Defense Mechanisms & Psychosexual Stages (2)

Defence mechanisms

• The Ego uses defence mechanisms to help balance the conflicting demands of the Id and the Superego e.g.

  • The id screams, 'I want it now!'; the Superego replies, 'You are wrong to want it!'

    • The ego must find a way to manage this internal struggle to prevent the self from becoming overwhelmed by potential short-term trauma/threat

    • This balancing act (and the resulting defence mechanisms) happens at an unconscious level, it is not the product of conscious, rational thought

What do defence mechanisms work as ?

• Defence mechanisms work as a protective mechanism for the psyche

  • They may protect the individual from having to face harsh truths or unpleasant realities, some of which it may be socially unacceptable to admit to e.g.

    • 'my childhood was awful'

    • 'I hate my husband'

    • 'I wish I had never had children'

What may defence mechanisms provide ?

• Defence mechanisms may provide temporary relief or solution from having to confront the unsavoury facts of one's existence but they are, in the long-term, psychologically unhealthy and damaging e.g.

  • 'I'm pretending that my childhood was wonderful as otherwise I don't think I can bear having to consider what it was truly like'

  • 'I make a big show of being lovey-dovey with my husband in public so that no one guesses how much I'd like to divorce him'

  • 'I'm so glad I had children, I really, I really don't regret it one tiny bit!'

    • The above are not necessarily conscious thoughts - Freud would say that they bubble away in the unconscious mind and only emerge as defence mechanisms

Types of defence mechanisms - Displacement

The focus of a strong emotion is directed towards a neutral/uninvolved person/object, which reduces anxiety as it allows the expression of that strong emotion e.g. 

• 'I shout at my children because I cannot shout at my boss'

• 'I slam the door after a row with my husband because I can't physically hurt him

Type of defence mechanisms - Repression

Unpleasant/distressing memories are pushed down into the unconscious mind and 'smothered' so that they are unable to cause anxiety or hurt, e.g. 

• 'I have no memory of being bullied at school'

• 'Nothing happened to me when I went on holiday to Greece with my friends

Type of defence mechanisms - Denial

• This manifests as a refusal to accept the reality of an unpleasant situation or event: if it didn't happen, then it can't harm anyone, e.g. 

  • 'I am sure that my partner isn't stealing from me, I must have mislaid that £50 note somewhere'

  • 'I don't look at my childless friends and wish I had that life - I'm blissfully happy with my 5 wonderful children'

Psychosexual Stages

• According to Freud, children pass through several psychosexual stages of development

  • oral (0-1 years)

  • anal (1-3 years)

  • phallic (3-6 years)

  • latent (6 years to puberty)

  • genital (puberty onwards)

What is each stage linked to ?

• Each stage is linked to specific milestones and timelines in the child's life

  • If a person develops healthily and deals successfully with the conflicts present in each stage, they should pass through the stages without difficulty

  • By the time adulthood is reached and all the stages have been passed, the person should be fully adjusted and conflict-free

What is fixation ?

• Fixation occurs if a child becomes 'stuck' at one of the stages

  • This happens if the child's upbringing is dysfunctional or if they have suffered some type of trauma or adverse experience

  • They may develop a fixation which is likely to impede and obstruct their happiness and functionality as an adult

What is the main indicator of heathy development ?

The main indicator of healthy development is if the child successfully navigates the phallic phase, by going through the Oedipus complex or the Electra complex

Oedipus complex

• The Oedipus complex is the phase in which boys initially feel an unconscious desire for closeness to their mother and hate/fear their father due to castration anxiety

Electra complex

• Girls go through a similar process known as the Electra complex in which they experience penis envy and closeness to the father/hatred for the mother

• Over time, both boys and girls come out of the Oedipus/Electra complex and identify with the same-sex parent

• Freud conducted a case study of Little Hans, a 5-year-old boy with a horse phobia

  • Freud’s detailed notes and observations of Hans allowed him to interpret Hans’ phobia as evidence of the Oedipus complex (the horse represented his father, according to Freud)

  • Hans emerged from the phobia towards the beginning of the latency stage, which Freud interpreted as evidence of him having resolved this conflict

The Stages

Stage	Description	Consequences in adulthood of unresolved conflict
Oral  0-1 years	The mouth is the focus of pleasure  Conflict can arise around breastfeeding (too much or too little)	Oral Fixation: Smoking, overeating, biting nails, critical and sarcastic comments, addiction, neediness
Anal  1-3 years	The anus is the focus of pleasure  Conflict can arise when toilet training, e.g. holding on too tightly (retentive) or defecating freely (expulsive)	Anal retentive fixation: Neatness, perfectionism, neuroticism  Anal expulsive:  Messiness, insensitivity, chaos
Phallic  3-6 years	The genital area is the focus of pleasure  Conflict can arise and cause the Oedipus or Electra complex	Phallic fixation: Vanity, over-ambition, narcissism, impulsivity
Latency  6 years to puberty	Earlier conflicts become repressed	None
Genital  puberty onwards	The genitals are the focus of pleasure  Sexual desire becomes conscious as puberty hits	Genital fixation: Difficulty forming heterosexual relationships, particularly difficulties with penetration

Strength 1 Evaluation of defence mechanisms & psychosexual stages

• Psychotherapy can enable people to come to terms with and recognise the underlying conflicts and trauma that may result in defence mechanisms

  • This is highly applicable to counselling for a range of conditions, e.g. phobias, sexual fetishism, anger issues

  • This gives the theory behind defence mechanisms good external validity

Strength 2 Evaluation of defence mechanisms & psychosexual stages

• Freud's concept of the psychosexual stages has provided important insights into how early experiences can shapepersonality and behaviour

  • Some research has supported the idea that oral and anal fixations are easily identified and can be traced back to childhood experience

  • This means that Freud's theory has shown staying powerbeyond its immediate conception in the early 20th century

Limitation 1 Evaluation of defence mechanisms & psychosexual stages

• Freud's research is underpowered in terms of his methodology

  • He conducted single-subject case studies of wealthy Viennese adults and one child (Little Hans)

  • He made claims based on his own, subjective interpretation of their dreams or phobias/fantasies, which were not checked/confirmed by another psychologist

  • This means that Freud's work lacks a scientific approach and is unreliable in terms of hypothesis testing

Limitation 2 Evaluation of defence mechanisms & psychosexual stages

• There are numerous possible alternative explanations for a person's behaviour other than that of them being fixated at a psychosexual stage e.g.

  • someone who is needy/critical/addicted may have learnedthis behaviour from parental role models - it may have nothing to do with them being breastfed (or not)

  • an extremely neat person may have autism spectrum disorder, a feature of which can be an adherence to order, routine, patterns and precision

    • This limits the usefulness of Freud's theory