Freud’s Psychosexual

Theory

Stage I – The Oral Stage: This stage takes place from birth to eighteen

months

In this stage, the focus of Libido, where pleasure is found, is in:

Oral gratification Sucking on breast or bottle Placing things in the mouth

A conflict at this stage occurs with a child being weaned off the mother’s breast

Signs of Fixation or affects on adult personality in this stage are:

Overeating or Pessimism Smoking Envy Gullibility Suspicion

Stage II – The Anal Stage: This stage takes place from eighteen months to three

years

In this stage, the focus of Libido, where pleasure is found, is in:

Bowel pleasure Pleasure via expulsion or retention of feces

A conflict at this stage occurs with a child potty trained

Signs of Fixation or affects on adult personality in this stage are:

Overeating or Pessimism Smoking Envy Gullibility Suspicion

Stage III – The Phallic Stage: This stage takes place from three to six years

In this stage, the focus of Libido, where pleasure is found, is in:

Awareness of sexual organs Love-hate relationship with the same-sex parent

This is the most important stage in Freud’s model

A conflict at this stage occurs with the Oedipus and Electra complexes

Signs of Fixation or affects on adult personality in this stage are:

Reckless or afraid of love Narcissistic Self-Assured or Selfish Poor Opposite sex relationships

Stage IV – The Latency Stage: This stage takes place from age six to puberty

At this stage, sexual drive lay dormant

Libidal energy is poured into asexual pursuits like school and same-sex friendships

A person usually has few opposite sex friends

A sign of fixation in this stage is a lack of close friends

Stage V – The Genital Stage: This stage takes during adolescence

A person becomes interested in dating and marriage

The more libidal energy that a child has at this stage, the greater his or her capacity will be to develop normal relationships with the opposite sex

Signs of fixation in this stage include: Guilt about sexuality Feelings of inadequacy Poor sexual relationships Anxious feelings regarding the opposite sex

Remember!! Remember, frustration occurs when needs are not

met; Overindulgence occurs when needs are over met

Fixation at a particular stage can occur because of

either frustration or overindulgence. Fixation at a particular stage will cause this stage to dominate the individual’s adult personality