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Freud's
5 Stages Of Personality Development:
Freud
believes that there are 5 stages in the formation of your personality:
1.
Oral/Dependency
This
stage takes place from birth to age 2, where the child explores the world
using their mouth. If
needs are not satisfied during this stage, one goes through life
trying to
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meet them.
Smoking, eating and drinking are seen as oral
fixations. Recurring dreams, the feeling of incompleteness or
unmet needs are common themes.
2.
Anal/ Potty Training
In
this second stage, the child learns to control their bodily functions. If
not handled properly or if the child is traumatized at this stage, then he
or she might become
anal retentive, controlling, or rigid. The child can also develop obsessive
compulsive behaviors.
Dreams of being out of control or trying to keep things in order are
common.
3. Phallic Stage
Between
the ages of 3 to 5, the child becomes aware of male and female. Personality
is fully developed by this stage. This stage is also classified by the Oedipus
and Electra Complexes. The Oedipus represents a male child's love for his
mother and the fear/jealousy towards his father. The Electra is the female
version where the female child has anger toward her mother and exhibits
"penis envy".
4.
Latency Period
Little
new development is observable during this stage.
5.
Genital
Starting
from age 12 to the peak of puberty, this stage is classified by the reawakening of sexual interest.
As
previously mentioned, Freud believes that the motivating force of a dream is wish fulfillment. Issues of power, lack of control, or
unsatisfactory love may
manifest in dreams as a way of satisfying these needs. Thoughts that
are repressed during the day may also find a way into your dream as a way
to getting fulfillment.
Freud
believes that every imagery and
symbol that appears in a dream have a sexual connotation. For
example, anxiety
dreams are seen as a sign of repressed sexual impulses.
Critique:
There are many critics on
Freud's theory of dreams. Freud lived in a sexually repressed
Victorian era. His preoccupation with sexual imagery may therefore have
been a product of the times, the culture or his own relationship/conflict
with sex.
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