Psychosexual development

Sigmund Freud’s theory that personality develops through childhood stages as libido is focused on different bodily zones. It links unresolved stage conflicts to patterns of adult character.

Libido: In psychoanalytic theory, libido is psychic energy associated with sexual drives and desire. Freud treated libido as the energy shifting its focus across developmental stages.
Oral stage: In Freud’s theory, the oral stage is the first psychosexual stage, when libido is centered on the mouth. It begins the sequence, linking early feeding and oral activity to later personality.
Sigmund Freud: Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist who founded psychoanalysis and developed theories of the unconscious and psychosexual development. He proposed the stages and their links to adult personality.
Psychosocial development: Erik Erikson’s theory describes eight stages of development shaped by social relationships and identity conflicts across the lifespan. It broadens Freud’s childhood-focused sequence into a lifespan account centered on social challenges.
Fixation (psychology): In psychoanalysis, fixation is the persistence of psychical investment in an earlier developmental stage. Freud used fixation to explain how unresolved stage conflicts could shape adult traits.
Anal stage: In Freud’s theory, the anal stage centers libido on bowel control and elimination. Its conflict concerns control and autonomy during toilet training.
Anna Freud: Anna Freud was a psychoanalyst who developed ego psychology and helped establish child psychoanalysis. Her work extended psychoanalytic study of children beyond her father’s stage theory.
Attachment theory: Attachment theory explains how early relationships with caregivers shape emotional bonds and later social development. It studies early relationships through observable behavior rather than libido and bodily zones.
Unconscious mind: The unconscious mind comprises mental processes unavailable to conscious awareness that can influence thought and behavior. The theory assigns lasting effects to conflicts outside conscious awareness.
Phallic stage: In Freud’s theory, the phallic stage centers libido on the genitals and includes the Oedipus complex. Freud placed family rivalry and identification within this stage.

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