Sigmund Freud's Psychosexual Stage Theory

Final Research Paper
Name
Psy 87500: Advanced Theories of Personality
California Southern University
Final Research Paper
I often find myself thinking about development and how a person grows from an innocent child to a mature adult capable of good and evil actions. My experiences during childhood are critical in determining the kind of person I am now. I have gained insights about myself from people close to me as I grew up, including my parents, friends, siblings, and business associates. The following theories have been vital in understanding how my personality is shaped and develops as I grow up.
Sigmund Freud's Psychosexual Stage Theory
Sigmund Freud's psychosexual stage theory is useful in understanding a person's development from birth to adulthood. It involves the use of five stages which are known as the psychosexual stages. These stages are critical in developing personality, and it takes place in several phases: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages (Maree, 2020). Each state involves sexual energy or libido expression and is exhibited in different body parts and different ways. The theory hypothesizes that as a person grows older, certain areas of the body evolve to become a source of pleasure or frustration or both.
The first stage occurs during the first year when the child is born, the oral stage. This is a time when a child is most satisfied via their mouth. During the oral stage, the baby likes to put things in their mouth, such as toys or anything they can get their hands on. The urge to place things in the mouth is due to the need to meet the demands of the id (Giordano, 2020). At the oral stage, everything is mouth-oriented such as breastfeeding, biting, or sucking. My parents used to tell me that I used to suckle my mother for almost an hour when I was starving. I was also very playful, and they had to hide everything to avoid placing them in my mouth. They still have several pictures of me suckling on my thumb, which can be attributed to the oral stage. Oral fixation is linked to fixations later in life, such as smoking or sucking the thumb. However, I have not started to behave in a fixated manner.
The second stage occurs when the child is between ages 1 to 3 years, the anal stage. During this stage, the libido is centered on the anus, and the child gets pleasure from defecating. The child begins to understand the concept of creativity and control, and they start acknowledging and meeting the demands of culture and society. Potty training is a good example where the child first experiences authority and restrictions (Giordano, 2020). If the child goes through harsh or early potty training, they will grow up to be respectful to authority while also disliking mess. This also means they are aware that their demands can conflict with society's needs (Durrant & Ensom, 2020). My parents told me that I was very inconsiderate while I was between 2-3 years. For instance, I often demanded them to get me candy since I thought they were free and I "owned the world." Despite the negative moments, I was very respectful and did everything my parents told me to do. I felt that I had to be loyal to them and their demands too. As I grew up, I have often been keen to respect authority, and I...