Psychosexual development

Psychosexual development

Psychosexual development (/ˌsaɪkoʊˈsɛksjʊəl dɪˈvɛləpmənt/) is a central element of the psychoanalytic theories of Sigmund Freud. According to Freud, psychosexual development is a journey through five stages that are based on different pleasure areas of the body. During this process, the child's pleasure-seeking energies focus on certain erogenous zones.

Etymology

The term "psychosexual development" is derived from the Greek words psyche meaning "soul" or "mind", sexus meaning "sex", and development which is derived from the Latin de and velop meaning "to wrap up".

Stages of Psychosexual Development

Freud proposed five stages of psychosexual development:

1. Oral stage (Birth to 1 year): During this stage, the infant's primary source of interaction occurs through the mouth, so the rooting and sucking reflex is especially important.
2. Anal stage (1 to 3 years): The child's focus of pleasure in this stage is on eliminating and retaining feces. The child is now fully aware that they are a person in their own right and that their wishes can bring them into conflict with the demands of the outside world.
3. Phallic stage (3 to 6 years): Sensitivity becomes concentrated in the genitals and masturbation (in both sexes) becomes a new source of pleasure.
4. Latency stage (6 years to puberty): It's a period of exploration in which the sexual energy is still present, but it is directed into other areas such as intellectual pursuits and social interactions.
5. Genital stage (puberty to adult): This is the last stage of Freud's psychosexual theory of personality development and begins in puberty. It is a time of adolescent sexual experimentation, the successful resolution of which is settling down in a loving one-to-one relationship with another person in our 20's.

Related Terms

• Erogenous zone
• Freudian slip
• Oedipus complex
• Electra complex
• Libido
• Id, ego and super-ego

External links

• Medical encyclopedia article on Psychosexual development
• Wikipedia's article - Psychosexual development

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