Psychodynamic Explanation Of Gender Development

Question 1

Describe the psychodynamic explanation of gender development

Answer 1

Freud said that we go through a number of psychosexual stages of development. Each stage has its own unconscious conflict which we must resolve to ensure healthy psychological development.

Freud believed that up to the age of 3, there is no visible difference between the behaviour of boys and girls. They are all perceived as ‘bisexual’ as there seems no existence of gender identity.

Establishing our gender identity happens around the age of 5, in the phallic stage of development, when a child’s understanding of gender begins to change. During this period, the child begins to notice the anatomical differences between boys and girls (penis or no penis), and it is this that forms the basis for the Oedipus and Electra complexes. These stages are crucial in the formation of gender identity.