The Five Stages Of Personality As Described by Sigmund Freud

Freud described the following five psychosexual stages of personality.

Oral Stage:

This stage starts from the birth of a child and lasts till the age of 18 months. During this stage the child gets pleasure through oral, mouth related, activities like sucking, biting and chewing. In adulthood its impact can be seen in the form of biting nails, smoking and the habit of overeating.

Anal Stage: 

This stage starts from the age of 18 months and lasts till the age of three or four years. The child gets toilet training in this stage. The source of pleasure during this stage is anal, anus related, activities like holding it in and letting out at a suitable time. The impact of this stage in adulthood can be seen in the form of regularity, orderliness, neatness, cleanliness etc.

Phallic Stage:

            This stage starts from the age of four years and lasts till the age of six or seven years. The child gets pleasure through phallic, penis related, activities like massaging or rubbing at the outer sex organs. Children become aware of gender differences in this stage. Masturbation is common in this stage. Children begin to internalize the values, attitudes and behavior of their same-sexed parent in this stage.

Latent Stage:

            This stage starts from the age of seven and lasts till puberty i.e. till the age of 12 years. Sexual impulses become dormant or latent in this stage. Love for opposite sex disappears or becomes less obvious during this stage. Boys lose their interest in girls, and like to make groups with their peers. Similarly girls like to spend most of their time with other girls. This stage is a stage of learning and social development.

Genital Stage:

            This is the last stage which starts from puberty i.e. from the age of 12 years. In this stage love for opposite sex reappears again. The source of pleasure is this stage is real love and affection. Sexual intercourse is the most pleasurable activity in this stage.

            According to Freud all of the above five stages are very important and they have great impact on the future life of a person. He says that for balanced and healthy personality all these stages should be conquered successfully.

Read More

Id, Ego and Super Ego

According to the Psychodynamic Theory our personality is consisted of three components, the id, ego and super ego. Let us examine these components one by one.

Id:

Id belongs to our intrinsic drives, urges, desires or wishes like hunger, thirst, sex drive, feelings of love and hate etc.  Id works on the principle of pleasures.  It does not take care for social or moral values. It only knows how to fulfill its desires and needs immediately. For example when we are hungry, our Id induces us to get some food by hook or by Crooke. Id can better be observed in babies and infants. Baby is a good example of Id. We see that when a baby becomes hungry, she starts crying to tell you that she wants some milk. And when she gets milk, she stops crying. Think! Who taught her to behave like this in times of hunger? Of course, no one, but it is totally intrinsic and natural process. So we can say that Id is a built-in component of personality.  People who have this factor in abundance would be selfish, rude and egotist etc.

Ego:

Ego is a rational component of personality. It works on the principle of reality. It tells us what is real and what is imaginary. Ego works like a guide. It guides our Id in fulfilling its needs in a socially acceptable way. Sometimes, it is said that Ego plays the role of mediator. When a conflict arises between Id and Super Ego, Ego mediates between them.

Super Ego:

Super Ego is the third and most ideal element of personality.  This element is closely connected with our social life. Super Ego takes care for social and moral values. For example, when you need some money for your necessities but you don’t have any money. Your Id will tell you to get the money somehow, but Super Ego will stop you from adopting any illegal or socially unacceptable behavior. Super Ego is a very important element of personality and most of our daily actions and activities are directed by it.  It enables us to distinguish between right and wrong. It advises us what to do and what not to do. It teaches us that we should comply with the norms of the society. In short it tells us “Do at Rome as the Romans do.”

Read More