Psychodynamic Explanations Of Gender Development Flashcards
What is the phallic stage
The third psychosexual stage that occurs from 3-6 years old where the child’s source of libido is their penis/ clitoris, and they experience pleasure from engaging in masturbation
How does a child resolve their gender identity during the phallic stage
A child’s gender identity is resolved either through the Oedipus complex (in boys), or the Electra complex (in girls)
What is the Oedipus complex
When a boy develops sexual desired for his mother and harbour a hatred for his father because he sees him as a rival for the mother’s love, however he fears his father will punish him (castration anxiety) for his lust for his mother and thereby represses these feelings and identifies with his father in the process, internalising his gender role and moral values
What is castration anxiety (in boys)
When boys fear their father will punish them by castrating them if they find our for their incestuous desire for their mother
What is the Electra complex
When a girl develops sexual desires for her father and views the penis as the primary love object and blames her mother for her lack of a penis (penis envy), but over time this is resolve by the girl repressing her desire for her father and substituting the wish for a penis with the wish for a baby, thereby she identifies with her mother and internalises her gender role
What is penis envy (in girls)
When girls experience distress due to the belief they had a penis and they blame their mother for removing it (through castration)
What is identification
A desire to be associated with a particular person or group because they possess certain desirable characteristics
What is internalisation
When an individual adopts and accepts the attitudes or behaviour of another
What is the role of identification and internalisation during the Oedipus and Electra complex
In order to resolve their unconscious conflicts children will identify with and internalise the gender-related behaviours and attitudes of their same sex parent
What is a case study that supports the psychodynamic explanation for gender development
Little Hans (1909)
How did Freud suggest a child’s gender identity developed
- he believed that children were born gender-neutral and their gender identity developed in unconscious psychosexual stages, beginning with the first two gender-neutral stages (oral and anal), when there is no visible difference between the behaviour of boys and girls
- Freud proposed that children’s perception of gender identity developed in the phallic stage as they navigate the conflict to establish their own gender identity
