Psychodynamic explanation of gender development

Question 1

Pre-phallic children

Answer 1

• The 3rd of Freud’s psychosexual stages is the Phallic stage
• Freud claimed gender development occurs between ages 3 and 6
• Prior to the phallic stage, children have no concept of gender identity and have no understanding of ‘male’ and ‘female’ - so they don’t categorise themselves or others in that way
• In phallic stage, children experience the oedipus or electra complex

Question 2

Oedipus complex

Answer 2

• Phallic stage - age 3-5
• Boy wants mother as his primary love object - wants father out of the way - fears his father knows this and will castrate him
• Identifies with father to stop castration anxiety

Question 3

Electra complex

Answer 3

• Phallic stage - age 3-5
• Girl also desires her mother - realises she doesn’t have a penis like her father and is jealous - becomes hostile towards mother as she believes her mother has castrated her - develops attraction to father instead because she believes he can give her a baby
• Eventually resolves feelings towards mother and identifies with her

Question 4

Identification and internalisation

Answer 4

• Boys adopt the attitudes and values of their father
• Girls adopt the attitudes and values of their mother
• Involves children taking on board the gender identity of the same-gender parent (Internalisation)

Question 5

Little Hans

Answer 5

• Hans was a 5 year old boy with a fear of being bitten by a horse
• His fear had stemmed from when he witnessed a horse collapse and die in the street
• However Freud suggested that Han’s had transferred his fear of his father onto horses via the unconscious defence mechanism of displacement

Question 6

Psychodynamic explanation - evaluation - strength

Answer 6

• Some support for role of the Oedipus complex
• Freud said for boys to have a ‘normal’ development they must be raised by at least 1 male parent
• Some support for this - Research has found from interviews that 75% of “Gender-disturbed” boys has neither their biological father or a substitute father living with them
• Suggests living with no father has a negative impact on gender identity

Question 7

Psychodynamic explanation - evaluation - limitation

Answer 7

• Lack of falsifiability
• Unconscious concepts such as the oedipus and electra complexes cannot be tested
• Means psychodynamic explanations are considered pseudoscientific
• This questions the validity of Freud’s theory