1. The “Big 5”: Freud’s stages of personality development
By Jennifer Smith
Psy200i Fall 2012
2. Oral Stage
~Typically from birth to 12-18 months
~ Receives oral pleasure from sucking, eating, mouthing & biting. This
is why children at this age attach to pacifiers and such.
~ If an adult experiences fixation from this stage they will typically
display problems with smoking, eating disorders, & excessive talking
Toward the end of this stage children are typically weaned from the item
they have been attached to, i.e. bottles, pacifiers, teething rings etc; and if
fixation begins they will sometimes exhibit aggression or anger. Adults who
experience fixation can exhibit this in many ways, such as, overeating,
smoking, drinking, nail-biting, and even promiscuous sexual behavior.
3. Anal Stage
~ Typically from 12-18 months to 3 years
~Receive pleasure from withholding and releasing urine & feces
~Adjusting to rules & routines for toilet training
~If an adult experiences fixation from this stage they will typically
display either extreme orderliness or sloppiness and severe rigidity
Toward the end of this stage children have developed their “bathroom ritual”
& can have issues with being too orderly or exhibit extreme sloppiness. This
could range from preferring a solid white bathroom that can easily be kept clean
to a bathroom that is dark and always dirty or cluttered. These are just a few
examples of fixation.
4. Phallic Stage
~Typically from 3 to 5-6 years
~Receive pleasure from interest in genitals, the visual differences,
& coming to terms with Oedipal or Electra complex
~Will begin to identify similarities with same-sex parent &
may develop an attraction or jealousy over feeling of opposite sex parent
~This is the stage where discovery of self is most likely since
pleasure at this stage if derived primarily from stimulation of genitals.
Children at this age will often explore their own genitals and sometimes compare notes.
This is not of a sexual nature such as adult masturbation.
They simply do it because it’s new to them and it feels good.
They also learn to identify, in most cases, with the same-sex
parent and feel an attraction to the opposite-sex parent.
This can often result in anger issues toward the same-sex parent and jealousy.
A fixation will often result in an adult who is sexually attracted to those who are similar to their
opposite-sex parent and is some cases their actual parent.
5. Latency Stage
~ Typically from 5-6 years to adolescence
~ Sexual concerns are very unimportant during this stage
~ Children learn to enjoy time with same-sex peers
During this stage children learn to spend time playing with same-sex peers.
Boys will typically spend time with other boys building forts and roughing about.
Girls spend time doing make-overs, slumber parties & playing with other girls.
No type of adult fixations apply to this stage of personality development.
6. Genital Stage
~ Typically adolescence to adulthood
~ Re-discovery of sexual interests
~ Establishment of mature sexual relationships
This stage is where people again develop an interest in sex.
They will begin to attempt sexual relationships and carry on
into adulthood with mature sexual relationships. No fixations
apply to this stage of personality development.
