What are the most interesting ideas of Sigmund Freud?

Sigmund Freud (1856 to 1939) was the founding father of psychoanalysis, a method for treating
mental illness and also a theory which explains human behavior.

Freud believed that events in our childhood have a great influence on our adult lives, shaping our
personality. For example, anxiety originating from traumatic experiences in a person's past is
hidden from consciousness, and may cause problems during adulthood (in the form of neuroses).

Thus, when we explain our behavior to ourselves or others (conscious mental activity), we rarely
give a true account of our motivation. This is not because we are deliberately lying. While
human beings are great deceivers of others; they are even more adept at self-deception.

Freud's life work was dominated by his attempts to find ways of penetrating this often subtle and
elaborate camouflage that obscures the hidden structure and processes of personality.

His lexicon has become embedded within the vocabulary of Western society. Words he
introduced through his theories are now used by everyday people, such as anal (personality),
libido, denial, repression, cathartic, Freudian slip, and neurotic.

The Case of Anna O

The case of Anna O (real name Bertha Pappenheim) marked a turning point in the career of a
young Viennese neuropathologist by the name of Sigmund Freud. It even went on to influence
the future direction of psychology as a whole.

Anna O. suffered from hysteria, a condition in which the patient exhibits physical symptoms
(e.g., paralysis, convulsions, hallucinations, loss of speech) without an apparent physical cause.
Her doctor (and Freud's teacher) Josef Breuer succeeded in treating Anna by helping her to recall
forgotten memories of traumatic events.

During discussions with her, it became apparent that she had developed a fear of drinking when a
dog she hated drank from her glass. Her other symptoms originated when caring for her sick
father.

She would not express her anxiety for her his illness but did express it later, during
psychoanalysis. As soon as she had the opportunity to make these unconscious thoughts
conscious her paralysis disappeared.

Breuer discussed the case with his friend Freud. Out of these discussions came the germ of an
idea that Freud was to pursue for the rest of his life. In Studies in Hysteria (1895) Freud
proposed that physical symptoms are often the surface manifestations of deeply repressed
conflicts.

However, Freud was not just advancing an explanation of a particular illness. Implicitly he was
proposing a revolutionary new theory of the human psyche itself.

This theory emerged “bit by bit” as a result of Freud’s clinical investigations, and it led him to
propose that there were at least three levels of the mind.

The Unconscious Mind

Freud (1900, 1905) developed a topographical model of the mind, whereby he described the
features of the mind’s structure and function. Freud used the analogy of an iceberg to describe
the three levels of the mind.

On the surface is consciousness, which consists of those thoughts that are the focus of our
attention now, and this is seen as the tip of the iceberg. The preconscious consists of all which
can be retrieved from memory.
The third and most significant region is the unconscious. Here lie the processes that are the real
cause of most behavior. Like an iceberg, the most important part of the mind is the part you
cannot see.

The unconscious mind acts as a repository, a ‘cauldron’ of primitive wishes and impulse kept at
bay and mediated by the preconscious area.

For example, Freud (1915) found that some events and desires were often too frightening or
painful for his patients to acknowledge, and believed such information was locked away in the
unconscious mind. This can happen through the process of repression.

Sigmund Freud emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind, and a primary assumption
of Freudian theory is that the unconscious mind governs behavior to a greater degree than people
suspect. Indeed, the goal of psychoanalysis is to make the unconscious conscious.

Click to learn more about the unconscious mind

The Psyche

Freud (1923) later developed a more structural model of the mind comprising the entities id, ego,
and superego (what Freud called “the psychic apparatus”). These are not physical areas within
the brain, but rather hypothetical conceptualizations of important mental functions.

The id, ego, and superego have most commonly been conceptualized as three essential parts of
the human personality.

Freud assumed the id operated at an unconscious level according to the pleasure principle
(gratification from satisfying basic instincts). The id comprises two kinds of biological instincts
(or drives) which Freud called Eros and Thanatos.

Eros, or life instinct, helps the individual to survive; it directs life-sustaining activities such as
respiration, eating, and sex (Freud, 1925). The energy created by the life instincts is known as
libido.

In contrast, Thanatos or death instinct, is viewed as a set of destructive forces present in all
human beings (Freud, 1920). When this energy is directed outward onto others, it is expressed as
aggression and violence. Freud believed that Eros is stronger than Thanatos, thus enabling
people to survive rather than self-destruct.
The ego develops from the id during infancy. The ego's goal is to satisfy the demands of the id in
a safe a socially acceptable way. In contrast to the id, the ego follows the reality principle as it
operates in both the conscious and unconscious mind.

The superego develops during early childhood (when the child identifies with the same sex
parent) and is responsible for ensuring moral standards are followed. The superego operates on
the morality principle and motivates us to behave in a socially responsible and acceptable
manner.

The basic dilemma of all human existence is that each element of the psychic apparatus makes
demands upon us that are incompatible with the other two. Inner conflict is inevitable.

For example, the superego can make a person feel guilty if rules are not followed. When there is
a conflict between the goals of the id and superego, the ego must act as a referee and mediate this
conflict. The ego can deploy various defense mechanisms (Freud, 1894, 1896) to prevent it from
becoming overwhelmed by anxiety.

Click to learn more about the id, ego, and superego

Defense Mechanisms

Click here for more information on defense mechanisms.

Psychosexual Stages
In the highly repressive “Victorian” society in which Freud lived and worked women, in
particular, were forced to repress their sexual needs. In many cases, the result was some form of
neurotic illness.

Freud sought to understand the nature and variety of these illnesses by retracing the sexual
history of his patients. This was not primarily an investigation of sexual experiences as such. Far
more important were the patient’s wishes and desires, their experience of love, hate, shame, guilt
and fear – and how they handled these powerful emotions.

It was this that led to the most controversial part of Freud’s work – his theory of psychosexual
development and the Oedipus complex.

Freud believed that children are born with a libido – a sexual (pleasure) urge. There are a number
of stages of childhood, during which the child seeks pleasure from a different ‘object.’
To be psychologically healthy, we must successfully complete each stage. Mental abnormality
can occur if a stage is not completed successfully and the person becomes ‘fixated’ in a
particular stage. This particular theory shows how adult personality is determined by childhood
experiences.

Dream Analysis
Freud (1900) considered dreams to be the royal road to the unconscious as it is in dreams that
the ego's defenses are lowered so that some of the repressed material comes through to
awareness, albeit in distorted form. Dreams perform important functions for the unconscious
mind and serve as valuable clues to how the unconscious mind operates.

On 24 July 1895, Freud had his own dream that was to form the basis of his theory. He had been
worried about a patient, Irma, who was not doing as well in treatment as he had hoped. Freud, in
fact, blamed himself for this, and was feeling guilty.

Freud dreamed that he met Irma at a party and examined her. He then saw a chemical formula for a
drug that another doctor had given Irma flash before his eyes and realized that her condition was
caused by a dirty syringe used by the other doctor. Freud's guilt was thus relieved.

Freud interpreted this dream as wish-fulfillment. He had wished that Irma's poor condition was
not his fault and the dream had fulfilled this wish by informing him that another doctor was at
fault. Based on this dream, Freud (1900) went on to propose that a major function of dreams was
the fulfillment of wishes.

Freud distinguished between the manifest content of a dream (what the dreamer remembers) and
the latent content, the symbolic meaning of the dream (i.e., the underlying wish). The manifest
content is often based on the events of the day.

The process whereby the underlying wish is translated into the manifest content is called
dreamwork. The purpose of dreamwork is to transform the forbidden wish into a non-threatening
form, thus reducing anxiety and allowing us to continue sleeping. Dreamwork involves the
process of condensation, displacement, and secondary elaboration.

The process of condensation is the joining of two or more ideas/images into one. For example, a
dream about a man may be a dream about both one's father and one's lover. A dream about a
house might be the condensation of worries about security as well as worries about one's
appearance to the rest of the world.
Displacement takes place when we transform the person or object we are really concerned about
to someone else. For example, one of Freud’s patients was extremely resentful of his sister-in-
law and used to refer to her as a dog, dreamed of strangling a small white dog.

Freud interpreted this as representing his wish to kill his sister-in-law. If the patient would have
really dreamed of killing his sister-in-law, he would have felt guilty. The unconscious mind
transformed her into a dog to protect him.

Secondary elaboration occurs when the unconscious mind strings together wish-fulfilling images
in a logical order of events, further obscuring the latent content. According to Freud, this is why
the manifest content of dreams can be in the form of believable events.

In Freud’s later work on dreams, he explored the possibility of universal symbols in dreams.
Some of these were sexual in nature, including poles, guns, and swords representing the penis
and horse riding and dancing representing sexual intercourse.

However, Freud was cautious about symbols and stated that general symbols are more personal
rather than universal. A person cannot interpret what the manifest content of a dream symbolized
without knowing about the person’s circumstances.

'Dream dictionaries', which are still popular now, were a source of irritation to Freud. In an
amusing example of the limitations of universal symbols, one of Freud's patients, after dreaming
about holding a wriggling fish, said to him 'that's a Freudian symbol - it must be a penis!'

Freud explored further, and it turned out that the woman's mother, who was a passionate
astrologer and a Pisces, was on the patient's mind because she disapproved of her daughter being
in analysis. It seems more plausible, as Freud suggested, that the fish represented the patient's
mother rather than a penis!

Freud's Followers
Freud attracted many followers, who formed a famous group in 1902 called the "Psychological
Wednesday Society." The group met every Wednesday in Freud's waiting room.

As the organization grew, Freud established an inner circle of devoted followers, the so-called
"Committee" (including Sàndor Ferenczi, and Hanns Sachs (standing) Otto Rank, Karl Abraham,
Max Eitingon, and Ernest Jones).

At the beginning of 1908, the committee had 22 members and renamed themselves the Vienna
Psychoanalytic Society.
Critical Evaluation
Is Freudian psychology supported by evidence? Freud's theory is good at explaining but not at
predicting behavior (which is one of the goals of science). For this reason, Freud's theory is
unfalsifiable - it can neither be proved true or refuted. For example, the unconscious mind is
difficult to test and measure objectively. Overall, Freud's theory is highly unscientific.

