Psychodynamic explanation of gender

• Psychodynamic explanation of gender


  • Suggests gender identity + role are acquired during the 3rd stage of psychosexual development - phallic stage
  • In oral + anal stages, child does not have a gender identity + its sexual drives are directed indiscriminately
• Identify definition


  Wanting to be like them
• Internalisation definition - gender


  taking on behaviours
• Boys enter: Oedipus complex (gender explanation)


  • Sexually desire mothers, think father is in way of satisfaction -> causes aggressive feelings towards father
  • Realises father = more powerful, fears if father finds out desire he will castrate him (castration anxiety)
  • Causes him to identify w/ father + want to be like him -> internalises w/him
  • Father becomes superego, taking him on as part of him, boy takes on male gender identity
  • Deals w/ desire by displacing it onto other women
• Girls enter: Electra complex (gender explanation)


  • Realises they have no penis + think they've been castrated, blame mother for this
  • Due to no penis = girl thinks she is powerless + wishes she had one (penis envy)
  • Starts to desire father as he has one + becomes jealous + now hostile towards mother (mirroring o.c)
  • Eventually, starts to identify + internalise w/ mother
  • Represses desire for penis + substitutes it for desire for baby
• Little Hans case study (Freud 1990)


  • 5 year old boy, phobia of horses
  • Caused by seeing one collapse in street, think they are going to bite him
  • Freud said his unconscious mind -> horse symbolises father
  • Collapse reminded him of his oedipal death, brought back castration anxiety (biting fear symbolises this)
  • To protect himself, hans displaced it onto other horses
  • Analysis showed how kids deal w/ conflicts raised by desires in o.c
• A03 of psychodynamic explanation of gender - Opposing evidence


  This theory states child must grow up in conventional family w/ mum + dad figures to develop a ‘normal’ gender identity (not true). Green (1978) studied 37 children w/ non-traditional nuclear families (gay or transsexual parents). In all cases but one, child developed typical gender identities + role behaviours. Weakens the prediction of not solving issues of complex -> weaker sense of identity
• A03 of psychodynamic explanation of gender - Unscientific 


  Whole theory relies on constructs that are difficult/impossible to test directly. E.g. unconscious mind, defence mechanisms. Makes it impossible to obtain evidence to directly test it. Lacks falsifiability.
• A03 of psychodynamic explanation of gender - Low temporal validity / time bound


  Freud‘s theories reflect views of the time which they were developed. E.g. penis envy implies women are inferior to men, which is not an idea many people now would agree on. Lacks temporal validity.
• A03 psychodynamic explanation of gender - Biased/subjective supporting evidence


  Rather than empirically showing existence of processes like Oedipus complex, Freud + others would interpret anything they find w/ the existing theories they had. E.g. Little hans did show castration anxiety but Freud ignored that his mother would regularly threaten castration, in order to support claim that it’s the dad who threatens it. More plausible that hans = scared by horse collapsing + developed phobia directly from that.
• A03 of psychodynamic explanation of gender - lacks generalisability 


  The supporting evidence of Little hans is a case study, which is done on a white male. Not everybody fits into this criteria and his thought processes may be unique. Other influences like culture may be involved, cannot apply/generalise to wider population
• A03 of psychodynamic explanation of gender - Other explanations


  For example biological, social learning, cognitive (gender schema + Kohlberg).