Psychoanalytical Viewpoint Psychosexual Theory Introduction
The effective and efficient practice of paediatric dentistry relies on the success of the management of child behaviour in the dental operatory. Child behaviour can be managed by psychological or pharmacological means.
Table of Contents
Psychological behaviour management is based on the understanding of child psychology. Well-accepted theories of child psychology lay the basis for reasoning and understanding the child’s behaviour presentation.
They also pave the way for the evolution of new techniques to manage the behaviour of children in the dental operatory. Psychosexual theory, psychosocial theory and cognitive theory help to understand and reason out children’s behaviour, thus making behaviour management a predictable science. Of these, the psychosexual theory is the most accepted theory of child psychology.
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Psychodynamic Viewpoint
‘Psyche’, also called the mental make-up of a child (individual), determines a child’s (human) behaviour or personality. The psychoanalytic or psychodynamic viewpoint proposes that the psyche is evolved by either the inborn motives of the individual or the sociocultural influences encountered by the individual early in life.
The inherent, inborn motives of the individual are called instincts. The theory that proposes that the development of the child’s (human) behaviour is based on instincts is psychosexual theory.
An individual may be subjected to sociocultural influences by a smaller and closer cultural framework, such as the family, or by a larger social framework, such as the society.
The smaller entity, such as the family, is called a microsystem and the larger entity is called a macro system. A mesosystem is an intermediate entity. It is larger than a microsystem and smaller than a macro system.
A school classroom is an example of a mesosystem. Psychosocial theory and the theory of hierarchy of needs propose that the development of child (human) behaviour is based on sociocultural influences. This chapter describes the psychosexual theory in detail.
The psychosexual theory was proposed in 1905 by an Austrian physician, Sigmund Freud. This theory is based on the fact that human nature or behaviour is driven by unconscious, inborn motives and strong biological urges. They are Eros, the life instinct, and Thntos, the death instinct.
- Eros, the Life instinct, promotes life-sustaining activities such as breathing, eating and sex.
- Thntos, the Death instinct, promotes destructive activities such as aggression and antisocial activities.Sigmund Freud describes the sex instinct to be the strongest of all the biological urges.
Psychic Triad
Every individual has a fixed level of mental energy to satisfy their instincts. This is called psychic energy. It has three components, cumulatively called the psychic triad. They are as follows:
- Id
- Ego
- Superego
The proportion of the three constituents decides the personality of the individual. Hence, they are called the elements of personality.
- Id: Id is the legislator of the personality or the entity that proposes and seeks the execution of desires. It persuades the individual to fulfil the proposals. The objective of is to seek objects to satisfy the needs proposed by human inborn instincts. The wishes or desires belong to the inherent, inborn instincts of the individual. It has to be understood that Id is only the proposer of wishes. When the individual possesses no emotional maturity, the mental (psychic) energy is completely constituted with Id.
- Characteristics Of Id:
- Impulsive
- Seek immediate gratification ofthe instinct
- Irrational and sometimes unrealistic
- ‘I want it attitude’ – the child tries to satisfy his needs with an object without analysing whether the object can truly satisfy the instinct or not
- Characteristics Of Id:
- Ego: Ego is the executive of the personality. It is the entity that formulates a strategic action to execute the Id’s proposals. When the individual matures mentally, the Ego takes up half the place in the psychic energy leaving the remaining half for Id. The objective of Ego is to find realistic and practical ways to satisfy the needs of the instinct. These realistic and practical ways may or may not be morally and socially applicable. The Ego involves cognitive or thought processes such as perception, learning and logical reasoning.
- Characteristics Of Ego: Ego is the servant and master of the Id. The ego blocks the Id’s irrational impulses to attain instant satisfaction of the instinct. Ego delays the process of satisfying the instinct until an appropriate, realistic and practical situation arises. It dominates over the Id and is thus called Id’s master. When the Id’s demands are unrealistic, the ego undertakes a conscious effort and thought process, to identify more realistic ways to satisfy the Id. Ego provides an alternate course of action and caters to the satisfaction of the Id. Hence, it serves as Id’s servant too.
- Superego: Superego is the judiciary of the personality. It is the ‘high-offi’ decision maker that acts as an internal censor of the personality. Superego finds socially, morally and ethically acceptable ways to satisfy the Id’s undesirable impulses. With higher mental maturity, the individual frames a set of socially acceptable rules or norms to be followed during social interaction. The individual has set standards to maintain during the interaction. This is termed an evolution of internalised moral standards. With this development, the superego claims one-third of the psychic energy thus reducing the constitution of Id and Ego to one-third each.
