List and describe each of Freud's psychosexual stages of development and their theorized relations to adult personality

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Freud believed that the foundation of personality is laid by the age of 5 . He theorized that the ways in which children deal with immature sexual urges (sexual used as a general term here, meaning physical pleasure) during different stages of development shape personality. He proposed five psychosexual stages, each with a characteristic erotic focus and developmental challenge:
Oral: During this stage, the main source of erotic stimulation is the mouth; Freud argued that the handling of the child's feeding experiences is critical to later development. Fixation at this stage could, argued Freud, be the basis for obsessive eating or smoking in later life.
Anal: During this stage, the main source of erotic stimulation is the bowel movement; Freud argued that the critical event is toilet training and that it represents society's first effort to regulate the child's biological urges. The importance to later development may be seen in hostility to the mother if excessive punishment is used or anxiety about sexual activities later in life.
Phallic: During this stage, the main source of erotic stimulation is the genitals. Freud argued that during this critical stage, the Oedipal complex emerges. According to Freud, the way parents and children deal with the sexual and aggressive conflicts is of paramount importance and healthy psychosexual development, with many aspects of development hinging on the resolution of the Oedipal conflict.
Latency: During this stage, the child's sexuality is largely suppressed and becomes latent. Important events during this stage center on expanding social contacts beyond the immediate family.
Genital: During this stage, the child's sexuality urges reappear and a focus on the genitals once again appears. At this point, sexual energy is normally channeled toward peers of the other sex.