Despite the skepticism of the unconscious mind, cognitive psychology has identified
unconscious processes, such as procedural memory (Tulving, 1972), automatic processing
(Bargh & Chartrand, 1999; Stroop, 1935), and social psychology has shown the importance of
implicit processing (Greenwald & Banaji, 1995). Such empirical findings have demonstrated the
role of unconscious processes in human behavior.

However, most of the evidence for Freud's theories are taken from an unrepresentative sample.
He mostly studied himself, his patients and only one child (e.g., Little Hans). The main problem
here is that the case studies are based on studying one person in detail, and with reference to
Freud, the individuals in question are most often middle-aged women from Vienna (i.e., his
patients). This makes generalizations to the wider population (e.g., the whole world) difficult.
However, Freud thought this unimportant, believing in only a qualitative difference between
people.

Freud may also have shown research bias in his interpretations - he may have only paid attention
to information which supported his theories, and ignored information and other explanations that
did not fit them.

However, Fisher & Greenberg (1996) argue that Freud’s theory should be evaluated in terms of
specific hypotheses rather than as a whole. They concluded that there is evidence to support
Freud’s concepts of oral and anal personalities and some aspects of his ideas on depression and
paranoia. They found little evidence of the Oedipal conflict and no support for Freud’s views on
women’s sexuality and how their development differs from men'.

Download this article as a PDF

References

Bargh, J. A., & Chartrand, T. L. (1999). The unbearable automaticity of being. American
psychologist, 54(7), 462.

Breuer, J., & Freud, S. (1895). Studies on hysteria. Standard Edition 2: London.

Fisher, S., & Greenberg, R. P. (1996). Freud scientifically reappraised: Testing the theories and
therapy. John Wiley & Sons.

Freud, S. (1894). The neuro-psychoses of defence. SE, 3: 41-61.

Freud, S. (1896). Further remarks on the neuro-psychoses of defence. SE, 3: 157-185.

Freud, S. (1900). The interpretation of dreams. S.E., 4-5.

Freud, S. (1915). The unconscious. SE, 14: 159-204.

Freud, S. (1920). Beyond the pleasure principle. SE, 18: 1-64.

Freud, S. (1923). The ego and the id. SE, 19: 1-66.

Freud, S. (1925). Negation. Standard edition, 19, 235-239.

Freud, S. (1961). The resistances to psycho-analysis. In The Standard Edition of the Complete
Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Volume XIX (1923-1925): The Ego and the Id and other
works (pp. 211-224).

Greenwald, A. G., & Banaji, M. R. (1995). Implicit social cognition: attitudes, self-esteem, and
stereotypes. Psychological review, 102(1), 4.

Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of experimental

psychology, 18(6), 643.

Tulving, E. (1972). Episodic and semantic memory. In E. Tulving & W. Donaldson (Eds.),
Organization of Memory, (pp. 381–403). New York: Academic Press.

Further Information

Psychodynamic Approach Id, Ego, Superego Psychosexual Stages Oedipus ComplexDefense Mechanisms
Unconscious Mind Sigmund Freud Biography Freud Museum Dora - The Girl Who Walked Out on Freud

Download this article as a PDF

How to reference this article:

McLeod, S. A. (2018, April 05). What are the most interesting ideas of Sigmund Freud?.
Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/Sigmund-Freud.html

Sigmund Freud emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind, and a primary assumption
of Freudian theory is that the unconscious mind governs behavior to a greater degree than
people suspect. Indeed, the goal of psychoanalysis is to make the unconscious conscious.

Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856–September 23, 1939) was a physiologist, medical doctor, and father of
psychoanalysis, and is generally recognized as one of the most influential and authoritative thinkers of
the twentieth century. He was an Austrian neurologist and the co-founder of the psychoanalytic school
of psychology.
Sigmund Freud: Freud developed the psychoanalytic theory of personality development, which argued
that personality is formed through conflicts among three fundamental structures of the human mind:
the id, ego, and superego.

Freud believed dreams represented a disguised fulfillment of a repressed wish. He believed that
studying dreams provided the easiest road to understanding of the unconscious activities of the mind. ...
According to the idea that Freud proposed, the dream is considered the guardian of sleep.

Sigmund Freud emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind, and a primary assumption of
Freudian theory is that the unconscious mind governs behavior to a greater degree than people
suspect. Indeed, the goal of psychoanalysis is to make the unconscious conscious.
Erik Erikson Biography (1902-1994)
Erik Erikson is best-known for his famous theory of psychosocial development and the concept
of the identity crisis. His theories marked an important shift in thinking on personality; instead of
focusing simply on early childhood events, his psychosocial theory looks at how social
influences contribute to our personalities throughout our entire lifespans.

"Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive. If
life is to be sustained hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired."—
Erik Erikson, The Erik Erikson Reader, 2000

Erikson's Notoriety

Erikson's stage theory of psychosocial development generated interest and research on human
development through the lifespan. An ego psychologist who studied with Anna Freud, Erikson
expanded psychoanalytic theory by exploring development throughout the life, including events
of childhood, adulthood, and old age.

Childhood

Erik Erikson was born June 15, 1902, in Frankfurt, Germany. His young Jewish mother, Karla
Abrahamsen, raised Erik by herself for a time before marrying a physician, Dr. Theodor
Homberger. The fact that Homberger was not, in fact, his biological father was concealed from
Erikson for many years. When he finally did learn the truth, Erikson was left with a feeling of
confusion about who he really was.

"The common story was that his mother and father had separated before his birth, but the closely
guarded fact was that he was his mother's child from an extramarital union. He never saw his
birth father or his mother's first husband." — Erikson's obituary, The New York Times, May 13,
1994

This early experience helped spark his interest in the formation of identity. While this may seem
like merely an interesting anecdote about his heritage, the mystery over Erikson's biological
parentage served as one of the key forces behind his later interest in identity formation. He
would later explain that as a child he often felt confused about who he was and how he fit into to
his community.

His interest in identity was further developed based on his own experiences in school. At his
Jewish temple school, he was teased for being a tall, blue-eyed, blonde, Nordic-looking boy who
stood out among the rest of the kids. At grammar school, he was rejected because of his Jewish
background. These early experiences helped fuel his interest in identity formation and continued
to influence his work throughout his life.
Young Adulthood

It's interesting to note that Erikson never received a formal degree in medicine or psychology.
While studying at the Das Humanistische Gymnasium, he was primarily interested in subjects
such as history, Latin, and art. His stepfather, a doctor, wanted him to go to medical school, but
Erikson instead did a brief stint in art school. He soon dropped out and spent time wandering
Europe with friends and contemplating his identity.

It was an invitation from a friend that sent him to take a teaching position at a progressive school
created by Dorothy Burlingham, a friend of Anna Freud's. Freud soon noticed Erikson's rapport
with children and encouraged him to formally study psychoanalysis. Erikson ultimately received
two certificates from the Montessori Teachers Association and from the Vienna Psychoanalytic
Institute.

He continued to work with Burlingham and Freud at the school for several years, met Sigmund
Freud at a party, and even became Anna Freud's patient. "Psychoanalysis was not so formal
then," Erikson recalled.

"I paid Miss Freud $7 a month, and we met almost every day. My analysis, which gave me self-
awareness, led me not to fear being myself. We didn't use all those pseudoscientific terms then—
defense mechanism and the like—so the process of self-awareness, painful at times, emerged in a
liberating atmosphere."

Family and Later Years

Erikson met a Canadian dance instructor named Joan Serson who was also teaching at the school
where he worked. The couple married in 1930 and went on to have three children. His son, Kai
T. Erikson, is a noted American sociologist.

Erikson moved to the United States in 1933 and, despite having no formal degree, was offered a
teaching position at Harvard Medical School. He also changed his name from Erik Homberger to
Erik H. Erikson, perhaps as a way to forge his own identity. In addition to his position at
Harvard, he also had a private practice in child psychoanalysis.

Later, he held teaching positions at the University of California at Berkeley, Yale, the San
Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute, Austen Riggs Center, and the Center for Advanced Studies of
the Behavioral Sciences.

He published a number of books on his theories and research, including "Childhood and Society"
and "The Life Cycle Completed." His book "Gandhi's Truth" was awarded a Pulitzer Prize and a
National Book Award.

8 Psychosocial Stages

Erikson was a neo-Freudian psychologist who accepted many of the central tenets of Freudian
theory but added his own ideas and beliefs. His theory of psychosocial development is centered
on what is known as the epigenetic principle, which proposes that all people go through a series
of eight stages. At each stage, people face a crisis that needs to be successfully resolved in order
to develop the psychological quality central to each stage.

The eight stages of Erikson's psychosocial theory are something that every psychology student
learns about as they explore the history of personality psychology. Much like psychoanalyst
Sigmund Freud, Erikson believed that personality develops in a series of stages. Erikson’s theory
marked a shift from Freud's psychosexual theory in that it describes the impact of social
experience across the whole lifespan instead of simply focusing on childhood events.

While Freud's theory of psychosexual development essentially ends at early adulthood, Erikson's
theory described development through the entire lifespan from birth until death.

The eight key stages he described were:

1. Trust vs. Mistrust: This stage occurs between the ages of birth and 2 years and is centered on
developing a sense of trust in caregivers and the world. Children who receive responsive care
are able to develop the psychological quality of hope.
2. Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt: This stage takes place between the ages of 2 and 3 years and
involves gaining a sense of independence and personal control. Success in this stage allows
people to develop will and determination.
3. Initiative vs. Guilt: Between the ages of 3 and 6 years, children begin to explore their
environment and exert more control over their choices. By successfully completing this stage,
children are able to develop a sense of purpose.
4. Industry vs. Inferiority: The stage that takes place between the ages of about 5 and 11 years is
focused on developing a sense of personal pride and accomplishment. Success at this point in
development leads to a sense of competence.
5. Identity vs. Confusion: The teen years are a time of personal exploration. Those who are able to
successfully forge a healthy identity develop a sense of fidelity. Those who do not complete this
stage well may be left feeling confused about their role and place in life.

1. Intimacy vs. Isolation: The stage that takes place in early adulthood is all about forging healthy
relationships with others. Success leads to the ability to form committed, lasting, and nurturing
relationships with others.
2. Generativity vs. Stagnation: At the stage occurring during middle adulthood, people become
concerned with contributing something to society and leaving their mark on the world. Raising a
family and having a career are two key activities that contribute to success at this stage.
3. Integrity vs. Despair: The final stage of psychosocial development takes place in late adulthood
and involves reflecting back on life. Those who look back and feel a sense of satisfaction develop
a sense of integrity and wisdom, while those who are left with regrets may experience
bitterness and despair.

