Psychodynamic Explanation

• Gender development occurs during the phallic stage (3-6 years) according to Freud. Before this stage, children are bisexual so they are neither male not female.
• In the phallic stage, girls go through the electra complex and boys go through the oedipus complex. Boys resolve this by identifying with their father and girls resolve the Electra complex by identifying with their mother. It is thought through this, identification and gender identity occurs
• Oedipus Complex


  All young boys have incestuous desires towards their mothers and are jealous of their father as he is seen as a rival. Fears his father who is bigger and more powerful and so develops castration anxiety. To avoid this he identifies with his dad and tries to be like him. This process is called identification with the aggressor
• Electra Complex


  A girl in the phallic stage realises she lacks a penis and experiences penis envy. Blames her mother for castrating her and turns to her father for love and affection, replacing the desire for a penis with the desire for a baby. She sees her mother as a rival for love and fears the mother will abandon her if she finds out the feelings. To solve, the represses the love for the father and identifies with the mother, internalising female gender roles
• Identification and internalisation

  At the end of both complexes, the children identify with the same sex parent. They look up to them and want to be like them which leads to internalisation where the child adopts the attitudes and behaviour of the same sex parent. This becomes part of who the child is. Gender identity happens suddenly at the end of the phallic stage. The process of identification and internalisation is stronger in males as they are motivated by a fear of castration rather than abandonments
• -Theory lacks scientific rigour


  The phallic stage such as penis envy are unconscious actions and thoughts. This is not objective evidence such as the biological approach which can be proven via facts and scientific evidence. Therefore, as his theory suggests that gender identity occurs through unconscious forces that are untestable, the theory is pseudoscientific cannot be falsified. Meaning the theory is less credible
• -Contradictory Evidence


  Blakemore and Hill found that those with more liberal fathers tend to be more secure in their masculine identity. Freuds theory suggests that those with harsh fathers develop a more robust sense of gender identity as it leads a stronger fear, contradicting his theory
• -Research from non-nuclear families contradict Freud's explanation

  Theory relies on a nuclear family so children of both genders can have the Oedipus and Electra complex and without this children cannot have a successful gender development. Susan Golombok found that those with single parents went on to develop a normal gender identity which contradicts Freuds theory
• -Gender bias


  Freuds theory is an example of an alpha bias, penis envy has been criticised for reflecting the patriarchal Victorian era within which he lived. Horney argued that female gender development was founded on a desire to want to be like men - androcentric. The female explanation is not fully developed beyond this meaning Freud's explanation of gender for women could reflect the patriarchal culture during his era