described early personality development in terms of a series of stages, where in each stage the child's energy or libido is focused on a body region. The term 'libido' was Freud's word for the psychological and sexual energy produced by the id. When Freud used the word 'sexual' he was not referring to sexuality as in sexual intercourse but rather to a more general physical and sensual arousal, perhaps simply a state of pleasure. These five stages are psychosexual because of this psychological and sexual energy.
1. Oral stage: This occurs during the first 18 months of life. During this stage, the infant obtains satisfaction from eating, sucking and other acttivities using the mouth. It is possible that over or under gratification at this stage could lead to eating disorders later in life, although other factors may play a part, when anxiety will then fixate itself upon this area.
a) Oral receptive personality -> very trusting, dependent on others.
b) Oral aggressive personality -> aggressive and dominating.
2. Anal stage: This occurs between about 18 and 36 months of age. Toilet training occurs during this stage, which may cause conflict. Over strict training at this stage can lead to people having an 'anal' personality, whereby they become obsessive and picky over the minutest detail. OCD can occur later in life.
a) Anal receptive personality -> very generous and giving.
b) Anal retentive personality -> mean, stubborn, obsessively tidy.
3) Phallic stage: This occurs between 3 and 6 years of age. The genitals become a key source of satisfaction during this stage. At about the age of 5, boys acquire the Oedipus complex, in which they have unconscious sexual desires for their mother and therefore want to rid of their father who is a rival. They then also fear their father who might realise what they are thinking. This complex is resolved by identification with their father, involving many of their father's atttitudes and developing a superego. There is a similar process in girls called the Electra complex in which they desire their fathers. Freud's own view was that during the genital stage, girls come to recognise that they don't have a penis and blame their mother for this. The girl's father now becomes her love object and she substitutes her penis envy with a wish to have a child. This leads to a kind of resolution and ultimate indentification with her same sex parent.
Phallic personality type -> self assured, vain, impulsive. Later in life these people can have difficulties in forming lasting, comitted relationships with members of the opposite sex if these problems aren't resolved in childhood or early adulthood. If a child can't indentify or resolve differences with either parent, then they will ultimately have difficult relationships with a person of the same sex as the parent they have unresolved conflict with.
4) Latency stage: This lasts from 6 years of age until the onset of puberty. During this stage, boys and girls spend very little time together.
5) Genital stage: This starts from the onset of puberty and continues throughout adult life. During this stage, the main source of sexual pleasure is in the genitals.
Genital personality type -> well adjusted, mature, able to love and be loved. These people have grown in to well adjusted adults as a a result of classical conditioning from a positivistic approach to their upbringing ie lots of praise when they achieved something.
*phew* hope that it's not too much of a long read [img]wink.gif[/img]
Janie xx
<font color="#9966FF" size="1">[ October 18, 2003 01:52 PM: Message edited by: DarrensPassion ]</font>
...then they will ultimately have difficult relationships with a person of the same sex as the parent they have unresolved conflict with.
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Since that would be my mother that would partly explain why I sometimes have difficulty relating to other women.
I forgot to say thanks Janie and I hope you were able to cut and paste all that [img]smile.gif[/img]
Michelle
xx
<font color="#9966FF" size="1">[ October 18, 2003 01:54 PM: Message edited by: Juliet10 ]</font>
It wasn't a cut and paste job Michelle. Some of this is information I've gleaned from books and some of it is my own comments that I've reached about these findings. I have to say though that some of Freud's theories are a bit extreme [img]wink.gif[/img]
Janie xx
Maeks sense, thanx for typing Janie
[img]smile.gif[/img]
I have to say though that some of Freud's theories are a bit extreme [img]wink.gif[/img]
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Aren't they just? lol
Michelle
xx
<font size="3" face="Tempus sans ITC, Papyrus,Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">He seemed to be unheathily obsessed with genitalia, imo. [img]eek.gif[/img] Perhaps he had a dinky one! [img]wink.gif[/img] lolOriginally posted by Juliet10:
I have to say though that some of Freud's theories are a bit extreme [img]wink.gif[/img]
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Aren't they just? lol
Michelle
xx
Thanks for typing that up, Janie. It made for very interesting reading. [img]smile.gif[/img]
I think Freud was a sex obsessed idiot. Just my opinion.
Gaaaaaaaah Janie what you doing. Sounded like my Psych study that I do..LOL
Kat
That was interesting Janie, thanks for that. It made very interesting reading. I'm very interested in psychology and psychoanalysis myself.
Joyce
xx
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