Erikson and Identity Crisis

Have you ever felt confused about your place in life or not quite sure if you really know the real
you? If so, you may be experiencing an identity crisis. Erikson coined the term “identity crisis”
and believed that it was one of the most important conflicts people face during the
developmental process. According to Erikson, an identity crisis is a time of intensive analysis
and exploration of different ways of looking at oneself.

Contributions to Psychology

Erik Erikson spent time studying the cultural life of the Sioux of South Dakota and the Yurok of
northern California. He utilized the knowledge he gained about cultural, environmental, and
social influences to further develop his psychoanalytic theory.

While Freud’s theory had focused on the psychosexual aspects of development, Erikson’s
addition of other influences helped to broaden and expand psychoanalytic theory. He also
contributed to our understanding of personality as it is developed and shaped over the course of
the lifespan.

His observations of children also helped set the stage for further research. "You see a child play,"
he was quoted as saying in his New York Times obituary,

"and it is so close to seeing an artist paint, for in play a child says things without uttering a word.
You can see how he solves his problems. You can also see what's wrong. Young children,
especially, have enormous creativity, and whatever's in them rises to the surface in free play."

Select Publications

Here are some of Erikson's works for further reading:

 Erikson EH. Childhood and Society. New York: Norton; 1950.

 Erikson EH. Identity: Youth and Crisis. New York: Norton; 1968.
 Erikson EH. Life History and the Historical Moment. New York: Norton; 1975.
 Erikson EH. Dialogue With Erik Erikson. Evans RI, ed. Jason Aronson, Inc.; 1995.

What are the most interesting ideas of Erik Erikson?

One interesting idea of Erikson is how he thought major cultural differences could be explained by
looking at small differences in that culture's child-rearing practices.

For example, the Sioux and Yurok (two different groups of native Americans) differ greatly in terms of
their generosity: the Sioux are extremely generous to one another, while the Yurok are very strict about
their property.

Erikson explains these differences by looking at breastfeeding in each culture. The Sioux breastfeed their
young for a very long time (many years; there is no real 'cut-off' point), while the Yurok only breastfeed
for 6 months.

You can read a more in-depth analysis of the Sioux and Yurok in Erikson's book 'Childhood and Society'.
Piaget may be best known for his stages of cognitive development. Piaget discovered that children think
and reason differently at different periods in their lives. He believed that everyone passed through an
invariant sequence of four qualitatively distinct stages.

Jean Piaget died of unknown causes on September 16, 1980, in Geneva, Switzerland. He was 84
years old. His body rests at the Cimetière des Plainpalais. Piaget is responsible for developing
entirely new fields of scientific study, having a major impact on the areas of cognitive theory
and developmental psychology.Apr 2, 2014

Search Results

Featured snippet from the web

Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist and genetic epistemologist. He is most famously known for his
theory of cognitive development that looked at how children develop intellectually throughout the
course of childhood. Prior to Piaget's theory, children were often thought of simply as mini-adults.

Lawrence Kohlberg expanded on the earlier work of cognitive theorist Jean Piaget to explain the moral
development of children, which he believed follows a series of stages. Kohlberg defined three levels of
moral development: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. Each level has two distinct
stages.

The six stages of moral development are grouped into three levels of morality: pre-conventional,
conventional, and post-conventional morality. For his studies, Kohlberg relied on stories such as the
Heinz dilemma, and was interested in how individuals would justify their actions if placed in similar
moral dilemmas.

The Theory of Moral Development is a very interesting subject that stemmed from Jean Piaget's theory
of moral reasoning. Developed by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg, this theory made us understand that
morality starts from the early childhood years and can be affected by several factors.

Moral reasoning, therefore, may not lead to moral behavior. ... Critics have pointed out that Kohlberg's
theory of moral development overemphasizes the concept of justice when making moral choices.
Factors such as compassion, caring, and other interpersonal feelings may play an important part in
moral reasoning.

Lev Vygotsky was a seminal Russian psychologist who is best known for his sociocultural
theory. He believed that social interaction plays a critical role in children's learning. Through
such social interactions, children go through a continuous process of learning.May 23, 2018
Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist who made a great contribution in the
fields of child development and cognitive psychology. He was born in Western Russia (present
day Belarus) in 1896, same year as another famous psychologist, Jean Piaget. He is often known
as the “Mozart of Psychology” because, just like the famous composer, Vygotsky came up with
several different theories in a short span of time, demonstrating his ingenuity. However, his life
was cut short by tuberculosis and he died at the age of 38 leaving many of his theories
incomplete. Vygotsky graduated with a degree in law in 1917 from Moscow State University.
There he studied a range of subjects including psychology, sociology and philosophy. Vygotsky
formally started his career in psychology when he became a research fellow at the Psychological
Institute in Moscow.

To understand Lev Vygotsky’s theories, we need to understand the political situation in Russia at
the time. When he began working on his theories, Marxism had just replaced dictatorship.
Individuals were expected to sacrifice their personal gains for the greater good of the nation;
success of an individual was considered a success for the culture. It was in this environment that
Vygotsky came up with the Sociocultural Theory. This theory stressed the fundamental role of
social interaction in the development of cognition. He believed that since the development was
greatly influenced by the culture, it varied from society to society, contradicting the beliefs of
Jean Piaget, who maintained that the elementary steps in cognition development were universal.
Two of the main principles of Vygotsky’s theories were the More Knowledgeable Other (MKO)
and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). MKO refers to someone who has a greater
understanding or a higher skill level than the learner. This may be an adult or a teacher or it
might be the child’s peer. In recent times, MKO can be taken to be a machine or even a software.
The concept of More Knowledgeable Other is integrated with the Zone of Proximal
Development. There is a difference between what a child can achieve independently, called
actual development, and what he can achieve with the guidance of an adult, called the level of
potential development. The distance between the two development levels is called ZPD. He
realized that what a person could be taught mattered more than what the person actually knew.
Furthermore, Lev Vygotsky was the first psychologist to document the importance of self-talk
for cognitive development. Although psychologists at the time agreed of its existence, they
assigned no cognitive value to private talk, or inner speech as it was known. Vygotsky, however,
believed that, through inner speech, a child regulated its activity and these children were more
competent socially than those who did not indulge in it.

Lev Vygotsky is considered an influential thinker in psychology, and much of his work is being
discovered and translated even today. Though he was a contemporary of Piaget and Freud, he
failed to gain prominence partly because of his early death, and because the Communist Party
tried to suppress his work, which became accessible to the West only in the 1960s. Still, his work
is considered an important contribution in the fields of education and development psychology.
Search Results

Featured snippet from the web

Urie Bronfenbrenner was a Russian-American psychologist known for developing the ecological systems
theory. He was born in 1917 in Moscow and died at 88 years old in 2005, having spent most of his life in
the United States. ... Bronfenbrenner also served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps.

Urie Bronfenbrenner (April 29, 1917 – September 25, 2005) was a Russian-born American
developmental psychologist who is most known for his ecological systems theory of child development.
His scientific work and his assistance to the United States government helped in the formation of the
Head Start program in 1965.

Urie Bronfenbrenner (1917-2005) developed the ecological systems theory to explain how everything in
a child and the child's environment affects how a child grows and develops. He labeled different aspects
or levels of the environment that influence children's development, including the: Microsystem.

Ecological systems theory provides one approach to answering this question. The ecological
systems theory was developed by Urie Bronfenbrenner. Bronfenbrenner believed that a
person's development was affected by everything in their surrounding environment.Apr 22, 2013

Ecological systems theory: ... Bronfenbrenner's theory defines complex “layers” of environment, each
having an effect on a child's development. This theory has recently been renamed “bioecological
systems theory” to emphasize that a child's own biology is a primary environment fueling her
development.
ID….EGO..SUPEREGO

Sigmund Freud: Freud developed the psychoanalytic theory of personality development, which
argued that personality is formed through conflicts among three fundamental structures of the
human mind: the id, ego, and superego.

Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality argues that human behavior is the result
of the interactions among three component parts of the mind: the id, ego, and superego. This
theory, known as Freud’s structural theory of personality, places great emphasis on the role of
unconscious psychological conflicts in shaping behavior and personality. Dynamic interactions
among these fundamental parts of the mind are thought to progress through five distinct
psychosexual stages of development. Over the last century, however, Freud’s ideas have since
been met with criticism, in part because of his singular focus on sexuality as the main driver of
human personality development.

Freud’s Structure of the Human Mind

According to Freud, our personality develops from the interactions among what he proposed as
the three fundamental structures of the human mind: the id, ego, and superego. Conflicts among
these three structures, and our efforts to find balance among what each of them “desires,”
determines how we behave and approach the world. What balance we strike in any given
situation determines how we will resolve the conflict between two overarching behavioral
tendencies: our biological aggressive and pleasure-seeking drives vs. our socialized internal
control over those drives.

Conflict within the mind: According to Freud, the job of the ego is to balance the
aggressive/pleasure-seeking drives of the id with the moral control of the superego.
The Id

The id, the most primitive of the three structures, is concerned with instant gratification of basic
physical needs and urges. It operates entirely unconsciously (outside of conscious thought). For
example, if your id walked past a stranger eating ice cream, it would most likely take the ice
cream for itself. It doesn’t know, or care, that it is rude to take something belonging to someone
else; it would care only that you wanted the ice cream.

The Superego

The superego is concerned with social rules and morals—similar to what many people call their
” conscience ” or their “moral compass.” It develops as a child learns what their culture
considers right and wrong. If your superego walked past the same stranger, it would not take
their ice cream because it would know that that would be rude. However, if both your id and
your superego were involved, and your id was strong enough to override your superego’s
concern, you would still take the ice cream, but afterward you would most likely feel guilt and
shame over your actions.

The Ego

In contrast to the instinctual id and the moral superego, the ego is the rational, pragmatic part of
our personality. It is less primitive than the id and is partly conscious and partly unconscious. It’s
what Freud considered to be the “self,” and its job is to balance the demands of the id and
superego in the practical context of reality. So, if you walked past the stranger with ice cream
one more time, your ego would mediate the conflict between your id (“I want that ice cream right
now”) and superego (“It’s wrong to take someone else’s ice cream”) and decide to go buy your
own ice cream. While this may mean you have to wait 10 more minutes, which would frustrate
your id, your ego decides to make that sacrifice as part of the compromise– satisfying your desire
for ice cream while also avoiding an unpleasant social situation and potential feelings of shame.

