Sigmund Freud's Psychological Theories Of Personality Development

Personality development can be explained through a psychoanalytic approach using the theories of Sigmund Freud. Sigmund Freud was an Austrian physician who treated patients with mental illness. He was a great thinker that developed numerous psychological theories that had their fair share of controversy. Freud believed human behavior was due to the interaction between the id, ego, and superego; the three components of personality. The id is the source of the inherited, instinctual drives known as life instincts and death instincts. These drives are of sexual nature and aggression, respectively. The id is completely selfish and only concerned with immediate gratification. The ego then develops to mediate the demands of the id and reality. It is the ego’s job to satisfy the id while maintaining survival. As an …show more content…
During adolescence, the genitals are the focus of pleasure and the person looks for sexual satisfaction in relationships (Berger, 2016; Hooley, Butcher, Nock, & Mineka, 2017). As the child goes through puberty, the genital stage usually occurs. As one travels through this stage, the goal is to develop a loving relationship and settle down in their twenties. According to Freud, in this stage, one needs to find a balance of love and work (McLeod, 2008).
Freud’s theories about the three personality components, anxiety and defense mechanisms, and the psychosexual stages propose a broad analysis of personality development. The main take home is that what happens during one’s childhood, can have a significant impact on how the child’s personality will grow and present itself in adulthood. Childhood experience aids in determining the personality of an individual but the conflicts of the id, ego, and superego, the suppression of anxiety and inappropriate gratification of a psychosexual stage can lead to life-altering circumstances characterized by a mental