PSY 101 Chapter 2.1

• Theory: “An organized set of ideas that are designed to explain development.”
• Theory: Essential for developing predictions about behavior.
• Theory: Predictions result in research that help to support or clarify the theory.
• Theory according to American Psychological Association. (2018).

  • "A set of interrelated constructs (concepts), definitions, and propositions that present a systematic view of phenomena by specifying relations among variables, with the purpose of explaining and predicting the phenomena.“
• Psychosexual Development was developed by Sigmund Freud.
• Psychosexual Development

  • Inability to have pleasure or satisfaction in each psychosexual stages would lead to FIXATION.
• Biological Instincts

  • Eros ( life instinct)
  • Thanatos (death instinct)
• Eros (life instinct)

  • Sexual Instinct (Libido)
  • Self-Preservation Instinct
• Eros ( life instinct) – represents the life instincts, encompassing the innate drives that seek self-preservation and the preservation of the species. These instincts are primarily focused on sustaining life and promoting growth.
• Sexual Instinct (Libido): This instinctual drive is not limited to sexual pleasure but encompasses a broader concept of life force and vitality.
• Self-Preservation Instinct: This instinct includes the basic drives for survival, such as the need for food, shelter, and protection from harm.
• Thanatos (death instinct) – Thanatos represents the death instincts, reflecting an inherent tendency toward self-destruction and a return to an inanimate state. Freud suggested that these instincts manifest as aggressive and destructive behaviors.
• Thanatos is not as clearly defined as Eros, but it encompasses destructive tendencies, aggression, and a longing for a state of calm and non-existence.
• Psychosexual Stages

  • Oral (birth-12/18 months)
  • Anal (12/18 months-3 years)
  • Phallic (3-5/6 years)
  • Latency (5/6 years-adolescence)
  • Genital (adolescence-adulthood)
• Oral Stage

  • reflects the infant’s need for gratification from the mother. An infant’s eating, sucking, spitting, and chewing do not only satisfy hunger, but also provide pleasure
• Anal Stage

  • reflects the toddler’s need for gratification along the rectal area. During this stage, children must endure the demands of toilet training
• Phallic Stage

  • reflects the preschooler’s gratification involving the genitals. Children at this stage gratify their sex instinct by fondling their genitals and developing an incestuous desire for the opposite sex parent
• Phallic Stage

  • Oedipus Complex – sexual attachment of a male child to his mother
  • Electra Complex – sexual attachment of a female child to her father. The girl envies her father for possessing a penis and wishes he would share with her the valued organ that she lacks.
• Latency Stage

  • sexual desires are repressed and the entire child’s available libido is channeled into socially acceptable outlets such as schoolwork and vigorous play that consume most of the child’s physical and psychic energy
• Oral Stage

  • Erogenous Zone: Mouth and lips
  • Critical Event: Feeding
• Oral Stage

  • Fixation: If the child was abruptly weaned, he may manifest alcoholism, smoking, fondness of kissing, oral sadism. (ORAL AGGRESSIVE)
  • Fixation: If the child was over satisfied with oral pleasures, he may become, gullible and overdependent (ORAL RECEPTIVE)
• Anal Stage

  • Erogenous Zone: Anal Region
  • Critical Event: Toilet Training
• Anal Stage

  • Fixation: If the child experienced toilet training too early, he may become controlling, over organized or stubborn. (ANAL RETENTIVE)
  • Fixation: If the child experienced toilet training too late, he become, sloppy, impulsive, or disorganized. (ANAL EXPULSIVE)
• Phallic Stage

  • Erogenous Zone: GENITALS
  • Critical Event: Gender Identification
• Phallic Stage

  • Fixation: If the issues during the phallic stage are not resolved, the person may have problem with interpersonal relationships as well as dealing with authority figures. They may also become uncertain about their sexual identity
• PHALLIC STAGE: Gender Identification

  • For boys, they develop sexual desire towards the mother and a desire to eliminate his competition, the father (Oedipus complex) Boys become afraid of the father's retaliation and develop severe castration anxiety. Then they seek to become or identify with their fathers.
• PHALLIC STAGE: Gender Identification

  • For girls, they begin with a strong attachment to their mother but realize that boys have penis and girls don’t have. They blame the mother of this inferiority, and develop Penis envy. Their love is transferred to the father who has the sex organ she wants (Electra complex). But, they still must avoid the mother’s disapproval and so they identify with their mother.
• Latency Stage

  • Erogenous Zone: Genitals
  • No critical event
• Latency Stage

  • Fixation: This is a period of Peace; most sexual impulses lie dormant. The conflict in the earlier stage resolved or not will be repressed or forgotten.
• Genital Stage

  • Erogenous Zone: Genitals
  • No critical event
• Genital Stage

  • Fixation: The quality of relationships and degree of fulfillment and contentment that the person experiences during this long years old are tied directly to the success the person has at resolving conflicts during the earlier stages.
• Psychosocial Development was developed by Erik Erikson.
• The epigenetic principle in Erikson's theory suggests that personality development follows a predetermined sequence, much like the unfolding of a genetic code. Each stage represents a psychosocial crisis that individuals must navigate, and successful resolution contributes to healthy personality development.
• Like Freud, Erikson assumes that a crisis occurs at each stage of development.
• Psychosocial Stages - a life-span approach ; it is an image of a path that we will continue to encounter and live through from infancy to death.
• These crises are of a psychosocial nature because they involve psychological needs of the individual conflicting with the needs of society.
• • Successful completion of each stage results in a healthy personality and the acquisition of basic virtues.
  • Basic virtues are characteristic strengths which the ego can use to resolve subsequent crises.
• Failure to successfully complete a stage can result in a reduced ability to complete further stages and therefore an unhealthier personality and sense of self. These stages, however, can be resolved successfully later.
• • Successful completion
  • Sense of competence
  • Healthy personality
• • Failure to master tasks
  • Feelings of inadequacy
  • Unhealthy personality