10/28/2020 Freud & Personality Theory - Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.

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Freud & Personality Theory

Lesson Transcript

In this lesson, we'll discuss the theory of personality developed by the famous psychiatrist Sigmund Freud.
We'll discuss how human personality develops throughout one's life course according to Freud, and how
personality and psychological issues are linked.

Sigmund Freud
If you've ever taken a psychology class, chances are you've encountered the work of Sigmund
Freud, one of the most (perhaps the most) famous psychiatrists of all time. Throughout the
1900s, and up until his death in 1939, he was a proli c writer. While Freud made many
contributions to psychology and psychiatry, one of his most famous contributions was
developing a theory of human personality, which still in uences psychologists today. Let's talk
more about this.

Stages of Development
To understand where Freud was coming from, we have to start from the very beginning -
childhood. Freud believed that there were several stages to development, and our adult
personalities ultimately come from the ways in which we experience these stages. Freud called
these psychosexual stages, and our personality develops as we move through them. Freud
believed that these stages developed according to the things that bring us pleasure. Freud came
up with 4 of these stages.

First, we experience the oral stage from birth until we are about 1 ½ years old. During this
stage, we are xated on oral things, such as a bottle or a paci er, which are things that bring
babies pleasure.

Next, we experience the anal stage, during which pleasure comes from developing elimination
habits, such as what happens during toilet training. This stage happens around ages 1 ½ to 3
years old.

The next stage is the phallic stage, which happens around 3 to 5 years old. This is where
children begin to develop more interest in the opposite sex parent, which Freud called the
Oedipus complex.

Next is the latency stage, which happens when we're about 5 to 12 years old, and it is where
children begin to develop feelings for the opposite sex, but these feelings remain dormant.

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It's not until the genital phase, around 12 years old to adulthood, that we see the development
of sexual behaviors and feelings expressed for the opposite sex.

The Human Mind

So now that we know what these stages are, how do they relate to personality? Freud
hypothesized that the human mind is composed of 3 parts: the id, the ego, and the superego.

The id is basically like what we're born with, and it's all about pleasure. For example, newborns
just want their needs ful lled, and they want whatever feels good at the time. There isn't much
awareness of anything else.

The ego begins to develop as we move into later stages of development. The ego is more aware
of others outside of us. The ego tries to get the id's needs met but with more consideration that
there are other people out there. The ego begins to develop as we move through the later
stages of development.

The superego is the part of the mind that operates as the processing center. This is sort of like
the part of the brain that is concerned with things like morality or right and wrong. The
superego begins to develop in the phallic stage, when we're around ve years old.

Stages of Adult Personality

So, what does this have to do with personality? Freud argued that a psychologically healthy
person must have completed all the stages of development. If he or she does not, this can lead
to psychological problems or an unhealthy personality. Additionally, if we become xated in a
particular stage, this can create problems in our personality.

For example, if we are deprived or weaned too early during the oral stage, we might see
behaviors in adulthood like aggression or substance dependency. If we're stuck in the anal
stage, we might see personality traits such as being overly concerned with cleanliness (like the
expression an 'anal retentive personality' suggests). If we're xated in the phallic stage, we
might see personality traits such as sexual deviance or confusion surrounding sexuality.

Freud theorized that most of the issues that we face in our adult lives could be traced back to
our childhood personalities. If we're experiencing a psychological issue, then it's probably
because we failed to complete a personality stage. Freud believed that these personality issues
could be treated by the use of psychoanalysis, which is a therapeutic technique that tries to
make us aware of our unconscious thoughts. The idea here is that if we release repressed
emotions or feelings we can address psychological problems, which are rooted in the
unconscious.

Freud is still one of the most well known gures in psychology. However, many of his ideas have
become outdated. For example, there is little research to support his theory that we pass
through the psychosexual phases. There is also little evidence to support the existence of the id,
ego, and superego, as Freud viewed them. However, his work on the unconscious mind is still
quite relevant to modern psychology.

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Lesson Summary
Sigmund Freud is one of the most notable psychiatrists to have lived. His writing on human
personality and the structure of consciousness and the human mind is some of the most
famous writing on these subjects.

Freud proposed a series of developmental stages, the passage through which shapes our adult
personalities. During the oral stage, which we experience as infants, we are xated on oral
things like a paci er or bottle, which brings us pleasure. During the anal stage, when we are
about 1 ½ - 3, we nd pleasure in developing elimination habits. During the phallic stage, when
we are between 3 and 5, we begin to show more interest in our parent of the opposite sex.
During the latency stage, between 5 and 12, we being to develop feelings for the opposite sex,
though they are mostly hidden. During the genital phase, around 12 years old to adulthood, we
begin to express these feelings towards others of the opposite sex.

These stages are directed by the components of the human mind known as the id, ego, and
superego. If we don't properly complete the stages of personality as we grow up, we might
experience psychological issues. In fact, Freud believed that the issues we experience as an
adult can be traced all the way back to childhood.

Additionally, he believed that personality issues could be treated through psychoanalysis, or a

therapeutic technique that tries to address psychological problems by making us aware of our
unconscious thoughts.

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