Freud's 5 Stages of Psychosexual

Development
By Saul McLeod (saul-mcleod.html), updated 2019

Freud proposed that personality development in childhood takes place during five
psychosexual stages, which are the oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages.
During each stage sexual energy (libido) is expressed in different ways and through
different parts of the body.

These are called psychosexual stages because each stage represents the
fixation of libido (roughly translated as sexual drives or instincts) on a
different area of the body. As a person grows physically certain areas of
their body become important as sources of potential frustration (erogenous
zones), pleasure or both.

Freud's 5 Psychosexual Stages

Oral Stage (Birth to 1 year)

Anal Stage (1 to 3 years)

Phallic Stage (3 to 6 years)

Latency Stage (6 to puberty)

Genital Stage (puberty to adult)

Freud (Sigmund-Freud.html) (1905) believed that life was built round tension and
pleasure. Freud also believed that all tension was due to the build-up of libido
(sexual energy) and that all pleasure came from its discharge.
In describing human personality development as psychosexual Freud meant to
convey that what develops is the way in which sexual energy of the id
(psyche.html#id) accumulates and is discharged as we mature biologically. (NB Freud
used the term 'sexual' in a very general way to mean all pleasurable actions and
thoughts).

Freud stressed that the first five years of life are crucial to the formation of adult
personality. The id (psyche.html#id) must be controlled in order to satisfy social
demands; this sets up a conflict between frustrated wishes and social norms.

The ego (psyche.html#ego) and superego (psyche.html#super) develop in order to

exercise this control and direct the need for gratification into socially acceptable
channels. Gratification centers in different areas of the body at different stages of
growth, making the conflict at each stage psychosexual.

The Role of Conflict

Each of the psychosexual stages is associated with a particular conflict that
must be resolved before the individual can successfully advance to the next
stage.

The resolution of each of these conflicts requires the expenditure of sexual

energy and the more energy that is expended at a particular stage, the more
the important characteristics of that stage remain with the individual as he/she
matures psychologically.

To explain this Freud suggested the analogy of military troops on the march. 
As the troops advance, they are met by opposition or conflict.  If they are
highly successful in winning the battle (resolving the conflict), then most of the
troops (libido) will be able to move on to the next battle (stage).

But the greater the difficulty encountered at any particular point, the greater
the need for troops to remain behind to fight and thus the fewer that will be
able to go on to the next confrontation.
Psychosexual Stages of Development

You can remember the order of these stages by using the mnemonic: “old
(oral) age (anal) pensioners (phallic) love (latent) grapes (genital).

Oral Stage (Birth to 1 year)

In the first stage of psychosexual development, the libido is centered in a baby's
mouth. During the oral stages, the baby gets much satisfaction from putting all sorts
of things in its mouth to satisfy the libido, and thus its id demands.  Which at this
stage in life are oral, or mouth orientated, such as sucking, biting, and breastfeeding. 

Freud said oral stimulation could lead to an oral fixation in later life.  We see oral
personalities all around us such as smokers, nail-biters, finger-chewers, and thumb
suckers.  Oral personalities engage in such oral behaviors, particularly when under
stress.

Anal Stage (1 to 3 years)

During the anal stage of psychosexual development
the libido becomes focused on
the anus, and the child derives great pleasure from defecating.  The child is now fully
aware that they are a person in their own right and that their wishes can bring them
into conflict with the demands of the outside world (i.e., their ego has developed). 

Freud believed that this type of conflict tends to come to a head in potty training, in
which adults impose restrictions on when and where the child can defecate.  The
nature of this first conflict with authority can determine the child's future
relationship with all forms of authority.

Early or harsh potty training can lead to the child becoming an anal-retentive
personality who hates mess, is obsessively tidy, punctual and respectful of authority. 
They can be stubborn and tight-fisted with their cash and possessions.

This is all related to pleasure got from holding on to their faeces when toddlers, and
their mum's then insisting that they get rid of it by placing them on the potty until
they perform!

Not as daft as it sounds.  The anal expulsive, on the other hand, underwent a liberal
toilet-training regime during the anal stage.

In adulthood, the anal expulsive is the person who wants to share things with you. 
They like giving things away.  In essence, they are 'sharing their s**t'!'  An anal-
expulsive personality is also messy, disorganized and rebellious.

Phallic Stage (3 to 6 years)

The phallic stage is the third stage of psychosexual development, spanning the ages
of three to six years, wherein the infant's libido (desire) centers upon their genitalia
as the erogenous zone.

The child becomes aware of anatomical sex differences, which sets in motion the
conflict between erotic attraction, resentment, rivalry, jealousy and fear which Freud
called the Oedipus complex (in boys) and the Electra complex (what-is-the-
electra-complex.html) (in girls). 

This is resolved through the process of identification, which involves the child
adopting the characteristics of the same sex parent.

Oedipus Complex

The most important aspect of the phallic stage is the Oedipus complex (oedipal-
complex.html).  This is one of Freud's most controversial ideas and one that
many people reject outright.

The name of the Oedipus complex derives from the Greek myth where Oedipus,
a young man, kills his father and marries his mother. Upon discovering this, he
pokes his eyes out and becomes blind.  This Oedipal is the generic (i.e., general)
term for both Oedipus and Electra complexes.

