Psychodynamic explanation

What is psychodynamics?

The study of how the unconscious mind shapes behaviour, feelings & personality → has been applied to gender development

What does Freud’s psychodynamic theory of gender development propose?

Gendered behaviour develops due to unconscious thought processes & an individual’s sexuality develops during the 5 psychosexual stages, with gender development occurring when they resolve the third ‘phallic’ stage, around age 5

What is the Oedipus complex?

• Boys develop sexual feelings towards their mother, but see their father as a sexual rival & threat → they become concerned their father will find out, so develop castration anxiety

• The boy decides to make his father an ally by identifying with him & internalising the male gender identity

What is the Electra complex?

• Girls feel in competition with their mother for their father’s attention & love

• They experience penis envy as they believe their mother has already castrated them

• Eventually, they identify with their mother & internalise the female gender identity

What is identification?

• An individual associates themselves with the same-sex role model because they want to be like them → Freud suggested this is how children resolve the Oedipus/Electra complex in the phallic stage

• They adopt the role model’s behaviours, attitudes, & gender-related characteristics (i.e. internalisation)

Discuss Freud’s psychodynamic theory of gender development (16 marks)

Write your AO1 paragraph

• Freud’s psychodynamic theory of gender development proposes that gendered behaviour develops due to unconscious thought processes. He argued that gender development occurs when children resolve the phallic stage at around age 5 years. Children resolve the Oedipus & Electra complex by identifying with the same-sex parent & internalising their behaviours, attitudes & gender-related characteristics.

• In the Oedipus complex, boys develop an unconscious desire for their mother & view their father as a rival, leading to castration anxiety. To resolve this conflict, they identify with their father & adopt the male gender identity. In the Electra complex, girls compete with their mother for their father’s attention & love & develop penis envy, as they believe their mother has sabotaged them by castrating them. Eventually, they identify with their mother & internalise the female gender identity.

Discuss Freud’s psychodynamic theory of gender development (16 marks)

Write your strength AO3 PEEL (Little Hans)

• Point: One strength of Freud’s psychodynamic theory of gender development is that it attempts to explain gender acquisition.

• Evidence: For example, case studies (e.g. Little Hans) suggest gender develops through resolving unconscious conflict in the phallic stage, where boys experience the Oedipus complex & girls experience the Electra complex, leading to identification with the same-sex parent & internalisation of gender roles.

• Explain: This is beneficial as alternative theories (e.g. Kohlberg’s cognitive theory) have been criticised for being descriptive rather than explanatory.

• Link: Therefore, there is a possibility that Freud’s psychodynamic theory of gender development can explain the behaviours of some individuals.

Discuss Freud’s psychodynamic theory of gender development (16 marks)

Write your limitation AO3 PEEL (unfalsifiable)

• Point: One limitation of Freud’s psychodynamic theory of gender development is that its explanations are based upon the unconscious mind, making them unfalsifiable.

• Evidence: For example, Freud’s conclusions were largely based on case studies, such as Little Hans, in which he interpreted the child’s fear of horses as symbolic of repressed fear of his father.

• Explain: However, these concepts are based upon subjective interpretation of unconscious motives & such defence mechanisms cannot be directly measured.

• Link: Overall, the theory lacks the empirical rigour expected in modern psychology, making it it unscientific & merely a pseudoscience, according to Karl Popper.

Discuss Freud’s psychodynamic theory of gender development (16 marks)

Write your limitation AO3 PEEL (cognitive theories)

• Point: One limitation of Freud’s psychodynamic theory of gender development is that alternative research shows that gender is acquired before the age of 5.

• Evidence: For example, both Kohlberg’s cognitive theory & Martin & Halverson’s gender schema theory propose that gender development occurs at as early as age 2-3 years during gender identity.

• Explain: This suggests that gender development cannot be the result of conflict resolution with the same-sex parent in the phallic stage.

• Link: As such, cognitive theories provide a more empirically supported explanation of gender acquisition, challenging the core assumptions of Freud’s psychodynamic approach.