Freud believed that the id, ego, and superego are in constant conflict and that adult personality
and behavior are rooted in the results of these internal struggles throughout childhood. He
believed that a person who has a strong ego has a healthy personality and that imbalances in this
system can lead to neurosis (what we now think of as anxiety and depression) and unhealthy
behaviors.
Id, ego and super-ego
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigation Jump to search

For other uses, see Ego (disambiguation) and ID (disambiguation).

Part of a series of articles on

Psychoanalysis

Concepts[hide]

 Psychosexual development
 Psychosocial development (Erikson)
 Unconscious
 Preconscious
 Consciousness
 Psychic apparatus
 Id, ego and super-ego
 Libido
 Drive
 Transference
 Countertransference
 Ego defenses
 Resistance
 Projection
 Denial
 Dreamwork
 Important figures[show]

Important works[show]

Schools of thought[show]

Training[show]

 Psychology portal

 v
 t
 e

The id, ego, and super-ego are three distinct, yet interacting agents in the psychic apparatus
defined in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche.

The three parts are the theoretical constructs in terms of whose activity and interaction our
mental life is described. According to this Freudian model of the psyche, the id is the set of
uncoordinated instinctual trends; the super-ego plays the critical and moralizing role; and the
ego is the organized, realistic part that mediates between the desires of the id and the super-
ego.[1]

As Freud explained:

The functional importance of the ego is manifested in the fact that normally control over the
approaches to motility devolves upon it. Thus in its relation to the id it is like a man on
horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse; with this difference, that
the rider tries to do so with his own strength while the ego uses borrowed forces. The analogy
may be carried a little further. Often a rider, if he is not to be parted from his horse, is obliged to
guide it where it wants to go; so in the same way the ego is in the habit of transforming the id's
will into action as if it were its own. (p. 19).[2]

Although the model is structural and makes reference to an apparatus, the id, ego and super-ego
are purely psychological concepts and do not correspond to (somatic) structures of the brain such
as the kind dealt with by neuroscience. The super-ego is observable in how someone can view
themselves as guilty, bad, shameful, weak, and feel compelled to do certain things. Freud in The
Ego and the Id discusses "the general character of harshness and cruelty exhibited by the [ego]
ideal – its dictatorial 'Thou shalt.'"

Freud (1933) hypothesizes different levels of ego ideal or superego development with
increasingly greater ideals:
...nor must it be forgotten that a child has a different estimate of [their] parents at different
periods of [their] life. At the time at which the Oedipus complex gives place to the super-ego
they are something quite magnificent; but later they lose much of this. Identifications then come
about with these later parents as well, and indeed they regularly make important contributions to
the formation of character; but in that case they only affect the ego, they no longer influence the
super-ego, which has been determined by the earliest parental images.

— New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis, p. 64

The earlier in development, the greater the estimate of parental power. When one defuses into
rivalry with the parental imago, then one feels the 'dictatorial thou shalt' to manifest the power
the imago represents. Four general levels are found in Freud's work: the auto-erotic, the
narcissistic, the anal, and the phallic.[3] These different levels of development and the relations to
parental imagos correspond to specific id forms of aggression and affection. For example,
aggressive desires to decapitate, to dismember, to cannibalize, to swallow whole, to suck dry, to
make disappear, to blow away, etc. animate myths, are enjoyed in fantasy and horror movies, and
are observable in the fantasies and repressions of patients across cultures.

The concepts themselves arose at a late stage in the development of Freud's thought as the
"structural model" (which succeeded his "economic model" and "topographical model") and was
first discussed in his 1920 essay Beyond the Pleasure Principle and was formalized and
elaborated upon three years later in his The Ego and the Id. Freud's proposal was influenced by
the ambiguity of the term "unconscious" and its many conflicting uses.

Contents
 1 Psychic apparatus
o 1.1 Id
o 1.2 Ego
o 1.3 Super-ego
 2 Advantages of the structural model
 3 Translation
 4 See also
 5 References
 6 Further reading
 7 External links

Psychic apparatus
Id

The id (Latin for "it",[4] German: Es)[5] is the disorganized part of the personality structure that
contains a human's basic, instinctual drives. Id is the only component of personality that is
present from birth.[6] It is the source of our bodily needs, wants, desires, and impulses,
particularly our sexual and aggressive drives. The id contains the libido, which is the primary
source of instinctual force that is unresponsive to the demands of reality.[7] The id acts according
to the "pleasure principle"—the psychic force that motivates the tendency to seek immediate
gratification of any impulse[8]—defined as seeking to avoid pain or unpleasure (not
"displeasure") aroused by increases in instinctual tension.[9] According to Freud the id is
unconscious by definition:

It is the dark, inaccessible part of our personality, what little we know of it we have learned from
our study of the dreamwork and of course the construction of neurotic symptoms, and most of
that is of a negative character and can be described only as a contrast to the ego. We approach
the id with analogies: we call it a chaos, a cauldron full of seething excitations. ...It is filled with
energy reaching it from the instincts, but it has no organization, produces no collective will, but
only a striving to bring about the satisfaction of the instinctual needs subject to the observance of
the pleasure principle.[10]

In the id:

...contrary impulses exist side by side, without cancelling each other out. ...There is nothing in
the id that could be compared with negation...nothing in the id which corresponds to the idea of
time.[11]

Developmentally, the id precedes the ego; i.e., the psychic apparatus begins, at birth, as an
undifferentiated id, part of which then develops into a structured ego. While "id" is in search of
pleasure, "ego" emphasizes the principle of reality.[12] Thus, the id:

...contains everything that is inherited, that is present at birth, is laid down in the constitution—
above all, therefore, the instincts, which originate from the somatic organization, and which find
a first psychical expression here (in the id) in forms unknown to us.[13]

The mind of a newborn child is regarded as completely "id-ridden", in the sense that it is a mass
of instinctive drives and impulses, and needs immediate satisfaction. The "id" moves on to what
organism needs. Example is reduction of tension which is experienced.[2]

The id "knows no judgements of value: no good and evil, no morality. ...Instinctual cathexes
seeking discharge—that, in our view, is all there is in the id."[14] It is regarded as "the great
reservoir of libido",[15] the instinctive drive to create—the life instincts that are crucial to
pleasurable survival. Alongside the life instincts came the death instincts—the death drive which
Freud articulated relatively late in his career in "the hypothesis of a death instinct, the task of
which is to lead organic life back into the inanimate state."[16] For Freud, "the death instinct
would thus seem to express itself—though probably only in part—as an instinct of destruction
directed against the external world and other organisms"[17] through aggression. Freud
considered that "the id, the whole person...originally includes all the instinctual impulses...the
destructive instinct as well",[18] as eros or the life instincts.
Ego

The ego (Latin for "I",[19] German: Ich)[20] acts according to the reality principle; i.e., it seeks to
please the id's drive in realistic ways that will benefit in the long term rather than bring grief.[21]
At the same time, Freud concedes that as the ego "attempts to mediate between id and reality, it
is often obliged to cloak the [unconscious] commands of the id with its own preconscious
rationalizations, to conceal the id's conflicts with reality, to profess...to be taking notice of reality
even when the id has remained rigid and unyielding."[22] The reality principle that operates the
ego is a regulating mechanism that enables the individual to delay gratifying immediate needs
and function effectively in the real world. An example would be to resist the urge to grab other
people's belongings, but instead to purchase those items.[23]

The ego is the organized part of the personality structure that includes defensive, perceptual,
intellectual-cognitive, and executive functions. Conscious awareness resides in the ego, although
not all of the operations of the ego are conscious. Originally, Freud used the word ego to mean a
sense of self, but later revised it to mean a set of psychic functions such as judgment, tolerance,
reality testing, control, planning, defense, synthesis of information, intellectual functioning, and
memory.[24] The ego separates out what is real. It helps us to organize our thoughts and make
sense of them and the world around us.[24] "The ego is that part of the id which has been
modified by the direct influence of the external world. ...The ego represents what may be called
reason and common sense, in contrast to the id, which contains the passions...in its relation to the
id it is like a person on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse;
with this difference, that the rider tries to do so with their own strength, while the ego uses
borrowed forces."[25] Still worse, "it serves three severe masters...the external world, the super-
ego and the id."[22] Its task is to find a balance between primitive drives and reality while
satisfying the id and super-ego. Its main concern is with the individual's safety and allows some
of the id's desires to be expressed, but only when consequences of these actions are marginal.
"Thus the ego, driven by the id, confined by the super-ego, repulsed by reality, struggles...[in]
bringing about harmony among the forces and influences working in and upon it," and readily
"breaks out in anxiety—realistic anxiety regarding the external world, moral anxiety regarding
the super-ego, and neurotic anxiety regarding the strength of the passions in the id."[26] It has to
do its best to suit all three, thus is constantly feeling hemmed by the danger of causing discontent
on two other sides. It is said, however, that the ego seems to be more loyal to the id, preferring to
gloss over the finer details of reality to minimize conflicts while pretending to have a regard for
reality. But the super-ego is constantly watching every one of the ego's moves and punishes it
with feelings of guilt, anxiety, and inferiority.

To overcome this the ego employs defense mechanisms. The defense mechanisms are not done
so directly or consciously. They lessen the tension by covering up our impulses that are
threatening.[27] Ego defense mechanisms are often used by the ego when id behavior conflicts
with reality and either society's morals, norms, and taboos or the individual's expectations as a
result of the internalization of these morals, norms, and their taboos.

Denial, displacement, intellectualisation, fantasy, compensation, projection, rationalization,

reaction formation, regression, repression, and sublimation were the defense mechanisms Freud
identified. However, his daughter Anna Freud clarified and identified the concepts of undoing,
suppression, dissociation, idealization, identification, introjection, inversion, somatisation,
splitting, and substitution.

"The ego is not sharply separated from the id; its lower portion merges into it.... But the repressed
merges into the id as well, and is merely a part of it. The repressed is only cut off sharply from the ego
by the resistances of repression; it can communicate with the ego through the id." (Sigmund Freud,
1923)

In a diagram of the Structural and Topographical Models of Mind, the ego is depicted to be half
in the consciousness, while a quarter is in the preconscious and the other quarter lies in the
unconscious.

