Psychodynamic explanation of gender development A01

• -          Freuds psychoanalytical theory is a psychodynamic explanation on personality development and includes an explanation for gender development.
• -          He suggested children pass through 5 stages from oral stage to genital stage, but gender development occurs in the 3rd stage – the phallic stage children between the age’s of 3-6.
• -          During the 3rd stage a child’s libido if focused on their genitals

  -          During stage 3 a child’s gender identity is resolves wither through the Oedipus complex or the Electra complex
• Oedipus complex

  -          Boys develop incestuous feelings towards mum and are jealous of dad because he possess mother and see him as a rival for the mothers love wishes they were dead in turn , but the boy recognises his father as stronger and more powerful then him and fears that he might castrate him if he finds out about his feelings towards his mum
• Oedipus complex

  – castration anxiety and so to resolve this anxiety boy gives u the love he had for his mother and begins to identify with dad – through process called identification and he internalises his fathers gender identity and takes this as his own gender identity – which leads to masculine behaviour as young boys take on attitudes and expectations of their fathers
• Electra complex

  -          Electra complex proposed by Carl Jung
• Electra complex

  -          Like Oedipus complex is concerned with a conflict between a child and same sex parent because they are in competition for the opposite sex parent.
• Electra complex

  -          A young girl is initially attracted to her mother until she discovers her mother doesn’t have a penis, the girl also blames her mother for the fact she doesn’t have a penis believing she was castrated by her other in the whom and as a result experiences penis envy
• Electra complex

  -          But the complex is resolved when girl converts her penis envy – after accepting wont ever have one - to a wish to have a baby and thus identify with their mothers - ( Carl Jung suggested but over time girls come to accept that they will never have a penis substitute penis envy for the desire to have children and thus they identify with their mothers) and this reduces her anger towards her mother and the girl can identify with mother and take on her gender behaviour
• unresolved phallic stage

  -          in Freudians theory each psychosexual stage is resolved through conflict
• unresolved phallic stage

  -          successful resolution leads to a healthy psychological outcome

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• unresolved phallic stage

  -          when it comes to the (in)genital stage the healthy outcomes are identification with the same sex parent and internalisation of the appropriate gender identity and sex role stereotypes
• unresolved phallic stage

  -          Freud also claimed fixation could be a root cause of amoral behaviour and homosexuality.