Despite progress in psychological science, Freud's ideas still continue to influence various spheres of human life. The theory he invented has a particularly strong effect on art and psychology. However, phrases such as “Freudian reservation” or “Oedipus complex” can be heard everywhere.
The role of the concept of Z. Freud
Freud’s theory turned all ideas about what motives motivate human behavior. The founder of psychoanalysis was the first to try to discover the hidden causes of the actions of one of the most unreliable witnesses, namely human consciousness. Briefly, Freud's theory describes the causes of human life conflicts as follows: difficulties in childhood lead to problems, neuroses and pathologies in adulthood. In the personal development of the child, the founder of psychoanalysis identified several phases. In the process of going through these phases, a small person must solve important tasks for his formation.
Research Base for the Ancestor of Psychoanalysis
Any dream, Freud believed, is a meaningful psychic phenomenon that can be included in reality. Freud's basic theory — psychoanalysis — was based on observations of various kinds. Already in his first works, the scientist referred to classical literature, its characters. To understand the complex mechanisms that govern human behavior, Freud studied not only the unconscious motives of his patients and their dreams, but also the complex characters of literary heroes, such as Shakespeare's Hamlet, Faust Goethe.
Psychosexual development process
What is Freud's theory of psychoanalysis? The main process that is investigated using this concept is psychosexual development. It represents a strict sequence of stages of development of instinctive energy inherent in a child, which is aimed at transforming physiological phenomena into a measurement of the psyche, which allows you to adapt the body to the world. The final task of development is the formation of consciousness, as well as socialization.
In Sigmund Freud's theory, this instinctive energy is called libido. Over time, it moves from one erogenous zone to another. Each of these zones at various stages of human life is adapted to defuse libido and is associated with a specific development task.
What is fixation?
If this process occurs with difficulties, then these problem points, according to Freud's theory, are designated as fixations at a certain stage. As a rule, such violations are associated either with the state of frustration in childhood, or with over-care. The presence of fixation leads to the emergence of special character traits in adulthood. Man regresses to early forms of satisfaction in difficult life circumstances. This is accompanied by a breakdown in adaptation to the outside world.
The main task of psychosexual development is to link sexual activity directly to the genitals, the transition from autoeroticism to heteroeroticism.
Oral stage
According to Freud's theory, there are several stages of this process. This is an oral, anal, phallic, genital stage. The first of these stages lasts approximately from birth to one and a half years. Infants are fed from the mother’s breast, and at this stage, the area of the mouth is very closely connected with the process of satisfying physiological needs, receiving pleasure. That is why the area of the mouth and those structures that are directly associated with it, and become the main concentration of activity of the baby.
Freud was convinced that the mouth remains one of the most important erogenous zones throughout life. Even in adulthood, one can observe the residual effects of this period in the form of chewing gum, biting nails, smoking, kisses and overeating. All of this, Freudian theory advocates see as an attachment of the libido to the oral zone. It should be noted that the oral phase is divided into two stages - passive and aggressive. The passive phase takes place before the child has teeth. Then comes the aggressive-oral stage. The child begins to express his frustration with his teeth. Fixation at this phase in adults leads to the development of personality traits such as cynicism, a tendency to argue, exploiting other people in order to satisfy their own needs.
According to Freud’s theory, pleasure and sexuality are closely intertwined. In this context, the latter is understood as the process of excitement that accompanies the process of saturation of the child. The first sources of pleasure for him are the mother's breast or an item that replaces it. Over time, the mother's breast loses its importance as an object of love. It is replaced by a part of his own body - the child sucks his finger to reduce the tension, which inevitably arises as a result of a lack of mother care.
Micropsychoanalysis
Recently, the concept that psychosexual development begins not from birth, but in the womb, is becoming more widespread. Already in this period, the development of emotions, drives, the ability to enjoy one’s own body takes place.
Freud was able to debunk the widespread myth of "golden childhood" - a century that does not know any difficulties. He was replaced by the myth of the "beautiful century" of the prenatal period, when the mother and child are in complete unity. However, micropsychoanalysts have shown that in reality no symbiosis exists at this time. Mother and child can be in complex, and often conflicting, relationships. A child is born with a negative experience of struggle and confrontation. And from this point of view, the trauma of birth is not the very first in a person’s life.
Anal stage
The next stage after the oral in the psychoanalytic theory of Freud's development is called the anal. This stage begins at the age of about one and a half years and lasts up to three. During this period, the child learns to walk independently on the potty. He really likes this process of control, since this is the first function that requires him to be aware of his own actions.
Freud was convinced that the method by which parents accustom the child to the potty also influences its development at later stages. All future forms of self-control begin at this stage.
If difficulties arise in the relationship between the child and the parent , this affects the character formation. For example, a child refuses to go to the potty, and then pees in his pants, feeling the joy of causing inconvenience to his mother. The child develops the so-called anal character, manifested in greed, pedantry, and the desire for perfectionism.
Phallic stage
It lasts from 3.5 to 6 years. At this stage, the child begins to examine his own body, examine his genitals. He has a genuine interest in a parent of the opposite sex. Then there is identification with the parent of the same sex, as well as the inoculation of a specific sexual role. If at this stage difficulties arise, this leads to identification of oneself with the opposite sex, as well as to difficulties in communicating with partners.
