Freud Theory of Personality Development

Subject: Behavioral Science

Overview

The first few (five) years of life are more important for personality formation, according to Sigmund Freud. He asserted that phases of psychosexual development, the id, ego, and super-ego, all had an impact on personality. According to Freud, personality is divided into three parts: the ID, ego, and super ego. Id, which is motivated by the pleasure principle and wants instant satisfaction of all desired desires, is present from birth. Dealing with reality is the responsibility of the ego. The ego makes sure that the iimpulses d's may be expressed in a way that is appropriate for everyday life. A moral principle that gives a person a feeling of good and wrong motivates the super ego. Freud divided the mind into three levels of consciousness—conscious mind, preconscious mind, and unconscious mind.

Freud Theory of Personality Development

The first few (five) years of life are more important for personality formation, according to Sigmund Freud. He asserted that phases of psychosexual development, the id, ego, and super-ego, all had an impact on personality.

Structure of Personality:

According to Freud, personality is divided into three parts:

  • Id: Id is present from birth which is driven by pleasure principle which seeks immediate gratification of all desired needs. If needs are not satisfied immediately the result is a state of anxiety or tension.
  • Ego: Ego is responsible for dealing with reality. Ego ensures that the impulses of Id can be express in a manner acceptable in the real world. Ego operates based on reality principle which tries to satisfy the Id's desired in realistic and socially acceptable ways.
  • Super- ego: It is driven by a moral principle which provides an individual a sense of right and wrong. According to Freud Super-Ego begins to emerge at around the age 5.

Freud further separated the mind into three level of consciousness:

  1. Conscious mind: It is that portion of our consciousness which we are aware of them.
  2. Preconscious mind: That portion of the mind that has information that is not presently conscious but easily is brought into consciousness. E.g. we are not thinking about our last meal or minister of health of our country but we can quickly bring them into conscious awareness if we want to.
  3. Unconscious mind: That part of the mind which we can never be directly aware, that is the storehouse of primitive instinctual mind that they have been pushed into the unconscious mind. We call this mechanism of pushing these things into the unconscious mind: repression.

Stages of Psychological Development

According to Freud, the pattern of personality development goes through five psychosexual phases. He asserts that people experience sexual pleasure at various phases from diverse body areas (the erogenous zone).

Fixation may result from incomplete or excessive fulfillment at any point (inability to pass next to stage).

A healthy personality requires that each psychosexual stage be successfully completed.

Stage

Age

Focus

1. Oral

0-18 month

· Pleasure centers on the mouth: biting, sucking, crying, feeding.

2. Anal

18-36 months

· Pleasure focus on bowel and bladder elimination.

3. Phallic

3-6 years

· Pleasure zone in genital, Oedipus and Electra complex

4. Latency

6-11 years

· They are sexually passive and focus on learning, skills and school works.

5. Genital

11 onwards

· Pleasure come from intersexual relationship

Fixation at Any Stage:

Fixation at any age may greatly influence in the personality.

Fixation at Oral Stage:

  • Developed oral receptive personality,
  • Overeating,
  • Chain smoking,
  • Chain chewing,
  • Nail biting,
  • Chating,
  • Excessive dependency.

Fixation Oral Aggressive:

  • Enjoy verbal aggressive expression.

Fixation at Anal Stage:

  • Rigid,
  • Stubborn,
  • Undiscipline,
  • Cruel,
  • Disorderly and messy in later life,
  • Low self-confidence,
  • Obsessive compulsive disorder.

Fixation at Phallic Stage:

  • Lack of sex role further development of personality,
  • Interpersonal relationship problem, learning,
  • Anxiety disorder.
Things to remember
  • Sigmund Freud proposed that first few (five) years of life are more crucial in personality development.
  • He asserted that phases of psychosexual development, the id, ego, and super-ego, all had an impact on personality.
  • According to Freud, personality is divided into three parts: the ID, ego, and super ego.
  • Id, which is motivated by the pleasure principle and wants instant satisfaction of all desired desires, is present from birth. Dealing with reality is the responsibility of the ego.
  • The ego makes sure that the iimpulses d's may be expressed in a way that is appropriate for everyday life.
  • A moral principle that gives a person a sense of right and wrong motivates the super ego.
  • Freud further divided the mind into the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious levels of consciousness.
Questions and Answers

According to Freud, personality is made up of three parts:

Id: Id is present from birth and is motivated by the pleasure principle, which seeks immediate satisfaction of all desired needs. If needs are not met immediately, the result is anxiety or tension.
Ego: The ego is in charge of dealing with reality. Ego ensures that Id impulses can be expressed in a way that is acceptable in the real world. Ego operates on the reality principle, attempting to satisfy the desires of the Id in realistic and socially acceptable ways.
The superego is motivated by a moral principle that gives an individual a sense of right and wrong. According to Freud, the Super-Ego emerges around the age of five.

Freud further separated the mind into three level of consciousness:

  1. Conscious mind: it is that portion of our consciousness which we are aware of them.
  2. Preconscious mind: that portion of the mind that has information that is not presently conscious but easily is brought into consciousness. E.g. we are not thinking about our last meal or minister of health of our country but we can quickly bring them into conscious awareness if we want to.
  3. Unconscious mind: that part of the mind which we can never be directly aware, that is the storehouse of primitive instinctual mind that they have been pushed into the unconscious mind. We call this mechanism of pushing these things into the unconscious mind: repression.

Freud believes that personality development pattern passes through 5 psychosexual stages. According to him, individuals get sexual pleasure from various parts of a body (Erogenous zone) in different stages.

Under gratification or satisfaction or over gratification at any stages may lead to fixation (inability to pass next to stage).

the successful completion of each psychosexual stage is necessary for healthy personality.

Stage

Age

Focus

1. Oral

0-18 month

· Pleasure centers on the mouth: biting, sucking, crying, feeding.

2. Anal

18-36 months

· Pleasure focus on bowel and bladder elimination.

3. Phallic

3-6 years

· Pleasure zone in genital, Oedipus and Electra complex

4. Latency

6-11 years

· They are sexually passive and focus on learning, skills and school works.

5. Genital

11 onwards

· Pleasure come from intersexual relationship

 

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