sigmund freud's five stages of psychosexual development sigmund freud the acclaimed founder of psychoanalysis is one of the influential theorists on personality development like the other famous theorists on personality development such as eric erickson and lawrence kohlberg freud also attempted to address the question how does personality develop and to that end came up with what is famously known today as freud's five stages of psychosexual development freud's five stages of psychosexual development describes how personality developed over the course of childhood with the central claim that children go through a series of psychosexual stages that lead to the development of the adult personality this led freud to believe that personality development in childhood takes place during five psychosexual stages namely one oral stage two anal stage three phallic stage four latency stage and five genital stage it must be noted that according to freud during each stage sexual energy or libido is expressed in different ways and through different parts of the child's body it is important to note that freud calls these stages psychosexual because each stage represents the fixation of the sexual energy or libido on a different area of the body the idea of the fixation of the libido on a different area of the body is important for freud because as freud argues as the person grows physically certain areas of their body become important as sources of frustration that is erogenous zones as freud calls it and pleasure as we may already know central to freud's five stages of psychosexual development is that claim that life is built around tension and pleasure for freud this tension was caused primarily by the buildup of libido in certain parts of the body and as is well known pleasure came from its release in what follows i will briefly discuss the key concepts freud's five stages of psychosexual development oral stage from birth to one year according to freud the first stage of psychosexual development is the oral stage which spans from birth until the age of one year freud says that the mouth is the erogenous zone during this stage and hence the libido is centered on the baby's mouth and for this reason the child's primary source of interaction occurs through the mouth thus the mouth is vital for eating and the child derives pleasure from oral stimulation through gratifying activities such as tasting and sucking since during this stage the child is entirely dependent upon caretakers such as the mother the child also develops a sense of trust and comfort through this oral stimulation this explains why the breastfed baby normally develops intimacy with the mother according to freud the primary conflict at this stage is the weaning process where the child first experienced the feeling of loss as a result of losing the physical intimacy of feeding at mother's breast however freud believes that weaning increases the child self-awareness that she does not control the environment and thus learns of delayed gratification which leads to the formation of the capacities for independence that is awareness of the limits of the self and trust that is behaviors leading to gratification it is important to note that for freud thwarting of the oral stage that is granting the child too much or too little gratification of desire might lead to an oral stage fixation which is characterized by passivity gullibility immaturity and unrealistic optimism in the case of too much gratification freud says the child does not learn that she does not control the environment and that gratification is not always immediate thereby forming an immature personality in the case of too little gratification the infant might become passive upon learning that gratification is not forthcoming despite having produced the gratifying behavior anal stage from one to three years old the second stage of psychosexual development according to freud is the anal stage which spans from the age of one to three years according to freud the child's erogenous zones in this stage are the bowel and the bladder control thus in this stage toilet training is the child's key anal stage experience occurring at about the age of two years and results in conflict between the id demanding immediate gratification and the ego demanding delayed gratification in eliminating bodily wastes and handling related activities for example manipulating excrement coping with parental demands as we can see it is in this stage that id ego conflict arises for a detailed discussion on freud's theory of instincts that is the dynamic interplay between the freudian concepts of id ego and superego and how they played out in the development of one's personality please see our article titled why do we need to work lessons from sigmund freud's philosophy of work the link is available in the description section of this video now for freud the ideal resolution of the id ego conflict is in the child's adjusting to moderate parental demands that teach the value and importance of physical cleanliness and environmental order thus producing a self-controlled adult however if the parents make immoderate demands of the child by over emphasizing toilet training it might lead to the development of a compulsive personality a person too concerned with neatness and order if the child obeys the id and the parents yield she might develop a self-indulgent personality characterized by personal slovenliness and environmental disorder if the parents respond to that the child must comply but might develop a weak sense of self because it was the parent's will and not the child's ego which controlled the toilet training phallic stage from three to six years old the phallic stage is the third stage of psychosexual development spanning the ages of three to six years wearing the infant's libido centers upon the genitalia as the erogenous zone the child becomes aware of anatomical sex differences which sets in motion the conflict between erotic attraction resentment rivalry jealousy and fear which freud called the oedipus complex and the electra complex the term oedipus complex describes the feelings of wanting to possess the mother and the desire to replace the father while elektra complex describes a similar set of feelings experienced by young girls according to freud the complex is resolved through the process of identification which involves the child adopting the characteristics of the same sex parent latency stage from six years old to puberty the latency stage is the fourth stage of psychosexual development spanning the period of six years to puberty during this stage the libido is dormant and no further psychosexual development takes place freud thought that most sexual impulses are repressed during the latent stage and sexual energy can be sublimated towards school work hobbies and friendships freud also believes that in this stage much of the child's energy is channeled into developing new skills and acquiring new knowledge and play becomes largely confined to other children of the same gender genital stage from puberty to adult the genital stage is the last stage of freud's psychosexual theory of personality development which begins in puberty until adulthood it is a time of adolescent sexual experimentation the successful resolution of which is settling down in a loving one-to-one relationship with another person in our twenties here sexual instinct is directed to heterosexual pleasure rather than self-pleasure like during the phallic stage for freud the proper outlet of the sexual instinct in adults was through heterosexual intercourse fixation and conflict may prevent this with the consequence that sexual perversions may develop for example fixation at the oral stage may result in a person gaining sexual pleasure primarily from kissing in oral sex rather than sexual intercourse it is important to note that for freud the genital stage represents most of a person's life it is also in this stage that the person develops the ability to confront and resolve their remaining psychosexual childhood conflicts as in the phallic stage the genital stage is centered upon the genitalia but the sexuality is consensual and adult rather than solitary and infantile the psychological difference between the phallic and genital stages is that the ego is established in the latter and the person's concern shifts from primary drive gratification instinct to applying secondary process thinking to gratify desire symbolically and intellectually by means of friendships a love relationship family and adult responsibility