The phallic stage, in Freud's theory of psychosocial development, is the third phase that children go through on their way to psychological maturation, after the oral and anal stages. According to this Austrian psychoanalyst, children must pass five different phases in order to develop the adult personality, each of them having very different characteristics.
In the phallic stage, which occurs between 3 and 6 years of age, children's libido is focused on their genitals, this being their main erogenous zone. The individual begins to be more aware of his own body and those of others, in addition to feeling more curious about the differences in the anatomy of each person.
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According to Freud, at this stage children begin to understand the differences between "man" and "woman", which in many cases occurs after the appearance of exploratory behaviors such as touching their own genitals or trying to see other people naked. Furthermore, at this stage gender roles would begin to form.
On the other hand, it is in the phallic stage that some of the most important psychological conflicts of the individual personality begin to occur, the Oedipus complex in the case of boys and the Electra complex in that of girls. This greatly alters the relationship with the parents and will determine the development of the person's personality in the future.
Personality conflicts
Freud understood personality development as a process in which certain conflicts appear that the child has to resolve before becoming an adult proper. It is precisely in the phallic stage that two of the most important appear: the Oedipus complex in boys, and the Electra complex in girls.
Sigmund Freud, one of the fathers of modern psychology. Source: Max Halberstadt These "complexes" are metaphors that try to explain the apparent competition of children with their same-sex parent. Thus, boys would feel some envy of their father and would try to become more attached to their mother, while girls would try to sabotage their mother to win the affection of their father.
For Freud and some of his disciples, correctly solving the Oedipus complex or the Electra complex as the case may be is essential for children to develop a healthy personality and a strong sexual identity. The permanence of this conflict throughout the person's life could explain some pathologies or the appearance of sexual preferences different from the norm.
Oedipus complex
The first conflict Freud described was the Oedipus complex, named for the Greek legend of the same name in which a king murders his father to marry his mother without knowing it. The psychoanalyst used this term to refer to the dynamics by which children focus their libido on their mother, which causes emotions such as jealousy or rivalry against their father.
Because the child needs the protection of the mother and wants to feel attached to her, his id (one of the components of the mind according to Freud) wants to kill his father; but his self, the realistic part of the mind, knows that the adult is stronger and therefore cannot harm him.
As a consequence, the child feels an irrational and subconscious aversion to his father, manifested mainly in the "fear of castration." Over time, this conflict must be resolved so that the individual can accept her own masculinity and develop a healthy adult personality.
Electra Complex
In Freud's early theories, he never pointed to a female version of the Oedipus complex. However Carl Jung, one of his main disciples, postulated the theory that there was an equivalent phenomenon in girls: the Electra complex.
Carl Jung
This psychological phenomenon would be based on a so-called "penis envy", caused by the girl realizing that without this genital organ she cannot sexually dominate the mother as her infantile ego would like. To compensate, the girl would redirect her libido towards her father, thus developing a principle of heterosexual femininity.
The Electra complex would be resolved when the girl replaced her childhood desire to possess a penis with that of having a child during her adulthood. According to Freud and her disciples, the female conflict present in the phallic stage would be more emotionally intense in girls than in boys, so difficulties would be more likely to arise or not be resolved correctly.
Defense mechanisms
During the phallic stage, children of both sexes develop a series of psychological defense mechanisms that help them resolve the conflicts that occur between their id and their self. These would remain present throughout life, but are very evident during this time.
Thus, among the most important defense mechanisms we find repression, which implies the blocking of memories, emotions and ideas; and identification, which consists of assimilating characteristics of the parent of the same sex. These mechanisms would help the child to reduce her anxiety and her rivalry with the parent of the opposite sex.
If the child does not manage to resolve the conflict of the phallic stage, in adulthood he may present symptoms such as low self-esteem, shyness, hatred towards the opposite sex, promiscuity or difficulties in forming stable relationships with a partner.
Evidence
In recent decades, Freud's psychological theories have been widely criticized by scholars around the world. This is because the way they are raised does not allow them to be easily verified from a scientific point of view, so it is very difficult both to ensure that they are true and to show that they are not.
Because of this, it is very common in modern psychology to dismiss Freud's ideas as totally false or useless. However, in some contexts they continue to be applied, and therapies based on their ideas have proven to be very effective in treating certain psychological problems.
References
- "Psychosexual stages" in: Simply Psychology. Retrieved on: April 07, 2020 from Simply Psychology: simplypsychology.com.
- "Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development" in: VeryWell Mind. Retrieved on: April 07, 2020 from VeryWell Mind: verywellmind.com.
- "Phallic stage" at: SpringerLink. Retrieved on: April 07, 2020 from SpringerLink: link.springer.com.
- "Freud's Stages of Psychosexual Development" in: All Psych. Retrieved on: April 07, 2020 from All Psych: allpsych.com.
- "Phallic stage" in: Wikipedia. Retrieved on: April 07, 2020 from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org.