*Atypical Gender Development

Question 1

What are the five biologically driven psychosexual stages in Freud’s development theory?

Answer 1

Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital

These stages represent the progression of a child’s psychosexual development.

Question 2

At what age does the phallic stage occur in Freud’s theory?

Answer 2

Between ages 3-6

Question 3

What is the focus of pleasure during the phallic stage?

Answer 3

Genitals

Question 4

What complexes do children develop during the phallic stage?

Answer 4

Oedipus complex for boys, Electra complex for girls

Question 5

Define the Oedipus complex.

Answer 5

Boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother and jealousy towards their father

Question 6

What is castration anxiety in the context of the Oedipus complex?

Answer 6

Fear that the father may castrate the boy

Question 7

What does a boy have to do to resolve the Oedipus complex?

Answer 7

Give up love for mother and identify with father

Question 8

Define the Electra complex.

Answer 8

Girls experience penis envy and compete with their mothers for their father’s love

Question 9

What is penis envy according to Freud?

Answer 9

A girl’s realization of not having a penis, leading to resentment towards her mother

Question 10

How did Jung suggest girls resolve their feelings of penis envy?

Answer 10

By substituting it with a desire to have children

Question 11

What is internalisation in Freud’s theory?

Answer 11

The process where boys and girls adopt the attitudes and values of their same-sex parent

Question 12

What role does identification play in gender identity development according to Freud?

Answer 12

It helps children adopt the gender identity of their same-sex parent

Question 13

Who was Little Hans and what was his fear?

Answer 13

A 5-year-old boy with a morbid fear of being bitten by a horse

Question 14

What did Freud interpret Little Hans’s fear of horses as?

Answer 14

A representation of his fear of castration by his father

Question 15

What is a strength of the Oedipus complex theory?

Answer 15

Support for the theory suggests boys’ normal development depends on having a male parent

Question 16

What did Rekers and Morey find regarding boys and gender identity?

Answer 16

75% of ‘gender disturbed’ boys had no female or substitute father living with them

Question 17

What is a limitation of the Oedipus complex theory?

Answer 17

The relationship between absent fathers and gender identity problems is not consistently supported

Question 18

What did Bos and Sandfort’s study find about children raised by lesbian parents?

Answer 18

They felt less pressure to abide by gender stereotypes and showed no difference in psychosocial adjustment

Question 19

Why is Freud’s account of female development considered inadequate?

Answer 19

Freud wrote extensively about the Oedipus complex but had limited theory on girls

Question 20

What cultural critique did feminist Horney offer regarding Freud’s theories?

Answer 20

She argued that male experience womb envy, challenging penis envy as a biological factor

Question 21

What is a major criticism of the psychodynamic approach?

Answer 21

It lacks scientific credibility and rigor

Question 22

Why did Popper argue that Freud’s theory is pseudoscientific?

Answer 22

Key ideas cannot be falsified, questioning the validity of the theory