Theories of Personality Development



Theories of Personality development

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud is considered as one of the greatest thinkers of the twentieth century. His theory of personality has not only the contemporary psychology, but also a wide field of philosophy and the arts. The impact of Freud's theories to this day remains undeniable. According to Freud, personality development occurs in childhood. It is a process in which Freud has identified five stages, which he described as psychosexual stages (Plomin, 1994). He made this distinction because of this he believed that human psychological development is contingent variable and dynamic sexual energy that is concentrated in different places of the human body and changes as the development and maturation (Anestis & Lilienfeld, 2011). Following are the stages that Freud distinguished in this order:

First Oral stage

It takes place in a period of twelve to eighteen months of age. Then the baby learns and "absorbs" the world around them by mouth, such as food, eaten (De Maat & Schoevers, 2006). That is why at this stage of the fundamental center of learning and experiencing the world are busy mouth. Freud believed that among those whose development was halted in the oral phase often comes to compulsive actions, such as drinking, smoking or excessive overeating, as they seek to meet just such activities (Lin, 1986).

Second Anal stage

The child enters into the second stage of development of about two to three years of age. Then he begins to construct a structure referred to as the ego personality. Then the child begins to be aware of their existence and the requirements posed by the surrounding reality (Elliott, 2002). It is also the period when the children grows out of diapers and learn to use the toilet independently. Thus, according to Freud, an important task before the child is at this stage is to achieve the ability to control the body's bodily substance.

3rd Oedipal stage, or phallic

This takes place in the period from the third to the sixth year of life. At this stage of sexual experience in the localization of the clitoris in females and the penis in boys. Then the children are aware of their sexuality and differences between children of different sexes (Rene, 2006). According to Freud, the children stage subliminally sexual desire in a way that parents have for the opposite sex and hate the other parent feeling, seeing it as his competitor. Freud described this phenomenon as the Oedipus complex. Oedipus was a mythological hero who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother.

However, according to Freud's Oedipus complex process varies depending on the gender of the baby. In boys, this stage has a more dynamic character (Peterson, 1993). Boys are proud to have the penis and derive pleasure from it. However, at the time when they see a naked woman overwhelmed by their anxiety and fear because they are convinced that this is the man who cut off the penis, and a burden to blame for his ...