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Theories of Development:
o Freudian Theory:
 Three-part structure of personality = Personality consists of three
hypothetical mental structures:
 id = part of the personality that attempts to satisfy the
individual’s biological and emotional needs and desires by
maximising pleasure and minimising pain
 superego = part of the personality that acts as an all-knowing
parent, consisting of two parts:
o The conscience enforces moral and social conventions
by punishing violations with guilt
o The ego-ideal provides a set of idealised standards for
regulating thoughts, feelings, and actions
 ego = rational, realistic part of the personality that which
coordinates impulses from the id with the demands placed by
the superego and society
o The ego develops protective mechanisms which keeps
conflicts unconscious by distorting reality (e.g.,
repression = unacceptable feelings and impulses are
forced out of memory/consciousness, projection =
conflict-producing feelings (like aggression) are
mistakenly attributed to another person)
 Stages of psycho-sexual development:
 Each stage focuses on a different area of the body that is a
source of pleasure/excitement
 At each stage, development arises from conflicts between the
id, ego, and superego
 Unresolved id-ego or superego-ego conflicts result in fixation
(= blockage in development)
Psychosexual Approximate
Stage
Age
Oral
Birth – 1
Description
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Anal
1–3
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Phallic
3–6
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Feeding and weaning
Pleasure derived from chewing and sucking
If oral needs are not met, individual develops
habits like thumb-sucking, fingernail biting, and
pencil chewing in children and smoking and
overeating in adults
Elimination and toilet-training
Pleasure derived from holding and releasing
urine/faeces
Gender role and moral development
Pleasure derived from genital stimulation
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Latent
Genital
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6 – 12
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12 Adulthood
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Oedipus/Elektra complex = sexual desire for
opposite-sex parent and hostility towards samesex parent
To avoid punishment, children supress such
impulses and adopt characteristics/values of the
same-sex parent
The superego develops, children start to
experience guilt when they disobey moral
standards
Suspended sexual activity, energy shifts to
physical, social, and intellectual activities
Further superego development
Social values are acquired
Pleasure derived from genitals
Sexual impulses of the phallic stage re-emerge,
mature sexuality develops into adulthood
Major flaw of Freud’s contribution is that it is unfalsifiable: main constructs of
thoughts, feelings, and instincts are difficult to study empirically