In the young boy, the Oedipus complex or more correctly, conflict, arises because
the boy develops sexual (pleasurable) desires for his mother.  He wants to
possess his mother exclusively and get rid of his father to enable him to do so.

Irrationally, the boy thinks that if his father were to find out about all this, his
father would take away what he loves the most.  During the phallic stage what
the boy loves most is his penis.  Hence the boy develops castration anxiety.

The little boy then sets out to resolve this problem by imitating, copying and
joining in masculine dad-type behaviors.  This is called identification, and is
how the three-to-five year old boy resolves his Oedipus complex.

Identification means internally adopting the values, attitudes, and behaviors of

another person.  The consequence of this is that the boy takes on the male gender
role, and adopts an ego ideal and values that become the superego.

Freud (1909) offered the Little Hans (little-hans.html) case study as evidence of
the Oedipus complex.
 Electra Complex

For girls, the Oedipus or Electra complex is less than satisfactory.  Briefly, the girl
desires the father, but realizes that she does not have a penis.  This leads to the
development of penis envy and the wish to be a boy.

The girl resolves this by repressing her desire for her father and substituting the
wish for a penis with the wish for a baby.  The girl blames her mother for her
'castrated state,' and this creates great tension.

The girl then represses her feelings (to remove the tension) and identifies with
the mother to take on the female gender role.

Latency Stage (6 years to puberty)

The latency stage is the forth stage of psychosexual development, spanning the
period of six years to puberty. During this stage the libido is dormant
and
no further
psychosexual development takes place (latent means hidden). 

Freud thought that most sexual impulses are repressed during the latent stage, and
sexual energy can be sublimated (defense-mechanisms.html) towards school work,
hobbies, and friendships. 

Much of the child's energy is channeled into developing new skills and acquiring
new knowledge, and play becomes largely confined to other children of the same
gender.

Genital Stage (puberty to adult)

The genital stage is the last stage of Freud's psychosexual theory of personality
development, and begins in puberty.  It is a time of adolescent sexual
experimentation, the successful resolution of which is settling down in a loving one-
to-one relationship with another person in our 20's.
Sexual instinct is directed to heterosexual pleasure, rather than self-pleasure like
during the phallic stage. 

For Freud, the proper outlet of the sexual instinct in adults was through heterosexual
intercourse.  Fixation and conflict may prevent this with the consequence that sexual
perversions may develop. 

For example, fixation at the oral stage may result in a person gaining sexual pleasure
primarily from kissing and oral sex, rather than sexual intercourse.

Frustration, Overindulgence, and Fixation

Some people do not seem to be able to leave one stage and proceed on to the
next.  One reason for this may be that the needs of the developing individual at
any particular stage may not have been adequately met in which case there is
frustration. 

Or possibly the person's needs may have been so well satisfied that he/she is
reluctant to leave the psychological benefits of a particular stage in which
there is overindulgence.

Both frustration and overindulgence (or any combination of the two) may lead
to what psychoanalysts call fixation at a particular psychosexual stage.

Fixation refers to the theoretical notion that a portion of the individual's libido
has been permanently 'invested' in a particular stage of his development.

Critical Evaluation
Is Freudian psychology supported by evidence? Freud's theory is good at explaining
but not at predicting behavior (which is one of the goals of science).

For this reason, Freud's theory is unfalsifiable (Karl-Popper.html) - it can neither be

proved true or refuted. For example, the libido is difficult to test and measure
objectively. Overall, Freud's theory is highly unscientific.
Freud may also have shown research bias in his interpretations - he may have only
paid attention to information which supported his theories, and ignored information
and other explanations that did not fit them.

However, Fisher & Greenberg (1996) argue that Freud’s theory should be evaluated
in terms of specific hypotheses rather than as a whole. They concluded that there is
evidence to support Freud’s concepts of oral and anal personalities


(simplypsychology.org-Psychosexual-Stages.pdf)  Download this

article as a PDF (simplypsychology.org-Psychosexual-Stages.pdf)

How to reference this article:

McLeod, S. A. (2019, July 18). Psychosexual stages. Simply Psychology.
www.simplypsychology.org/psychosexual.html

APA Style References

Fisher, S. & Greenberg, R. P. (1996). Freud scientifically reappraised: Testing the theories and

therapy.
New York: Wiley.

Freud, S. (1905). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. Standard Edition 7: 123-
246.

Further Information

Psychosexual Development Detailed Summary  (Psychosexual Development.pdf)

Oedipus Complex (oedipal-complex.html)

Id, Ego, Superego (psyche.html)

Defense Mechanisms (defense-mechanisms.html)

Psychoanalysis (psychoanalysis.html)

Unconscious Mind (unconscious-mind.html)


(simplypsychology.org-Psychosexual-Stages.pdf)  Download this

article as a PDF (simplypsychology.org-Psychosexual-Stages.pdf)

How to reference this article:

McLeod, S. A. (2019, July 18). Psychosexual stages. Simply Psychology.

www.simplypsychology.org/psychosexual.html

Google Site Search 

Home (/) | About Us (about.html) | Privacy Policy (privacy.html) | Advertise

(https://simplypsychology.org/direct-sales.html) | Contact Us (about.html)

Back to top

Simply Psychology's content is for informational and educational purposes only. Our website is not

intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

© Simply Scholar Ltd - All rights reserved