Psychoanalytic theory
Augustine Conteh
Jenne Meyer
Date:2/16/15

According to American psychological Association (2012), personality refers to the individual characteristics that define an individual. Personality differentiates an individual’s thinking and behavior as a reaction to daily lives condition. In attempts to understand personality development, have been developed.
Psychoanalytic theory of personality development was founded by Sigmund frauds. This theory asserts that human personality development occurs through five progressive development stages called psycho sexual development stages. The successful achievement in each of the stages would result into complete personality while fixation at any stage would result to stagnation. According Sigmund Freud, our personality is products of our past experiences.
Psychoanalytic theory holds that human personality is at three distinctions, the id which is present at birth, the ego and the super ego. The id which is the essential part of personality at birth operates on pleasure principle and serves survival responsibility. It is the id that calls for immediate satisfaction of survival demands of the child such as hunger. As the child grows, the child learns about societal ways of satisfying his or her survival needs. This leads to the development of the second part of personality called the super ego which keeps people on the real of social rules and requirement. Most of the times, the social ways of satisfying the demands of the id are slow in response leading to conflict between the id and the super ego. The ego part of personality therefore comes in to mediate between the id and the super ego (Eastern New Mexico University, n.d). The first stage of personality development according to psycho analytic theory is the oral stage. According to psychoanalytic theory, the center of attention at this stage is on oral functioning. The infant drives pleasure from oral stimulation through oral activities. Rooting and sucking therefore are very essential at this stage. Because the child solely depends on the mother and the caregivers, the approach the caregivers gives this stage is very important for the development of the child. Maintaining proper satisfaction of the survival needs of the child is very critical. Intentions of the child at this stage are just mere survival. If well approached, the infant develops sense of trust and comfort through oral stimulation. The second stage of psychosexual development is the anal stage. This stage occurs at approximately 18 months. The child redirects attention to elimination through anus. Through the regulation and parental control, the child has to learn to control anal stimulation. The approach the caregiver gives this stage is also likely to impact on the child. The stage can be successfully past or there is likelihood that the child might also get fixated. The child can be victim of perfection, extreme cleanliness and control or may develop the opposite end of spectrum by becoming disorganized and dirty depending on the side of fixation. Phallic stage draws attention to the genitalia. During this stage, the child develops unconscious sexual feelings to the parents of the opposite sex. The male child develop sexual feelings towards the mother (Oedipus complex while the fame child develop sexual feelings towards the father (Electra complex). This stage is responsible for development of sex related personality behaviors. In latency stages, the sexual urges are inhibited and children engage in play mostly with the same sex. The final stage of development in psycho analytic theory is the genital stage. This commences at puberty when sexual urges are rekindled. Adolescents redirect their sexual urges to opposite sex peer with primary focus of pleasure on genitalia. Psycho analytic theory of personality development can be used in assessment of psychological disorders. How an individual child managed through each