Five Stages of Freudian Psychosexual Development - Research Paper Example

?Assignment QUESTION: List two of the five stages of Freudian psychosexual development and briefly describe each. How can understanding of Freud’sstages be useful in modern consideration of personality? Discuss the difference between the pleasure principle and the reality principle. How might these be observed in adult behavior? The oral and phallic stages are two of Freudian psychosexual development stages. Stevenson (1996) explains that “The oral stage begins at birth, when the oral cavity is the primary focus of libidal energy.” This means that the oral stage is an innocent stage where an individual assumes that the most important thing that could happen to him is being nursed and receiving pleasure from sucking his mother’s breast and literary accepting things into the mouth. Babies at this stage are more familiar with their mouth; thus ‘oral’ stage than any other part of their body. This is because the first place babies direct anything that gets into their hands is their mouth. It is not surprising therefore that in the absence of doing nothing most children are seen with their fingers in their mouth. The phallic stage is however a more mature and advanced stage of an individual’s life. The phallic stage is more or less a stage of identity where the child begins to know him or herself better. Most psychologists are of the view that this stage last from the age of 3 to 6 and it is characterized by a period when “children also begin to discover the differences between males and females” (Cherry, 2011). Male children at this stage view their fathers as rivals to their mothers and female children experience penis envy. Understanding Freud’s stages of psychosexual development can be very useful for modern day personality building. It is not for nothing therefore that the theories of Freud have been held on to till today. In the first place, when parents understand the stages of development, they are in a better position to becoming more responsible and acceptable parents. They become responsible parents in the sense that they learn to understand the psychosexual formation of their children better and so react to them in the most acceptable manner. They also become acceptable parents because in the eyes of their children, they are viewed or seen as complementary elements whose existence and presence are necessary for maximizing the survival of the children (Akakpo, 2001). The second reflection of understanding the Freudian psychosexual development for modern personality is that it helps in giving an individual a proper understanding and interpretation of life in general. Interpretation of life is used in this situation instead of interpretation of an individual because at the very early ages a person, effects of the stages of development has the potential of shaping the mentality of a person even in an unconscious manner. For example at the oral stage, a baby may be very innocent of the stage and the interpretation of it but if the baby is continuously denied the oral care (sucking and feeding), this child eventually grows to develop negative attitude towards life. Attitudes such as hatred could be developed as a result. Explain the two terms in a respective manner, Felluga (2002) observes that pleasure principle and reality principle are “the desire for immediate gratification vs. the deferral of that gratification.” That is like saying that a person led by the pleasure principle always seeks for the ‘good’ things of life without acknowledging the need for a person to face pain and agony once a while. A person who believes in reality principle on the other hand admits that life has two sides and those are pain and joy. They therefore accept pain when it comes. The two principles can be observed in the behavior of adults by comparing two adults, one of whom would do everything possible: even when bad to get the things he or she feels would bring joy and the other is an adult who is submissive to what life presents in such a way that he or she would want to live a modest life even if that kind of lifestyle causes pain and agony. REFERENCE Akakpo P. T (2001). Stages of Development and the Role Parents should play in this. Digitized Publications Limited: Durban Cheery K. (2011). The Phallic Stage. Retrieved September 15, 2011 from http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/ss/psychosexualdev_4.htm Felluga D. F (2002). PLEASURE-PRINCIPLE AND REALITY-PRINCIPLE. Retrieved September 15, 2011 from http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/psychoanalysis/definitions/pleasureprinciple.html Stevenson D. B. (1996). Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development. The Victorian Web. Retrieved September 15, 2011 from http://www.victorianweb.org/science/freud/develop.html Assignment #2 QUESTION: Define the Id, Ego, and Superego. How are these three things important to Freud's theory and modern perspectives on personality? Include examples from a current article or research study to illustrate your comments. The three concepts, id, ego and superego propounded by Freud do not represent different phases or stages of a person. Rather, they represent characters in a single personality. These characters are not acted in any orderly sequence but as and when our actions, motives and emotions call for them. Explaining the three concepts, Cash (2011) explains that the id is “the seat of our impulses”; the ego “negotiates with the id, pleases the superego” and superego “keeps us on the straight and narrow”. Basically, this is like saying that our id is at work when we would do nothing else than pleasing our impulses and or feelings. A person’s character of id is at work when desire overrules all other forms of mental alertness (Akakpo, 2001). With the ego personality, there is a function