psychodynamic explanations

• freud believed that Early childhood experiences are very important in gender development as they:

  • They shape our personality and behaviours 
  • Events in childhood can remain in our unconscious mind and cause problems in adulthood

   
• during the phallic stage, boys face the oedipus complex

  • Unconscious Incestuous feelings towards mother & hatred/jealousy towards their dad (dad is in the way of mum)
  • BUT… boy knows that dad is more powerful than he is and therefore fears dad may castrate him due to feelings boy has for his mother (castration anxiety)
  • To resolve this… boys gives up love for mum and begins to identify with dad and internalise dad's male gender identity - leads to typical gender development
• during the phallic stage, girls face the electra complex:

  • Unconscious incestuous feelings towards dad & hatred/jealousy towards their mum (mum in the way of dad) 
  • Blame their mum for not having a penis - believing she castrated them at birth - leading to penis envy 
  • To resolve this… girls overtime accept they will never have a penis and substitute this envy for a desire to have children, identify with their mothers as a result and internalise mums female gender identity 

   
• if oedipus or electra complex are not resolved, 'atypical' gender development occurs (child doesn’t identify or internalise with same sex parent appropriately)
• Supporting evidence-

  According to Freud… for 'normal' gender development, a child needs to be raised by at least one parent of the same gender (in order to resolve, identify, internalise)

  This is supported by Rekers and Morey (1990) who looked at the gender identity of boys aged 3-11 - of those who were classified as 'gender non-conformist', 75% had no father or substitute father living with them 

  this gives Freuds theory increased validity

   
• Freuds theory is psychic deterministic - believes adult gendered behaviours are determined in childhood and that they cannot be changed (very socially sensitive) 
• gender development occurs in the phallic stage of the psychosexual stages, prior to this stage, children have no concept of gender identity
• during oedipus and electra complexes, children identify with their same-sex parent in order to resolve the complex. As a result, they internalise the gender identity of their same-sex parent
• evidence for the existence of the oedipus complex- feud believed 5-year-old little Hans had a fear of being bitten by a horse due to his unconscious fear of castration (by his father) - Hans had transferred this fear to horsed via displacement