In modern English, ego has many meanings. It could mean one’s self-esteem; an inflated sense
of self-worth; the conscious-thinking self;[28] or in philosophical terms, one’s self. Ego
development is known as the development of multiple processes, cognitive function, defenses,
and interpersonal skills or to early adolescence when ego processes are emerged.[21]

Super-ego
"Superego" redirects here. For the podcast, see Superego (podcast).

The super-ego[29] (German: Über-Ich)[30] reflects the internalization of cultural rules, mainly
taught by parents applying their guidance and influence.[8] Freud developed his concept of the
super-ego from an earlier combination of the ego ideal and the "special psychical agency which
performs the task of seeing that narcissistic satisfaction from the ego ideal is ensured...what we
call our 'conscience'."[31] For him "the installation of the super-ego can be described as a
successful instance of identification with the parental agency," while as development proceeds
"the super-ego also takes on the influence of those who have stepped into the place of parents —
educators, teachers, people chosen as ideal models".

Thus a child's super-ego is in fact constructed on the model not of its parents but of its parents'
super-ego; the contents which fill it are the same and it becomes the vehicle of tradition and of
all the time-resisting judgments of value which have propagated themselves in this manner from
generation to generation.[32]
The super-ego aims for perfection.[27] It forms the organized part of the personality structure,
mainly but not entirely unconscious, that includes the individual's ego ideals, spiritual goals, and
the psychic agency (commonly called "conscience") that criticizes and prohibits their drives,
fantasies, feelings, and actions. "The Super-ego can be thought of as a type of conscience that
punishes misbehavior with feelings of guilt. For example, for having extra-marital affairs."[33]
Taken in this sense, the super-ego is the precedent for the conceptualization of the inner critic as
it appears in contemporary therapies such as IFS.[34]

The super-ego works in contradiction to the id. The super-ego strives to act in a socially
appropriate manner, whereas the id just wants instant self-gratification. The super-ego controls
our sense of right and wrong and guilt. It helps us fit into society by getting us to act in socially
acceptable ways.[24]

The super-ego's demands often oppose the id's, so the ego sometimes has a hard time in
reconciling the two.[27]

Freud's theory implies that the super-ego is a symbolic internalisation of the father figure and
cultural regulations. The super-ego tends to stand in opposition to the desires of the id because of
their conflicting objectives, and its aggressiveness towards the ego. The super-ego acts as the
conscience, maintaining our sense of morality and proscription from taboos. The super-ego and
the ego are the product of two key factors: the state of helplessness of the child and the Oedipus
complex.[35] Its formation takes place during the dissolution of the Oedipus complex and is
formed by an identification with and internalisation of the father figure after the little boy cannot
successfully hold the mother as a love-object out of fear of castration. Freud described the super-
ego and its relationship to the father figure and Oedipus complex thus:

The super-ego retains the character of the father, while the more powerful the Oedipus complex
was and the more rapidly it succumbed to repression (under the influence of authority, religious
teaching, schooling and reading), the stricter will be the domination of the super-ego over the
ego later on—in the form of conscience or perhaps of an unconscious sense of guilt.[36]

The concept of super-ego and the Oedipus complex is subject to criticism for its perceived
sexism. Women, who are considered to be already castrated, do not identify with the father, and
therefore, for Freud, "their super-ego is never so inexorable, so impersonal, so independent of its
emotional origins as we require it to be in men...they are often more influenced in their
judgements by feelings of affection or hostility."[37] However, Freud went on to modify his
position to the effect "that the majority of men are also far behind the masculine ideal and that all
human individuals, as a result of their human identity, combine in themselves both masculine
and feminine characteristics, otherwise known as human characteristics."[38]
Psychosexual Stages
by Saul McLeod, updated 2017

Freud (1905) proposed that psychological development in childhood takes place in a series of
fixed psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital.

These are called psychosexual stages because each stage represents the fixation of libido
(roughly translated as sexual drives or instincts) on a different area of the body. As a person
grows physically certain areas of their body become important as sources of potential frustration
(erogenous zones), pleasure or both.

Freud believed that life was built round tension and pleasure. Freud also believed that all tension
was due to the build-up of libido (sexual energy) and that all pleasure came from its discharge.

In describing human personality development as psychosexual Freud meant to convey that what
develops is the way in which sexual energy accumulates and is discharged as we mature
biologically. (NB Freud used the term 'sexual' in a very general way to mean all pleasurable
actions and thoughts).

Freud stressed that the first five years of life are crucial to the formation of adult personality. The
id must be controlled in order to satisfy social demands; this sets up a conflict between frustrated
wishes and social norms.

The ego and superego develop in order to exercise this control and direct the need for
gratification into socially acceptable channels. Gratification centers in different areas of the body
at different stages of growth, making the conflict at each stage psychosexual.

The Role of Conflict

Each of the psychosexual stages is associated with a particular conflict that must be resolved
before the individual can successfully advance to the next stage. The resolution of each of these
conflicts requires the expenditure of sexual energy and the more energy that is expended at a
particular stage, the more the important characteristics of that stage remain with the individual as
he/she matures psychologically.

To explain this Freud suggested the analogy of military troops on the march. As the troops
advance, they are met by opposition or conflict. If they are highly successful in winning the
battle (resolving the conflict), then most of the troops (libido) will be able to move on to the next
battle (stage).

But the greater the difficulty encountered at any particular point, the greater the need for troops
to remain behind to fight and thus the fewer that will be able to go on to the next confrontation.

Frustration, Overindulgence, and Fixation

Some people do not seem to be able to leave one stage and proceed on to the next. One reason
for this may be that the needs of the developing individual at any particular stage may not have
been adequately met in which case there is frustration.

Or possibly the person's needs may have been so well satisfied that he/she is reluctant to leave
the psychological benefits of a particular stage in which there is overindulgence.

Both frustration and overindulgence (or any combination of the two) may lead to what
psychoanalysts call fixation at a particular psychosexual stage.

Fixation refers to the theoretical notion that a portion of the individual's libido has been
permanently 'invested' in a particular stage of his development. It is assumed that some libido is
permanently invested in each psychosexual stage and thus each person will behave in some ways
that are characteristic of infancy, or early childhood.

Psychosexual Stages of Development

You can remember the order of these stages by using the mnemonic: “old (oral) age (anal)
pensioners (phallic) love (latent) grapes (genital).

Oral Stage (0-1 year)

In the first stage of personality development, the libido is centered in a baby's mouth. It gets
much satisfaction from putting all sorts of things in its mouth to satisfy the libido, and thus its id
demands. Which at this stage in life are oral, or mouth orientated, such as sucking, biting, and
breastfeeding.

Freud said oral stimulation could lead to an oral fixation in later life. We see oral personalities
all around us such as smokers, nail-biters, finger-chewers, and thumb suckers. Oral personalities
engage in such oral behaviors, particularly when under stress.
Anal Stage (1-3 years)

The libido now becomes focused on the anus, and the child derives great pleasure from
defecating. The child is now fully aware that they are a person in their own right and that their
wishes can bring them into conflict with the demands of the outside world (i.e., their ego has
developed).

Freud believed that this type of conflict tends to come to a head in potty training, in which adults
impose restrictions on when and where the child can defecate. The nature of this first conflict
with authority can determine the child's future relationship with all forms of authority.

Early or harsh potty training can lead to the child becoming an anal-retentive personality who
hates mess, is obsessively tidy, punctual and respectful of authority. They can be stubborn and
tight-fisted with their cash and possessions. This is all related to pleasure got from holding on to
their faeces when toddlers, and their mum's then insisting that they get rid of it by placing them
on the potty until they perform!

Not as daft as it sounds. The anal expulsive, on the other hand, underwent a liberal toilet-
training regime during the anal stage. In adulthood, the anal expulsive is the person who wants
to share things with you. They like giving things away. In essence, they are 'sharing their
s**t'!' An anal-expulsive personality is also messy, disorganized and rebellious.

Phallic Stage (3 to 5 or 6 years)

Sensitivity now becomes concentrated in the genitals and masturbation (in both sexes) becomes a
new source of pleasure. The child becomes aware of anatomical sex differences, which sets in
motion the conflict between erotic attraction, resentment, rivalry, jealousy and fear which Freud
called the Oedipus complex (in boys) and the Electra complex (in girls).

This is resolved through the process of identification, which involves the child adopting the
characteristics of the same sex parent.

Oedipus Complex

The most important aspect of the phallic stage is the Oedipus complex. This is one of Freud's
most controversial ideas and one that many people reject outright.

The name of the Oedipus complex derives from the Greek myth where Oedipus, a young man,
kills his father and marries his mother. Upon discovering this, he pokes his eyes out and becomes
blind. This Oedipal is the generic (i.e., general) term for both Oedipus and Electra complexes.

In the young boy, the Oedipus complex or more correctly, conflict, arises because the boy
develops sexual (pleasurable) desires for his mother. He wants to possess his mother exclusively
and get rid of his father to enable him to do so. Irrationally, the boy thinks that if his father were
to find out about all this, his father would take away what he loves the most. During the phallic
stage what the boy loves most is his penis. Hence the boy develops castration anxiety.

The little boy then sets out to resolve this problem by imitating, copying and joining in
masculine dad-type behaviors. This is called identification, and is how the three-to-five year old
boy resolves his Oedipus complex. Identification means internally adopting the values, attitudes,
and behaviors of another person. The consequence of this is that the boy takes on the male
gender role, and adopts an ego ideal and values that become the superego.

Freud (1909) offered the Little Hans case study as evidence of the Oedipus complex.

Electra Complex

For girls, the Oedipus or Electra complex is less than satisfactory. Briefly, the girl desires the
father, but realizes that she does not have a penis. This leads to the development of penis envy
and the wish to be a boy.

The girl resolves this by repressing her desire for her father and substituting the wish for a penis
with the wish for a baby. The girl blames her mother for her 'castrated state,' and this creates
great tension. The girl then represses her feelings (to remove the tension) and identifies with the
mother to take on the female gender role.