of mediating “between the id's demands and the external world around us — reality in other words” (Cash, 2011). The ego can simply be referred to as a mediator and referee. It is the ego that concludes on whether or not the desires and impulses of the id should be honored. The superego on the other hand is tagged to be the good character in us. This is because it is the judge with a stricter decision of going nothing more than what is acceptable. The superego is therefore society conscious as it would not give room for much personal feeling but general social judgment. The id, ego and superego are all very important to Freud’s theory and modern perspective on personality. To begin it all, id, ego and superego together form the basis of modern day rule of law. As a matter of fact, there are rules and laws because society takes an implication from the three personalities given by Freud to judge certain acts as right and others as wrong. In modern perspectives therefore, the three characters of personality are responsible for the law enforcement agency. They are also responsible for the institution of rewards and punishment. The reference made to rewards and punishment includes but not limited to those received at the hands of law enforcers. For instance they include rewards and punishment received at the work place, in the home and at school. This means that the three characters of personality have become generally accepted in deciding and enforcing people to do good instead of bad. Chapter three of The Virtual Psychology Classroom (2011) gives practical examples and illustrations that demonstrate how the three characters of personality presented by Freud apply in modern day perspective. It is argued for instance that all people are born with their id. Maturity and environmental acquaintances should however teach people to suppress by impulses and make decisions that benefit society as a whole. A very example to this effect is a person who is very hungry and finds himself in a house where he sees another person’s food. This person may be in the house alone and as such the id of the person would first tell the person to steal the food to satisfy is hunger. Right at the onset of this idea however, the ego takes over the decision making process whereby it would try and convince the id that stealing is a wrong option. The superego comes to play when the person finally decides not to steal the food. This is why Virtual Psychology Classroom (2011) notes that “if the superego becomes to strong, the person would be driven by rigid morals, would be judgmental and unbending in his or her interactions with the world.” REFERENCE Akakpo P. T (2001). Stages of Development and the Role Parents should play in this. Digitized Publications Limited: Durban Cash A. (2011). Understanding the Id, Ego, and Superego in Psychology. Retrieved September 15, 2011 from http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/understanding-the-id-ego-and-superego-in-psycholog.html The Virtual Psychology Classroom (2011). Personality Development. AllPsych Online. Retrieved September 15, 2011 from http://allpsych.com/psychology101/ego.html Assignment 3 QUESTION: Take one element of the theories or ideas presented this week and apply it to a real person – for example, someone from current events, politics, business, sports, the entertainment field. Define the terms you’re using, and apply them to an aspect of this person’s life (a specific action, behavior, or decision, for example). How can we understand this person more fully by using this concept to understand him/her?  In people’s daily dealings, they exemplify most, if not all of Freud’s theories in one way or the other. A focus on a sportsman who would dope to win a race is a typical example of real person who displays a strong weakness to controlling his id. According to the Drug Free Cycling (2008), 'Doping' is the word used in sport when athletes use prohibited substances or methods to unfairly improve their sporting performance.” Doping is prohibited in all forms of sports because it defeats the basic idea of sports, which is supposed to be a healthy and fair competition. This prohibition notwithstanding, there have been several reports in the media about athletics and sportsmen and sportswomen who dope. Linking these instances to Freud’s id, ego and superego characters of personality, it could be concluded that athletics who find themselves in this position of doping have not learnt to overcome their id. It is said that an athlete like Marion Jones who was charged with doping offenses focused more on the joy of being seen and declared a champion to the damming effects that a revelation of her secret practices could bring. We can understand Marion Jones more fully by using the concept that superego is a character of maturity and is possessed by people who are mature enough to understand their feelings and emotions. Cash (2011) explains that athletes who would go the extra mile to dope when they know it is wrong do so because of a misconception they have about their feeling and emotions. Most people (even adults) have a misconception about their id and so tend to think that “without it we'd die, or at the very least, we'd be really boring” (Cash, 2011). This is wrong because resistance to wrong acts does not actually kill or destroy us. It is when we heed to our feelings and we are later exposed that we face humiliation such as was faced by Marion Jones. REFERENCE Cash A. (2011). Understanding the Id, Ego, and Superego in Psychology. Retrieved September 15, 2011 from http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/understanding-the-id-ego-and-superego-in-psycholog.html Drug Free Cycling (2008). What is Doping? Retrieved September 15, 2011 from http://www.drugfreecycling.com/DopingPrevention/WhatisDoping/tabid/255/language/en-US/Default.aspx Read More