The interests of the child are concentrated at this stage around their own genitals. At this stage, a complex psychic formation arises, known in Freud's theory of psychoanalysis as the Oedipus complex.
Some researchers emphasize that in this case it is better to talk about the oedipal conflict, because it is directly related to the desire to achieve a parent of the opposite sex and the inability to possess it in reality. The resolution of this conflict leads to a transition from the desire to have one's own mother to the need to become like a father. The oedipal situation can accompany a person throughout his conscious life, even if he managed to successfully pass it in childhood. The manifestations of this stage are experiences of rivalry, envy, jealousy, dependence of attractiveness for the opposite sex on achievements. The oedipal situation can also metaphorically denote an unconscious desire to regress to an early symbiotic relationship with the mother.
The role of the oedipal conflict
This phenomenon performs several important development tasks. Firstly, in the oedipal situation, for the first time in the relationship of mother and child, a third appears - the father. The child from only communication with his mother goes to relationships with other objects. Dyadic relationships become triadic, where the father is included. Thus, a transition to life in the group gradually occurs.
The oedipal situation also makes the child face reality. In the ancient Greek myth of Oedipus, the truth became known only after the crime took place. The Oedipus complex makes the child recognize the terrible truth that he is not an adult. However, with a positive resolution of the conflict, relations with it will continue. From the point of view of Melanie Klein, who continued to develop the psychoanalytic theory of Z. Freud, this situation is resolved simultaneously with the transition of the child from the so-called paranoid phase to the depressive one. In the latter, the child integrates the experience of both good and bad relationships with the same parent and maintains a constant relationship with him. For the first time he sees the difference between his claims and capabilities, between the psyche and physical reality.
What else gives passage through a difficult period?
The child is in the so-called third position. He is not a participant, but an observer of the relationship between mother and father. This is the basis for a special psychic education, which is known in Freudian psychoanalytic theory as observing the Ego. Also in the process of resolving the Oedipus complex, the formation of a super-ego takes place. It is believed that a child is more easily identified with a parent who has great frustrating potential.
Unlike other stages of development, when the main task of the child is to overcome environmental resistance, during the oedipal conflict he must take the position of a loser and metaphorically be expelled from the parental pair. If this does not happen, then the unresolved situation becomes the basis for further perversions. We can say that it is from the difficulties of resolving the Oedipus complex that a neurotic character is formed.
According to the theory of development of Z. Freud, neurosis is directly related to the conflict between two opposite aspirations - to individuation and belonging. Before the onset of the phallic stage, the child is primarily concerned with issues of physical survival, as well as separation and dependence in dyadic relationships with the mother. In this regard, the echo of the Oedipus conflict, according to Freud, really haunts man throughout his life.
Latent phase
According to Freud’s personality theory, this stage lasts from 6 to 12 years and is characterized by a decrease in sexual interest. Libido at this stage is divorced from the sexual object, it is directed to the development of universal human experience, which is enshrined in science and culture. Energy is also directed towards building friendships with peers and surrounding adults who are not part of the family circle.
Genital stage
With the onset of puberty, sexual and aggressive impulses are restored. Together with them, renewed interest in the opposite sex. The initial stage of this stage is characterized by biochemical changes within the body. Reproductive organs mature, a large amount of hormones is released. This provokes the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics (for example, coarsening of the voice in young men, the formation of mammary glands in girls).
Freud’s personality theory states that all individuals go through the “stage of homosexuality” in their early teens. An explosion of energy is directed at a person of the same sex - it can be a teacher, neighbor or friend. This happens in the same way as in the process of resolving the Oedipus complex. Despite the fact that homosexual behavior cannot be called the universal experience of this stage, as a rule, adolescents prefer a society of friends of the same sex. However, over time, the partner of the opposite sex becomes the object of libido. Normally in youth, this leads to courtship and family formation.
The perfect character of man
According to the personality theory of Z. Freud, the genital character is an ideal type of personality. This is a mature and responsible person in social and sexual relations (not prone to betrayal). He finds satisfaction in heterosexual love (he was able to overcome the complex of "unhappy love"). Although Freud himself was opposed to sexual licentiousness, he was still more tolerant of it than most of his contemporaries. The founder of psychoanalysis understood that libido discharge during sexual intercourse provides the possibility of physiological control over the impulses that come from the genitals. Control, in turn, allows you to restrain the energy of instinct, and it reaches its highest point without consequences in the form of guilt or a feeling of conflict.
Freud believed that in order to form an ideal character (which he considered genital), a person should abandon passivity inherent in an early age, when love and security were easy, without requiring anything in common. A person must learn to work, put off satisfaction for a certain period, and show love and care towards other people. First of all, he must take an active role in various life situations.
Conversely, when at a young age various traumatic situations arise with a certain fixation of libido, the normal entry into the genital stage becomes difficult, and in some cases completely impossible. Freud argued that serious conflicts of life at a young age are just echoes of the early difficulties that occurred in childhood.