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Critique Paper - The Psychosexual Development Theory

The document provides a critique of Sigmund Freud's Psychosexual Development Theory. [1] It discusses some of the key stages and concepts in the theory but notes it is controversial. [2] Specifically, it argues the theory sexualizes normal infant behaviors. It is also androcentric and focuses on male development. [3] Additionally, Freud's claims have been criticized as unreliable since he did not properly test or measure his theories. While pioneering, the theory reflects the cultural biases of Freud's time.

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315 views3 pages

Critique Paper - The Psychosexual Development Theory

The document provides a critique of Sigmund Freud's Psychosexual Development Theory. [1] It discusses some of the key stages and concepts in the theory but notes it is controversial. [2] Specifically, it argues the theory sexualizes normal infant behaviors. It is also androcentric and focuses on male development. [3] Additionally, Freud's claims have been criticized as unreliable since he did not properly test or measure his theories. While pioneering, the theory reflects the cultural biases of Freud's time.

Uploaded by

laurel.jhy
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Critique: Psychosexual Development Theory

It is without doubt that Sigmund Freud had important contributions in the field of
psychology notably as he is known as the Father of Psychoanalysis. And in a paper written
by Dr. Tomy Philip from University of Delhi, he explained another personality-related theory
by Freud which is the Theory of Psychosexual Development which explains the importance
of infancy and childhood experiences to developed personality in adulthood. He explained
the details of the five (5) psychosexual development stages: their importance, and
personality traits to develop as reaction to experiences during each stages. However, it is not
without controversy. While the theory brought rise to an important psychological school of
thought, there are implications of culture from his time especially androcentrism, a
sexualized perspective on non-sexual activities, and questionable reliability of his claims.

The Psychosexual Development Theory has five (5) sexual stages: oral, anal, phallic,
latency, and genital. The sexual stages occur from birth to adolescence, and an individual
engages in various activity such as sucking, anal expulsion and retention, presence of
Oedipus and Electra complex, and repression and reappearance of sexual urges. Extremity
in response to these activities can lead to different behavioral manifestations in adulthood.
As example, individuals with unfulfilled needs during oral stage can manifest its effects in
forms of smoking and verbal aggression (Mcleod, 2024).

I. Sexualization of Non-Sexual Activities

The main theme in Freud’s Psychosexual Development Theory is that it is heavily sex-
centered. It is very apparent on terminologies he used. Some says that he purposely used
such terms in order to gain audience through controversy since they were taboo in his time
(Reyes, J., 2024). By doing so, he reached wider audience and encouraged development in
human psychology, and it is a reasonable strategy. However, although the participants in his
case studies were older people, the subject in this particular theory are infants. His theory is
sexualizing infant activities such as sucking and defecation. These are innocent activities
done largely as newborn reflexes crucial for survival rather than due to libido (Lally &
Valentine-French, n.d).

II. Androcentrism

Freud’s psychosexual stages are androcentric. The stages can be generalized as


applicable to different sexes, however certain stage and related events, especially the
Oedipus complex and castration anxiety during phallic stage, makes it obvious that Freud is
centering perspective from a male person. This is not a surprising quality as Freud described
women as a “dark continent” for psychology as mentioned by Segal (1996) in her journal,
Freud and Feminism: A Century of Contradiction. And even if he tried to include a female
sexuality in his theory such as the proposal of penis envy, this is still focused on a man’s
quality and disregards any qualities coming from a woman. Furthermore, Freud claims that
women need to have a kid of their own, most preferably a male, to overcome penis envy (The
British Psychological Society, 2018) which further implies androcentrism and patriarchal
ideals (Benjamin, 1986).

III. Reliability

Although Freud provided path for a lot of modern psychological theories, his theories
are not used as is. They are either disputed since they cannot be measured and are often
baseless, and some simply became basis for a further developed and researched claims.
Furthermore, he has a case of changing the narrative of his previous claims, thus being
described him as having “failure of courage”(The British Psychological Society, 2018). On the
other hand, professors such as Crews and Takooshian believed that he does not test his
claims and is only promoting his own belief in hopes of others proving or disproving them. In
terms of the population of his studies, many critiques his theories since the participants
have unique qualities but are used to generalize a wider population (Penn State World
Campus, n.d).

To conclude, it is undoubtedly that Freud is a pioneer for human psychology. He was


able to think from a perspective people in his time are not willing to. However, he is a
reflection of the socio-cultural environment in his time and it is reflected in his theories. The
Psychosexual Development Theory is highly male and sex-centered, thus the feminist
approach of criticism. Furthermore, his works were highly questioned for their reliability that
collectively, his works were infamously critiqued by professors and psychoanalysts.
References:

Benjamin, J. (1986). A desire of one’s own: psychoanalytic feminism and intersubjective


space. Feminist Studies/ Critical Studies, (pp. 78-101). Springer Link.

Benjamin, P. (2020, March 21). Was Freud right about anything?. Live Science.
https://www.livescience.com/why-freud-was-wrong.html.

Lally, M., and Valentine-French, S. (n.d). From reflexes to voluntary movements. Lumen
Learning. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-
lifespandevelopment/chapter/from-reflexes-to-voluntary-movements/

Mcleod, S. (2024, January 16). Freud’s psychosexual theory and 5 stages of human
development. Simply Psychology.
https://www.simplypsychology.org/psychosexual.html.

Penn State World Campus. (n.d). Freud’s Theories.


https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/welcome/hdfs129/lesson02_04.html#:~:text
=It%20has%20been%20criticized%20for,of%20adults%20in%20Victorian%20socie
ty.

Reyes, J. [@notjustdani]. (2024, January 7). Here’s a quick explanation why we still study
Freud! #psychoanalysis #sigmundfreud #psychmajor [Video]. TikTok.
https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSFdaFwxJ/

Segal, L. (1986, May). Freud and feminism: A century of contradiction. Feminism &
Psychology, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353596062019

The British Psychological Society. (2018, May 8). Sigmund Freud and penis envy — a failure
of courage?. https://www.bps.org.uk/psychologist/sigmund-freud-and-penis-envy-
failure-courage.

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