psychosexual theory
Summary
Freud's psychosexual theory says personality forms through childhood stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital), each centered on a body zone where libido is focused. Unresolved conflict at a stage can cause fixation that shapes adult traits. Know the order and the behavior tied to each stage.
Detail
Meaning: Freud's psychosexual theory proposes that personality forms through childhood stages in which libido, the energy of the sex drive (broadly, pleasure seeking), centers on a particular body area. The stages in order are oral (infancy, mouth), anal (toilet training), phallic (genitals; Oedipus complex), latency (sexual urges are subdued while social skills grow), and genital (puberty onward, mature relationships). If a conflict at a stage is not resolved, the person may become fixated, and traits tied to that stage can persist into adulthood, such as nail biting or smoking for oral fixation, or rigid orderliness for anal fixation.
On the MCAT: A vignette describes an adult behavior or a child's conflict, and you name the stage or fixation, or put the stages in order. Questions also ask you to contrast Freud with Erikson (psychosocial stages) and Piaget (cognitive stages), or to connect the theory to the id, ego, superego and defense mechanisms in the psychoanalytic perspective.
Common confusion: Psychosexual is not psychosocial. Freud's stages are driven by pleasure-seeking drives and are described as ending with the genital stage, whereas Erikson's eight psychosocial stages are social crises that span the whole lifespan. Also, "sexual" in Freud's sense is broad and is not limited to intercourse.
Sources
- Psychology
- Theories of Personality
Written for the MCAT and checked before it was published. For study reference only. Spotted an error? Let us know.