Latency Stage (5 or 6 to puberty)

No further psychosexual development takes place during this stage (latent means hidden). The
libido is dormant. Freud thought that most sexual impulses are repressed during the latent stage,
and sexual energy can be sublimated (re: defense mechanisms) towards school work, hobbies,
and friendships.

Much of the child's energy is channeled into developing new skills and acquiring new
knowledge, and play becomes largely confined to other children of the same gender.

Genital Stage (puberty to adult)

This is the last stage of Freud's psychosexual theory of personality development and begins in
puberty. It is a time of adolescent sexual experimentation, the successful resolution of which is
settling down in a loving one-to-one relationship with another person in our 20's. Sexual instinct
is directed to heterosexual pleasure, rather than self-pleasure like during the phallic stage.

For Freud, the proper outlet of the sexual instinct in adults was through heterosexual
intercourse. Fixation and conflict may prevent this with the consequence that sexual perversions
may develop.
For example, fixation at the oral stage may result in a person gaining sexual pleasure primarily
from kissing and oral sex, rather than sexual intercourse.
tal Psychology

Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development

By Kendra Cherry | Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD
Updated August 01, 2018

 Share
 Flip
 Email

More in Theories

 Developmental Psychology
 Behavioral Psychology
 Cognitive Psychology
 Personality Psychology
 Social Psychology
 Biological Psychology
 Psychosocial Psychology

How does personality develop? According to the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, children
go through a series of psychosexual stages that lead to the development of the adult
personality. His theory described how personality developed over the course of childhood. While
the theory is well-known in psychology, it has always been quite controversial, both during
Freud's time and in modern psychology.

An Overview of the Psychosexual Stages

Illustration by Joshua Seong, Verywell

So how exactly do the psychosexual stages work? Freud believed that personality developed
through a series of childhood stages in which the pleasure-seeking energies of the id become
focused on certain erogenous areas. An erogenous zone is characterized as an area of the body
that is particularly sensitive to stimulation. During the five psychosexual stages, which are the
oral, anal, phallic, latent and genital stages, the erogenous zone associated with each stage serves
as a source of pleasure.

This psychosexual energy, or libido, was described as the driving force behind behavior.

Psychoanalytic theory suggested that personality is mostly established by the age of five. Early
experiences play a large role in personality development and continue to influence behavior later
in life.

So what happens during each stage? What if a person fails to progress through a stage
completely or favorably? If these psychosexual stages are completed successfully, a healthy
personality is the result.

If certain issues are not resolved at the appropriate stage, fixations can occur. A fixation is a
persistent focus on an earlier psychosexual stage. Until this conflict is resolved, the individual
will remain "stuck" in this stage. For example, a person who is fixated at the oral stage may be
over-dependent on others and may seek oral stimulation through smoking, drinking, or eating.

The Oral Stage

Age Range: Birth to 1 Year

Erogenous Zone: Mouth

During the oral stage, the infant's primary source of interaction occurs through the mouth, so the
rooting and sucking reflex is especially important. The mouth is vital for eating, and the infant
derives pleasure from oral stimulation through gratifying activities such as tasting and sucking.

Because the infant is entirely dependent upon caretakers (who are responsible for feeding the
child), the child also develops a sense of trust and comfort through this oral stimulation.

The primary conflict at this stage is the weaning process--the child must become less dependent
upon caretakers. If fixation occurs at this stage, Freud believed the individual would have issues
with dependency or aggression. Oral fixation can result in problems with drinking, eating,
smoking, or nail biting.

The Anal Stage

Age Range: 1 to 3 years

Erogenous Zone: Bowel and Bladder Control

During the anal stage, Freud believed that the primary focus of the libido was on controlling
bladder and bowel movements. The major conflict at this stage is toilet training--the child has to
learn to control his or her bodily needs. Developing this control leads to a sense of
accomplishment and independence.
According to Freud, success at this stage is dependent upon the way in which parents approach
toilet training. Parents who utilize praise and rewards for using the toilet at the appropriate time
encourage positive outcomes and help children feel capable and productive. Freud believed that
positive experiences during this stage served as the basis for people to become competent,
productive, and creative adults.

However, not all parents provide the support and encouragement that children need during this
stage. Some parents instead punish, ridicule or shame a child for accidents.

According to Freud, inappropriate parental responses can result in negative outcomes. If parents
take an approach that is too lenient, Freud suggested that an anal-expulsive personality could
develop in which the individual has a messy, wasteful, or destructive personality. If parents are
too strict or begin toilet training too early, Freud believed that an anal-retentive personality
develops in which the individual is stringent, orderly, rigid, and obsessive.

The Phallic Stage

Age Range: 3 to 6 Years

Erogenous Zone: Genitals

Freud suggested that during the phallic stage, the primary focus of the libido is on the genitals.
At this age, children also begin to discover the differences between males and females.

Freud also believed that boys begin to view their fathers as a rival for the mother’s affections.
The Oedipus complex describes these feelings of wanting to possess the mother and the desire to
replace the father. However, the child also fears that he will be punished by the father for these
feelings, a fear Freud termed castration anxiety.

The term Electra complex has been used to described a similar set of feelings experienced by
young girls. Freud, however, believed that girls instead experience penis envy.

Eventually, the child begins to identify with the same-sex parent as a means of vicariously
possessing the other parent. For girls, however, Freud believed that penis envy was never fully
resolved and that all women remain somewhat fixated on this stage. Psychologists such as Karen
Horney disputed this theory, calling it both inaccurate and demeaning to women. Instead, Horney
proposed that men experience feelings of inferiority because they cannot give birth to children, a
concept she referred to as womb envy.

The Latent Period

Age Range: 6 to Puberty

Erogenous Zone: Sexual Feelings Are Inactive

During this stage, the superego continues to develop while the id's energies are suppressed.
Children develop social skills, values and relationships with peers and adults outside of the
family.
The development of the ego and superego contribute to this period of calm. The stage begins
around the time that children enter into school and become more concerned with peer
relationships, hobbies, and other interests.

The latent period is a time of exploration in which the sexual energy repressed or dormant. This
energy is still present, but it is sublimated into other areas such as intellectual pursuits and social
interactions. This stage is important in the development of social and communication skills and
self-confidence.

As with the other psychosexual stages, Freud believed that it was possible for children to become
fixated or "stuck" in this phase. Fixation at this stage can result in immaturity and an inability to
form fulfilling relationships as an adult.

The Genital Stage

Age Range: Puberty to Death

Erogenous Zone: Maturing Sexual Interests

The onset of puberty causes the libido to become active once again. During the final stage of
psychosexual development, the individual develops a strong sexual interest in the opposite sex.
This stage begins during puberty but last throughout the rest of a person's life.

Where in earlier stages the focus was solely on individual needs, interest in the welfare of others
grows during this stage. If the other stages have been completed successfully, the individual
should now be well-balanced, warm, and caring. The goal of this stage is to establish a balance
between the various life areas.

Unlike the many of the earlier stages of development, Freud believed that the ego and superego
were fully formed and functioning at this point. Younger children are ruled by the id, which
demands immediate satisfaction of the most basic needs and wants. Teens in the genital stage of
development are able to balance their most basic urges against the need to conform to the
demands of reality and social norms.

Evaluating Freud's Psychosexual Stage Theory

Freud's theory is still considered controversial today, but imagine how audacious it seemed
during the late 1800s and early 1900s. There have been a number of observations and criticisms
of Freud's psychosexual theory on a number of grounds, including scientific and feminist
critiques:

 The theory is focused almost entirely on male development with little mention of female
psychosexual development.
 His theories are difficult to test scientifically. Concepts such as the libido are impossible
to measure, and therefore cannot be tested. The research that has been conducted tends to
discredit Freud's theory.
  Future predictions are too vague. How can we know that a current behavior was caused
specifically by a childhood experience? The length of time between the cause and the
effect is too long to assume that there is a relationship between the two variables.
 Freud's theory is based upon case studies and not empirical research. Also, Freud based
his theory on the recollections of his adult patients, not on actual observation and study of
children.

How Does Homosexuality Fit In to Freud's Theory?

Another criticism of the psychosexual stages is that the theory focuses primarily on heterosexual
development, and largely ignores homosexual development.

So how exactly did Freud explain the development of sexual preferences?

Freud's theory suggested that heterosexual preferences represent the "normal" outcome of
development and suggested that homosexual preferences represented deviation of this process.
Freud's own viewpoints on homosexuality varied, at times expressing biological explanations
and at other times social or psychological explanations for sexual preferences.

Unlike many thinkers of his time, Freud was unconvinced that homosexuality represented a
pathology. He also believed that attempts to alter a person's sexuality were usually futile and
often harmful.

In a famous 1935 letter to a mother who had written him to ask that he treat her homosexual son,
Freud wrote that while he believed homosexuality was not advantageous, it was certainly not a
vice or something to be ashamed of. Freud wrote, "...it cannot be classified as an illness; we
consider it to be a variation of the sexual function, produced by a certain arrest of sexual
development."

While Freud's theory implied that homosexuality was a deviation in normal psychosexual
development, many contemporary psychologists believe that sexual orientation is largely
influenced by biological factors.

A Word From Verywell

While few people are strong proponents of Freud's theory of psychosexual development today,
his work made important contributions to our understanding of human development. Perhaps his
most important and enduring contribution was the idea of that unconscious influences could have
a powerful impact on human behavior.

Freud's theory also stressed the importance of early experiences on development. While experts
continue to debate the relative contributions of early versus later experiences, developmental
experts recognize that the events of early life play a critical role in developmental process and
can have lasting effects throughout life.
One important thing to note is that contemporary psychoanalytic theories of personality
development have incorporated and emphasized ideas about internalized relationships and
interactions and the complex ways in which we maintain our sense of self into the models that
began with Freud.
Part II: Educational Psychology
Search for:

Erickson’s 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development

Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development focus on the
resolution of different crises to become a successful,
complete person.
LEARNING OBJECTIVE

 Summarize Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development

KEY POINTS


o Erik Erikson (1902–1994) was a stage theorist who took Freud’s
controversial psychosexual theory and modified it into an eight-
stage psychosocial theory of development.
o During each of Erikson’s eight development stages, two conflicting ideas must be
resolved successfully in order for a person to become a confident, contributing member
of society. Failure to master these tasks leads to feelings of inadequacy.
o Erikson’s eight stages of psychosocial development include trust vs.
mistrust, autonomy vs. shame/doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity
vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs.
despair.
o Erikson also expanded upon Freud’s stages by discussing the cultural implications of
development; certain cultures may need to resolve the stages in different ways based
upon their cultural and survival needs.

