Republic of the Philippines

CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE

Impig, Sipocot, Camarines Sur 4408
www.cbsua.edu.ph

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Lesson 12: Socio-Emotional Development

Introduction
An individual’s personality refers to his/her appearance, characteristics, attitude, mindset and behavior
with others. How do we form our specific personality type depends upon many things which includes our
childhood experiences and many other experiences that may have contributed a lot to who we are either positively
or negatively. In this topic we will look into how Sigmund Freud describe the unfolding of one’s personality at
every stages of his psychosexual development and look at its implication of this stages to learning.
Pre-competency
1. How does a child develop his or her personality?
2. Is the child’s personality inborn or developed?
3. Can child rearing help form one’s personality?
4. Do childhood experiences create a lifelong effect to a person?
5. How important is puberty to one’s developmental stage?
Learning Resources
https://www.simplypsychology.org/psychosexual.html
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sigmund-Freud/Sexuality-and-development
https://www.ted.com/talks/brian_little_who_are_you_really_the_puzzle_of_personality?language=en#t-
85882

Explore
Have you ever ask your parent on what you were like when you were just a child? Are you the one who have the habit of
nail biting? Or thumb sucking when you were little? How about now? Do you eat a lot? Talk a lot? Why not ask your
mom?

Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual development

Sigmund Freud (1905) proposed that psychological development in childhood takes place in a series of fixed
psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital.
These are called psychosexual stages because each stage represents the fixation of libido (roughly translated as
sexual drives or instincts) on a different area of the body. As a person grows physically certain areas of their body
become important as sources of potential frustration (erogenous zones), pleasure or both.

Freud stressed that the first five years of life are crucial to the formation of adult personality.
The id (follows pleasure principle)must be controlled in order to satisfy social demands; this sets up a conflict
between frustrated wishes and social norms.
The ego(reality principle) and superego(moral principle) develop in order to exercise this control and direct the
need for gratification into socially acceptable channels.

Some people do not seem to be able to leave one stage and proceed on to the next. One reason for this may be that
the needs of the developing individual at any particular stage may not have been adequately met in which case

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 Republic of the Philippines
CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
Impig, Sipocot, Camarines Sur 4408
www.cbsua.edu.ph

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

there is frustration.
Or possibly the person's needs may have been so well satisfied that he/she is reluctant to leave the psychological
benefits of a particular stage in which there is overindulgence.
Both frustration and overindulgence (or any combination of the two) may lead to what psychoanalysts call fixation
at a particular psychosexual stage.

Oral Stage (0-1 year)

In the first stage of personality development, the libido is centered in a baby's mouth. It gets much satisfaction
from putting all sorts of things in its mouth, and thus it is id demands. Which at this stage in life are oral, or mouth
orientated, such as sucking, biting, and breastfeeding.
Freud said oral stimulation could lead to an oral fixation in later life. We see oral personalities all around us such
as smokers, nail-biters, finger-chewers, and thumb suckers. Oral personalities engage in such oral behaviors,
particularly when under stress.

Anal Stage (1-3 years)

The libido now becomes focused on the anus, and the child derives great pleasure from defecating. The child is
now fully aware that they are a person in their own right and that their wishes can bring them into conflict with
the demands of the outside world (i.e., their ego has developed).
Freud believed that this type of conflict tends to come to a head in potty training, in which adults impose
restrictions on when and where the child can defecate.

Early or harsh potty training can lead to the child becoming an anal-retentive personality who hates mess, is
obsessively tidy, punctual and respectful of authority. They can be stubborn and tight-fisted with their cash and
possessions.

The anal expulsive, on the other hand, underwent a liberal toilet-training regime during the anal stage. In
adulthood, the anal expulsive is the person who wants to share things with you. They like giving things away. An
anal-expulsive personality is also messy, disorganized and rebellious.

Phallic Stage (3 to 5 or 6 years)

Freud suggested that during the phallic stage, the primary focus of the libido is on the genitals. At this age, children
also begin to discover the differences between males and females.

Freud also believed that boys begin to view their fathers as a rival for the mother’s affections. The Oedipus
complex describes these feelings of wanting to possess the mother and the desire to replace the father. However,
the child also fears that he will be punished by the father for these feelings, a fear Freud termed castration anxiety.

The term Electra complex has been used to described a similar set of feelings experienced by young girls. Freud,
however, believed that girls instead experience penis envy.
This is resolved through the process of identification, which involves the child adopting the characteristics of the
same sex parent

Latency Stage (5 or 6 to puberty)

No further psychosexual development takes place during this stage (latent means hidden). The libido is dormant.
Freud thought that most sexual impulses are repressed during the latent stage, and sexual energy can be
sublimated (re: defense mechanisms) towards school work, hobbies, and friendships.

Much of the child's energy is channelled into developing new skills and acquiring new knowledge, and play
becomes largely confined to other children of the same gender.

2|CALLP-L12-rba
 Republic of the Philippines
CENTRAL BICOL STATE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
Impig, Sipocot, Camarines Sur 4408
www.cbsua.edu.ph

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

Genital Stage (puberty to adult)

The onset of puberty causes the libido to become active once again. During the final stage of psychosexual
development, the individual develops a strong sexual interest in the opposite sex. This stage begins during puberty
but last throughout the rest of a person's life.

Where in earlier stages the focus was solely on individual needs, interest in the welfare of others grows during this
stage. If the other stages have been completed successfully, the individual should now be well-balanced, warm, and
caring. The goal of this stage is to establish a balance between the various life areas.

Discussion Board
Do you remember a pattern of behavior that you manifested when you were little and somehow come to realize it
after reading and learning about this topic?

How does Freud’s psychosexual stages of development affects learning?

Quiz: Essay
Base on the lesson on Freud’s Psychosexual development, I learned that..

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