Freud's psychoanalytic theory Flashcards
When did Freud say gender development takes place in?
Phallic stage
What did Freud believe conscious behaviour is motivated by?
Unconscious drives, with the structure of the mind consisting of the id, ego and superego which are the three components of personality
What is the id?
Constantly seeks selfish pleasures
What is the ego?
Reality principle
Balances the conflict of the id and the superego
What is the superego?
Wants to be ideal self
Where does the conflict between the id and the superego take place?
in the 5 stages of psychosexual development
What are the 5 stages of psychosexual development?
Oral Anal Phallic Latency Genitals
How, in general, does a child’s gender identity develop ?
Through the resolution of either the Oedipus complex or the Electra complex
What is the Oedipus complex?
- In the phallic stage (3-5 years old), the boy directs his sexual desires towards his mother.
- He hates his father because he is with his mother
- He also fears his father as he believes if his father finds out about his sexual desires for his mother, he will remove the boys penis - castration anxiety
How is the Oedipus complex resolved?
The boy identifies with his father and internalises his fathers views to develop his male gender identity
What happens if the Oedipus complex isn’t resolved?
The boy might be confused about his sexual identity and might become homosexual
What is the Electra complex?
- In the phallic stage (3-5 years old), the girl directs her sexual desires towards her father
- The girl believes that her mother castrated her and that is why she doesn’t have a penis - penis envy, the penis is a symbol of male power
- She desires her father because he has what she wants
How is the electra complex resolved?
The girl identifies with her mother and internalises her mothers viewpoints in order to develop her female gender identity
What happens if the electra complex isn’t resolved?
She might be confused about her sexual identity
What case study did Freud use?
Little Hans
Outline Freud’s research into Little Hans.
- 5 year old boy who had a phobia of horses, especially those with black bits around their mouths which Freud interpreted as the moustache of his dad
- Hans was actually scared of his father not horses
- He was scared of him castrating him for his love for his mother
What did Hyman (1921) find?
Reported that 22 out of 31 female manic-depressive patients were diagnosed from suffering from an unresolved Electra complex, with 12 of the 22 having regressed to an earlier stage of psychosexual development
What did Friedman (1952) find?
When a story began with a child doing something nice with their opposite-sex parent and then being joined by the same sex parent, children produced a sadder ending of the story than when the roles of the parents were swapped
What did Snortum et al (1969) find?
46 males exempted from military service for being homosexual had more close-bonding and controlling mothers and rejecting, detached fathers than a comparable sample of heterosexual men
What did Wiszewska et al (2007) find?
Female RPS to rate the attractiveness of different men and to assess the quality of their relationships with their fathers and found those who were treated well by their fathers were more attracted to men who resembled their fathers physically
What did Malinowski (1922) find?
That boys in the Trobriand islanders exhibited the signs of hostility Freud described in his Oedipus complex, however It was not for their fathers it was towards the maternal uncles
This suggests Freud’s theory about the fear of his father is a reaction to discipline rather than sexual jealousy over their mother
What criticisms are there for Freuds research?
- subjective - being interpreted to fit with the ideas of the Oedipus complex
- even if Hans did have the Oedipus complex, it doesn’t mean all males do
- Little scientific evidence to support the ideas to support the oedipus complex
- male-orientated - started with the oedipus complex and then the Electra complex was an add on