TERMS

 autonomy: Self-government; freedom to act or function independently.

 psychosocial: Having both psychological and social aspects.

Erikson’s Theory
Erik Erikson (1902–1994) was a stage theorist who took Freud’s controversial theory of
psychosexual development and modified it as a psychosocial theory. Erikson emphasized that the
ego makes positive contributions to development by mastering attitudes, ideas, and skills at each
stage of development. This mastery helps children grow into successful, contributing members of
society. During each of Erikson’s eight stages, there is a psychological conflict that must be
successfully overcome in order for a child to develop into a healthy, well-adjusted adult.

Erik Erikson
Erikson developed his eight stages of psychosocial development based on Freud’s psychosexual
theory.

Stages of Psychosocial Development

Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development are based on (and expand upon) Freud’s
psychosexual theory. Erikson proposed that we are motivated by the need to achieve competence
in certain areas of our lives. According to psychosocial theory, we experience eight stages of
development over our lifespan, from infancy through late adulthood. At each stage there is a
crisis or task that we need to resolve. Successful completion of each developmental task results
in a sense of competence and a healthy personality. Failure to master these tasks leads to feelings
of inadequacy.

Erikson also added to Freud’s stages by discussing the cultural implications of development;
certain cultures may need to resolve the stages in different ways based upon their cultural and
survival needs.

Trust vs. Mistrust

From birth to 12 months of age, infants must learn that adults can be trusted. This occurs when
adults meet a child’s basic needs for survival. Infants are dependent upon their caregivers, so
caregivers who are responsive and sensitive to their infant’s needs help their baby to develop a
sense of trust; their baby will see the world as a safe, predictable place. Unresponsive caregivers
who do not meet their baby’s needs can engender feelings of anxiety, fear, and mistrust; their
baby may see the world as unpredictable. If infants are treated cruelly or their needs are not met
appropriately, they will likely grow up with a sense of mistrust for people in the world.

Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt

As toddlers (ages 1–3 years) begin to explore their world, they learn that they can control their
actions and act on their environment to get results. They begin to show clear preferences for
certain elements of the environment, such as food, toys, and clothing. A toddler’s main task is to
resolve the issue of autonomy vs. shame and doubt by working to establish independence. This is
the “me do it” stage. For example, we might observe a budding sense of autonomy in a 2-year-
old child who wants to choose her clothes and dress herself. Although her outfits might not be
appropriate for the situation, her input in such basic decisions has an effect on her sense of
independence. If denied the opportunity to act on her environment, she may begin to doubt her
abilities, which could lead to low self-esteem and feelings of shame.

Initiative vs. Guilt

Once children reach the preschool stage (ages 3–6 years), they are capable of initiating activities
and asserting control over their world through social interactions and play. According to Erikson,
preschool children must resolve the task of initiative vs. guilt.By learning to plan and achieve
goals while interacting with others, preschool children can master this task. Initiative, a sense of
ambition and responsibility, occurs when parents allow a child to explore within limits and then
support the child’s choice. These children will develop self-confidence and feel a sense of
purpose. Those who are unsuccessful at this stage—with their initiative misfiring or stifled by
over-controlling parents—may develop feelings of guilt.

Industry vs. Inferiority

During the elementary school stage (ages 6–12), children face the task of industry vs.
inferiority. Children begin to compare themselves with their peers to see how they measure up.
They either develop a sense of pride and accomplishment in their schoolwork, sports, social
activities, and family life, or they feel inferior and inadequate because they feel that they don’t
measure up. If children do not learn to get along with others or have negative experiences at
home or with peers, an inferiority complex might develop into adolescence and adulthood.

Identity vs. Role Confusion

In adolescence (ages 12–18), children face the task of identity vs. role confusion. According to
Erikson, an adolescent’s main task is developing a sense of self. Adolescents struggle with
questions such as “Who am I?” and “What do I want to do with my life?” Along the way, most
adolescents try on many different selves to see which ones fit; they explore various roles and
ideas, set goals, and attempt to discover their “adult” selves. Adolescents who are successful at
this stage have a strong sense of identity and are able to remain true to their beliefs and values in
the face of problemsand other people’s perspectives. When adolescents are apathetic, do not
make a conscious search for identity, or are pressured to conform to their parents’ ideas for the
future, they may develop a weak sense of self and experience role confusion. They will be unsure
of their identity and confused about the future. Teenagers who struggle to adopt a positive role
will likely struggle to “find” themselves as adults.

Intimacy vs. Isolation

People in early adulthood (20s through early 40s) are concerned with intimacy vs.
isolation. After we have developed a sense of self in adolescence, we are ready to share our life
with others. However, if other stages have not been successfully resolved, young adults may
have trouble developing and maintaining successful relationships with others. Erikson said that
we must have a strong sense of self before we can develop successful intimate relationships.
Adults who do not develop a positive self-concept in adolescence may experience feelings of
loneliness and emotional isolation.

Generativity vs. Stagnation

When people reach their 40s, they enter the time known as middle adulthood, which extends to
the mid-60s. The social task of middle adulthood is generativity vs. stagnation. Generativity
involves finding your life’s work and contributing to the development of others through activities
such as volunteering, mentoring, and raising children. During this stage, middle-aged adults
begin contributing to the next generation, often through childbirth and caring for others; they
also engage in meaningful and productive work which contributes positively to society. Those
who do not master this task may experience stagnation and feel as though they are not leaving a
mark on the world in a meaningful way; they may have little connection with others and little
interest in productivity and self-improvement.

Integrity vs. Despair

From the mid-60s to the end of life, we are in the period of development known as late
adulthood. Erikson’s task at this stage is called integrity vs. despair. He said that people in late
adulthood reflect on their lives and feel either a sense of satisfaction or a sense of failure. People
who feel proud of their accomplishments feel a sense of integrity, and they can look back on
their lives with few regrets. However, people who are not successful at this stage may feel as if
their life has been wasted. They focus on what “would have,” “should have,” and “could have”
been. They face the end of their lives with feelings of bitterness, depression, and despair.
Stages
Kohlberg's six stages can be more generally grouped into three levels of two stages each: pre-
conventional, conventional and post-conventional.[7][8][9] Following Piaget's constructivist
requirements for a stage model, as described in his theory of cognitive development, it is
extremely rare to regress in stages—to lose the use of higher stage abilities.[14][15] Stages cannot
be skipped; each provides a new and necessary perspective, more comprehensive and
differentiated than its predecessors but integrated with them.[14][15]
Kohlberg's Model of Moral Development

Level 1 (Pre-Conventional)

1. Obedience and punishment orientation

(How can I avoid punishment?)

2. Self-interest orientation

(What's in it for me?)

(Paying for a benefit)

Level 2 (Conventional)

3. Interpersonal accord and conformity

(Social norms)

(The good boy/girl attitude)

4. Authority and social-order maintaining orientation

(Law and order morality)

 Level 3 (Post-Conventional)

5. Social contract orientation

6. Universal ethical principles

(Principled conscience)

The understanding gained in each stage is retained in later stages, but may be regarded by those
in later stages as simplistic, lacking in sufficient attention to detail.

Pre-conventional

The pre-conventional level of moral reasoning is especially common in children, although adults
can also exhibit this level of reasoning. Reasoners at this level judge the morality of an action by
its direct consequences. The pre-conventional level consists of the first and second stages of
moral development and is solely concerned with the self in an egocentric manner. A child with
pre-conventional morality has not yet adopted or internalized society's conventions regarding
what is right or wrong but instead focuses largely on external consequences that certain actions
may bring.[7][8][9]

In Stage one (obedience and punishment driven), individuals focus on the direct consequences of
their actions on themselves. For example, an action is perceived as morally wrong because the
perpetrator is punished. "The last time I did that I got spanked, so I will not do it again." The
worse the punishment for the act is, the more "bad" the act is perceived to be.[16] This can give
rise to an inference that even innocent victims are guilty in proportion to their suffering. It is
"egocentric", lacking recognition that others' points of view are different from one's own.[17]
There is "deference to superior power or prestige".[17]

An example of obedience and punishment driven morality would be a child refusing to do

something because it is wrong and that the consequences could result in punishment. For
example, a child's classmate tries to dare the child to skip school. The child would apply
obedience and punishment driven morality by refusing to skip school because he would get
punished.

Stage two (self-interest driven) expresses the "what's in it for me" position, in which right
behavior is defined by whatever the individual believes to be in their best interest but understood
in a narrow way which does not consider one's reputation or relationships to groups of people.
Stage two reasoning shows a limited interest in the needs of others, but only to a point where it
might further the individual's own interests. As a result, concern for others is not based on
loyalty or intrinsic respect, but rather a "You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours" mentality.[2]
The lack of a societal perspective in the pre-conventional level is quite different from the social
contract (stage five), as all actions at this stage have the purpose of serving the individual's own
needs or interests. For the stage two theorist, the world's perspective is often seen as morally
relative.
An example of self-interest driven is when a child is asked by his parents to do a chore. The child
asks, "what's in it for me?" The parents offer the child an incentive by giving a child an
allowance to pay them for their chores. The child is motivated by self-interest to do chores.

