The First Stage

• The oral stage occurs from birth to 18 months. Much of an infant’s interaction with the world and gratification is through the mouth. The conflict that occurs in this stage is the ending of an infant’s total dependency on others.

• There are two substages which are called oral incorporative and oral sadistic.

• Oral incorporative is the first substage that describes how an infant is limited to more or less taking things passively such as food or experiences. Infants go through a time where they question the things around them and those questions take form in traits such as optimism vs. pessimism (being optimistic or pessimistic), trust vs. mistrust (being trusting or guarded), and dependency on others…For example, “swallowing’ everything you have been told or given.

• The second substage is known as oral sadistic which describe show an infant’s teething “sexual” pleasure comes from biting and/or chewing. A trait that can be shown in this substage is being verbally aggressive (using “biting” sarcasm.)

• People who grew up with oral fixations are more preoccupied with food and drinks, are more stressed, more likely to touch mouth, bite fingernails, smoke, drink, etc., are angry, more verbally aggressive (any evidence to this?) and are concerned with getting support from others and aim to ease interaction with others.

• It is possible that orality has been linked to higher measure of interpersonal interest and skill, needing to nurture others, tending to rely on other’s judgments on ambiguous tasks, are more sensitive to subtle cues of rejection, and are more self-disclosing.

The Second Stage

• The next stage is the anal stage and starts from 18 months to 3 years old and the main conflict in this stage is toilet training. The reason for this conflict is because toilet training is the first constraint put on one’s body and there is internal pleasure gratification.

• There are two orientations of trait development. A child focuses on praise for successes in toilet training by going to the bathroom in the right time and place. The child adopts the message of producing things at the right time and place. If there is a harsher approach of punishment, ridicule, and shame, then the child could adopt a pattern of rebellion against the parents. Anal expulsion traits that can be shown are messy, cruel, destructive, and overt hostility. Anal retentive traits that can show are rigid, obsessive, stinginess, obstinacy, and orderliness.

  The Third Stage

• The phallic stage occurs from the 3rd year to the 5th year of one’s life. The erogenous zones shift to genitals. Masturbation occurs for the first time (typically becoming aware of being able to cause pleasure through rubbing.) The conflict that occurs in this stage are the Oedipal and Elektra complexes and a child’s libido shifts to the parent of the opposite sex. The Oedipal/Elektra complex is the desire to possess the parent of libidinal desire, seeing the other parent as a rival, and desiring to replace that parent. For boys, those thoughts of rival and competition/replacement produce guilt as well as fear. The child shows a fear of retaliation; specifically fear of castration (also known as castration anxiety.) Castration anxiety pushes libidinal desire for the mother onto the unconscious. Next, the boy identifies with his father. He develops a sense of safety, and he reduces the ambivalence towards his father which allows for a further development of the superego. For girls, they abandon their loving relationship with their mothers for their fathers. This shift occurs when she realizes that she does not have the main male reproductive organ… and blames their mother for being castrated. The girl desires a sharing of the phallus from the father. Penis envy is the male counterpart to castration envy. Girl resolves this conflict through identifying with their mother. If men have a fixation in this stage, then they would demonstrate that they have not been castrated. They have a lot of intercourse and are successful in their career and/or life. They may fail at both of these things purposefully (unconsciously) because the guilt is too strong. If women have a fixation in this stage, they relate to men in seductive and flirty ways but without admitting that they are doing so. The repressed pattern with their fathers is now displayed socially.

• The latency period happens with children ages 7-12 years old, and children’s sexual and aggressive drives are relatively calm. The ego and superego have emerged and developed fare more and the Id’s drive is kept at bay. The child’s experiences broaden, and their interests become intellectual and social. They start to identify with authority figures and social groups. The repressed drives emerge again at the end of his stage, also known as puberty, as well as unresolved conflicts from earlier stages. Due to social restrictions at this age…they seek release through other means.

The Fourth Stage

• The genital stage occurs in children that are 12 and continues through their later teen years and is the final stage of psychosexual development. If earlier conflicts were resolved well, then the person entering this stage with their libido focused on their genitals as erogenous zones throughout their lives. Sexual gratification is no longer narcissistic and mutual, altruistic love is achievable. Being able to care and be concerned with others is the hallmark of successfully entering of the genital phase. People can have more control over their impulses (sexual and aggressive.) They sublimate these drives…are able to acknowledge them, and release them, and maintain their ego well. Most people do not have as much control over their impulses as they should but there are still healthy ways to release impulses. This stage is more of an ideal stage and does not have be perfect.