Psychodynamic Explanation of Gender Development

• Whats Freuds stage called at 0-1yrs old

  Oral
• Pleasure center at ORAL stage?

  Mouth
• Possible cause of fixation at ORAL stage?

  • Early weening
  • Deprivation of love or food
• Possible result of fixation at ORAL stage ?

  • Smoking
  • Biting nails
  • Sarcasm
• What is the stage at 1-3yrs called ?

  ANAL stage
• Pleasure center at ANAL stage?

  The Anus
• Possible cause of fixation at ANAL stage?

  • Overly strict toilet training or vey lax toilet training
• Possible result of fixation at ANAL stage ?

  • Obsessiveness
  • Meaness
  • Tidiness
• What is the stage called at 2-5yrs ?

  PHALLIC stage
• Pleasure center in PHALLIC stage?

  The genitalia area
• Possible cause of fixation in PHALLIC stage

  very dominant mother or no father figure
• possible result of fixation in PHALLIC stage?

  • Sexual anxiety
  • Self-obsession
  • Envy
• What is the child's understanding of gender identity prior to the phallic stage- according to the psychodynamic approach?

  Children have no concept of gender identity before the phallic stage.
• What are the names of the complexes associated with the phallic stage for boys and girls?

  • Oedipus Complex for boys
  • Electra Complex for girls
• What changes occur in a child's focus of pleasure during the phallic stage?

  The focus of pleasure switches to the genitals.
• What feelings do boys develop towards their mother during the Oedipus Complex?

  Boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother.
• What feelings do boys experience towards their father during the Oedipus Complex?

  Boys feel jealous and have a murderous hatred for their father.
• What leads to castration anxiety in boys during the Oedipus Complex?

  Boys fear being castrated by their father due to their feelings towards their mother.
• How does a boy resolve the conflict in the Oedipus Complex?

  The boy gives up his love for his mother and begins to identify with his father.
• What is the primary fear associated with the Oedipus Complex?

  The primary fear is castration.
• What is the conflict experienced by boys in the Oedipus Complex?

  The conflict is between lust for the mother and fear of the father.
• Electra Complex- what doe girls experience during the Phallic Stage?


  Penis Envy
• What feelings do girls develop towards their mother in the Electra Complex?


  Girls see themselves and their mother as being in competition for their fathers love

  > Develop resentment towards their mother as she is the rival standing in the way of the father
• What feelings do girls develop towards their father in the Electra complex?


  a passionate desire for their father
• Penis Envy


  Girls feel envious and resentful towards boys and men because they perceive them as having the more desirable and powerful phallus.
• Why is the mother blamed by the daughter for having no Penis?


  The daughter believes she was castrated by her mother at the same time as the mother castrated herself
• What is the primary fear in the Electra Complex?


  losing mothers love
• What is the primary conflict in the Electra complex?


  Between lust for father & fear of losing mothers love
• How do children resolve their conflicts towards the end of the Phallic stage?


  Identifying with the same sex parent
• How does identification & internalisation develop gender identity ?


  Identification develops a superego- adopting that parents morals, identity & roles, characteristic, personality

  Same sex parents gender identity is internalised
• How does the Little Hans case study support the Oepidus Complex?


  Illustrates the child’s unconscious feelings towards the parents of the opposite sex and the rivalry with the same sex parent
• How does Rekers & Morey et al. ‘s study support the psychodynamic explanation ?

  -> shows that a father figure is crucial in gender development and not being raised with a father figure has a negative impact on gender Identity- in line with Freuds theory
• What did Rekers & Morey et al study ?

  • Rated gender identity of 49 boys aged 3-11 based on interviews with family and the boys
  • Of those who were judged to be gender disturbed, 75% has neither their biological father nor substitute father figure
• Contradiction of Freuds study


  Henny Bos & Theo Sandfort

  Suggests that Fathers are not necessary for healthy gender identity development
• Criticism of Freuds theory- Androcentric bias

  • He admitted he knew very little about women
  • Penis envy has been criticised for reflecting the androcentric Victorian era

  = challenges the idea that womens gender development is founded on a desire to be like a man
• Androcentric Bias


  A perspective that favors males over females, often unconsciously
• Criticism of the psychodynamic explanation ? Pseudoscientific 


  Lacks scientific credibility

  • Lack of rigor in the methods (subjective case study)
  • Concepts are untestable - largely unconscious
  • Karl Popper: can’t be falsified
  • Validity questioned