Conventional

The conventional level of moral reasoning is typical of adolescents and adults. To reason in a
conventional way is to judge the morality of actions by comparing them to society's views and
expectations. The conventional level consists of the third and fourth stages of moral
development. Conventional morality is characterized by an acceptance of society's conventions
concerning right and wrong. At this level an individual obeys rules and follows society's norms
even when there are no consequences for obedience or disobedience. Adherence to rules and
conventions is somewhat rigid, however, and a rule's appropriateness or fairness is seldom
questioned.[7][8][9]

In Stage three (good intentions as determined by social consensus), the self enters society by
conforming to social standards. Individuals are receptive to approval or disapproval from others
as it reflects society's views. They try to be a "good boy" or "good girl" to live up to these
expectations,[2] having learned that being regarded as good benefits the self. Stage three
reasoning may judge the morality of an action by evaluating its consequences in terms of a
person's relationships, which now begin to include things like respect, gratitude, and the "golden
rule". "I want to be liked and thought well of; apparently, not being naughty makes people like
me." Conforming to the rules for one's social role is not yet fully understood. The intentions of
actors play a more significant role in reasoning at this stage; one may feel more forgiving if one
thinks that "they mean well".[2]

In Stage four (authority and social order obedience driven), it is important to obey laws,
dictums, and social conventions because of their importance in maintaining a functioning
society. Moral reasoning in stage four is thus beyond the need for individual approval exhibited
in stage three. A central ideal or ideals often prescribe what is right and wrong. If one person
violates a law, perhaps everyone would—thus there is an obligation and a duty to uphold laws
and rules. When someone does violate a law, it is morally wrong; culpability is thus a significant
factor in this stage as it separates the bad domains from the good ones. Most active members of
society remain at stage four, where morality is still predominantly dictated by an outside force.[2]

Post-conventional

The post-conventional level, also known as the principled level, is marked by a growing
realization that individuals are separate entities from society, and that the individual's own
perspective may take precedence over society's view; individuals may disobey rules inconsistent
with their own principles. Post-conventional moralists live by their own ethical principles—
principles that typically include such basic human rights as life, liberty, and justice. People who
exhibit post-conventional morality view rules as useful but changeable mechanisms—ideally
rules can maintain the general social order and protect human rights. Rules are not absolute
dictates that must be obeyed without question. Because post-conventional individuals elevate
their own moral evaluation of a situation over social conventions, their behavior, especially at
stage six, can be confused with that of those at the pre-conventional level.[citation needed]

Some theorists have speculated that many people may never reach this level of abstract moral
reasoning.[7][8][9] FORMAL FRAME

In Stage five (social contract driven), the world is viewed as holding different opinions, rights,
and values. Such perspectives should be mutually respected as unique to each person or
community. Laws are regarded as social contracts rather than rigid edicts. Those that do not
promote the general welfare should be changed when necessary to meet "the greatest good for
the greatest number of people".[8] This is achieved through majority decision and inevitable
compromise. Democratic government is ostensibly based on stage five reasoning.

In Stage six (universal ethical principles driven), moral reasoning is based on abstract reasoning
using universal ethical principles. Laws are valid only insofar as they are grounded in justice,
and a commitment to justice carries with it an obligation to disobey unjust laws. Legal rights are
unnecessary, as social contracts are not essential for deontic moral action. Decisions are not
reached hypothetically in a conditional way but rather categorically in an absolute way, as in the
philosophy of Immanuel Kant.[18] This involves an individual imagining what they would do in
another's shoes, if they believed what that other person imagines to be true.[19] The resulting
consensus is the action taken. In this way action is never a means but always an end in itself; the
individual acts because it is right, and not because it avoids punishment, is in their best interest,
expected, legal, or previously agreed upon. Although Kohlberg insisted that stage six exists, he
found it difficult to identify individuals who consistently operated at that level.[15] Touro College
Researcher Arthur P. Sullivan helped support the accuracy of Kohlberg's first five stages through
data analysis, but could not provide statistical evidence for the existence of Kohlberg's sixth
stage. Therefore, it is difficult to define/recognize as a concrete stage in moral development.

Further stages

In his empirical studies of individuals throughout their life, Kohlberg observed that some had
apparently undergone moral stage regression. This could be resolved either by allowing for
moral regression or by extending the theory. Kohlberg chose the latter, postulating the existence
of sub-stages in which the emerging stage has not yet been fully integrated into the personality.[8]
In particular Kohlberg noted a stage 4½ or 4+, a transition from stage four to five, that shared
characteristics of both.[8] In this stage the individual is disaffected with the arbitrary nature of law
and order reasoning; culpability is frequently turned from being defined by society to viewing
society itself as culpable. This stage is often mistaken for the moral relativism of stage two, as
the individual views those interests of society that conflict with their own as being relatively and
morally wrong.[8] Kohlberg noted that this was often observed in students entering college.[8][15]

Kohlberg suggested that there may be a seventh stage—Transcendental Morality, or Morality of

Cosmic Orientation—which linked religion with moral reasoning.[20] Kohlberg's difficulties in
obtaining empirical evidence for even a sixth stage,[15] however, led him to emphasize the
speculative nature of his seventh stage.[5]

Theoretical assumptions (philosophy)

Kohlberg's stages of moral development are based on the assumption that humans are inherently
communicative, capable of reason, and possess a desire to understand others and the world
around them. The stages of this model relate to the qualitative moral reasonings adopted by
individuals, and so do not translate directly into praise or blame of any individual's actions or
character. Arguing that his theory measures moral reasoning and not particular moral
conclusions, Kohlberg insists that the form and structure of moral arguments is independent of
the content of those arguments, a position he calls "formalism".[6][7]

Kohlberg's theory centers on the notion that justice is the essential characteristic of moral
reasoning. Justice itself relies heavily upon the notion of sound reasoning based on principles.
Despite being a justice-centered theory of morality, Kohlberg considered it to be compatible with
plausible formulations of deontology[18] and eudaimonia.

Kohlberg's theory understands values as a critical component of the right. Whatever the right is,
for Kohlberg, it must be universally valid across societies (a position known as "moral
universalism"):[7] there can be no relativism. Moreover, morals are not natural features of the
world; they are prescriptive. Nevertheless, moral judgments can be evaluated in logical terms of
truth and falsity.

According to Kohlberg, someone progressing to a higher stage of moral reasoning cannot skip
stages. For example, an individual cannot jump from being concerned mostly with peer
judgments (stage three) to being a proponent of social contracts (stage five).[15] On encountering
a moral dilemma and finding their current level of moral reasoning unsatisfactory, however, an
individual will look to the next level. Realizing the limitations of the current stage of thinking is
the driving force behind moral development, as each progressive stage is more adequate than the
last.[15] The process is therefore considered to be constructive, as it is initiated by the conscious
construction of the individual, and is not in any meaningful sense a component of the individual's
innate dispositions, or a result of past inductions.
Formal elements

Progress through Kohlberg's stages happens as a result of the individual's increasing competence,
both psychologically and in balancing conflicting social-value claims. The process of resolving
conflicting claims to reach an equilibrium is called "justice operation". Kohlberg identifies two
of these justice operations: "equality", which involves an impartial regard for persons, and
"reciprocity", which means a regard for the role of personal merit. For Kohlberg, the most
adequate result of both operations is "reversibility", in which a moral or dutiful act within a
particular situation is evaluated in terms of whether or not the act would be satisfactory even if
particular persons were to switch roles within that situation (also known colloquially as "moral
musical chairs").[6]

Knowledge and learning contribute to moral development. Specifically important are the
individual's "view of persons" and their "social perspective level", each of which becomes more
complex and mature with each advancing stage. The "view of persons" can be understood as the
individual's grasp of the psychology of other persons; it may be pictured as a spectrum, with
stage one having no view of other persons at all, and stage six being entirely socio-centric.[6]
Similarly, the social perspective level involves the understanding of the social universe, differing
from the view of persons in that it involves an appreciation of social norms.

Examples of applied moral dilemmas

Kohlberg established the Moral Judgement Interview in his original 1958 dissertation.[4] During
the roughly 45-minute tape recorded semi-structured interview, the interviewer uses moral
dilemmas to determine which stage of moral reasoning a person uses. The dilemmas are fictional
short stories that describe situations in which a person has to make a moral decision. The
participant is asked a systemic series of open-ended questions, like what they think the right
course of action is, as well as justifications as to why certain actions are right or wrong. The form
and structure of these replies are scored and not the content; over a set of multiple moral
dilemmas an overall score is derived.[4][9]

A dilemma that Kohlberg used in his original research was the druggist's dilemma: Heinz Steals
the Drug In Europe.[5]

Criticisms
One criticism of Kohlberg's theory is that it emphasizes justice to the exclusion of other values,
and so may not adequately address the arguments of those who value other moral aspects of
actions. Carol Gilligan has argued that Kohlberg's theory is excessively androcentric.[10]
Kohlberg's theory was initially developed based on empirical research using only male
participants; Gilligan argued that it did not adequately describe the concerns of women.[21]
Kohlberg stated that women tend to get stuck at level 3, being primarily concerned with details
of how to maintain relationships and promote the welfare of family and friends. Men are likely to
move on to the abstract principles, and thus have less concern with the particulars of who is
involved.[22] Consistent with this observation, Gilligan's theory of moral development does not
value justice above other considerations. She developed an alternative theory of moral reasoning
based on the ethics of caring.[10] Critics such as Christina Hoff Sommers, however, argued that
Gilligan's research is ill-founded, and that no evidence exists to support her conclusion.[23]

Kohlberg's stages are not culturally neutral, as demonstrated by its application to a number of
different cultures.[1] Although they progress through the stages in the same order, individuals in
different cultures seem to do so at different rates.[24] Kohlberg has responded by saying that
although different cultures do indeed inculcate different beliefs, his stages correspond to
underlying modes of reasoning, rather than to those beliefs.[1][25]

Another criticism of Kohlberg’s theory is that people frequently demonstrate significant

inconsistency in their moral judgements.[26] This often occurs in moral dilemmas involving
drinking and driving and business situations where participants have been shown to reason at a
subpar stage, typically using more self-interest driven reasoning (i.e. stage two) than authority
and social order obedience driven reasoning (i.e. stage four).[26][27] Kohlberg’s theory is generally
considered to be incompatible with inconsistencies in moral reasoning.[26] Carpendale has argued
that Kohlberg’s theory should be modified to focus on the view that the process of moral
reasoning involves integrating varying perspectives of a moral dilemma rather than simply
fixating on applying rules.[27] This view would allow for inconsistency in moral reasoning since
individuals may be hampered by their inability to consider different perspectives.[26] Krebs and
Denton have also attempted to modify Kohlberg’s theory to account for a multitude of
conflicting findings, but eventually concluded that the theory is not equipped to take into
consideration how most individuals make moral decisions in their everyday lives.[28]

Other psychologists have questioned the assumption that moral action is primarily a result of
formal reasoning. Social intuitionists such as Jonathan Haidt, for example, argue that individuals
often make moral judgments without weighing concerns such as fairness, law, human rights, or
abstract ethical values. Thus the arguments analyzed by Kohlberg and other rationalist
psychologists could be considered post hoc rationalizations of intuitive decisions; moral
reasoning may be less relevant to moral action than Kohlberg's theory suggests.[11]