- Characteristics Of Superego: Superego strives for perfection rather than for pleasure. It does not permit the Ego to carry out an action to satisfy the Id’s impulses at the cost of indulging in morally and socially applicable ways. Superego works on the basis of a code of internalised moral standards and decides whether the Ego’s problem-solving strategies are morally acceptable or not. It says ‘Wait, let me decide’. Once Superego develops, the child can identify his unethical behaviour and feel guilty for the same.
The proportion of the three components influences the satisfaction of the biological urges.
- If the Id is very strong of the three, the biological urge is satisfied in the most unacceptable, antisocial and selfish way.
- If Ego is very strong of the three, the urge is satisfied in a more realistic/practical way.
- If the Superego is very strong, the biological urge is satisfied in a moral or ethical and socially acceptable way.
Core Of The Psychosexual Theory
The core of the psychosexual theory is a ‘biosocial’ conflict in the individual. The strongest biological urge looks for fulfilment or gratification. Such gratification may not be accepted in society, raising a biosocial conflict. Depending on the strength of each constituent of the psychic triad, the conflict is resolved. The behaviour pattern and personality of a person evolve by the continuous resolution of the biosocial conflict.
According to Freud’s psychosexual theory, the sexual urge is the most powerful biological urge. The pattern of this sexual urge keeps changing in a child till 12 years of age. The biological (sexual) urge is centred at different zones of the body, called erogenous zones. These zones keep shifting from one part of the body to another at different ages.
The sexual energy (libido) is focused around the erogenous zones and the individual is strongly oriented towards attaining sexual gratification. The attainment or non-attainment of sexual gratification at the corresponding erogenous zones in the respective ages influences the behaviour and personality of the individual.
- Stages Of Psychosexual Theory Freud described the development of personality into five different stages pertaining to different erogenous zones. The table gives an overview of the stages of psychosexual theory.
- Oral Stage
- The oral stage spans from birth to 1 year.
- The erogenous zone is the oral cavity.
- The sex instinct of an infant is gratified by stimulation of lips, mouth, teeth and gums or actions such as spitting, chewing, sucking, biting on objects, bubbling with saliva and feeding.
- A girl child weaned of breastfeeding early is deprived of oral gratification. She will grow up into a woman who will be over-dependent on her husband.
- Anal Stage
- The anal stage spans from 1 to 3 years.
- The erogenous zone is the anus.
- The anal sphincter muscles mature in the second year of life. The infant acquires the ability to defecate at will. This voluntary defecation with the ability to withhold and expel becomes the primary mode of sex gratification.
- The emotional climate created by the parents during toilet training influences the personality of the individual. A child who was punished harshly for messy incidents during toilet training tends to become anxious and wasteful.
- Phallic Stage
- The phallic stage spans from 3 to 6 years.
- The erogenous zone is the genitals.
- The child matures to identify the genitals as a sensitive area. He can distinguish between individuals of different sexes. Freud believes that the phallus (penis) assumes a critically important role in the psychosexual development of the child.
- This phase mentions that boys are influenced by their fathers (Oedipus complex) and girls by their mothers (Electra complex). Hence, it can be understood that the father and son and the mother and daughter share a similar behavioural trait/presentation.
- Phallic Stage in Boys These to four-year-old boys develop an obsession of winning the love of their mothers. They consider their fathers as rivals in winning maternal affection and develop jealousy towards their father’s might or stronghold over their mother. This is called the Oedipus complex after King Oedipus of Thebes who killed his father to marry his mother. Freud states that a jealous young son develops a fear that his rival, that is, his father, might castrate him. This fear is termed castration anxiety. The anxiety helps the boy accept defeat and resolve the rivalry. The boys imitate their fathers and as a result develop the same attitude as their fathers. They are so influenced that they imbibe the mannerisms, general behaviour and other attributes of their fathers. The Superego that develops will be based on the internalisation of their father’s moral standards.
- Phallic Stage in Girls Freud states that preschool girls, aged between 3 and 4 years, discover that they lack a penis. They blame the mothers for their ‘castrated state’. They develop a longing for their fathers and identify their mothers as competitors for their father’s attention. This is described as an Electra complex. The girls copy the mannerisms and personality traits of their mother to compete for their father’s attention. The Electra complex fades away passively and girls identify that their mothers truly possess their fathers.
- Latency Stage
- The latency stage spans from 6 to 12 years.
- There is no specific erogenous zone in this stage.
- At 6 years, sexual conflicts are forced out of conscious awareness. This motivated forgetting is called repression.
- The sexual energy is channelised to other socially acceptable activities in school and home such as study, play, cultural activities and so on.
- The ego grows stronger. Superego evolves as the child internalises additional social values.
- The child learns new problem-solving abilities.
- There is no focus on sexuality until the end of this phase when it is coherent with the onset of puberty.
- Genital Stage (from 12 years onwards)
- The genital stage commences with the onset of puberty characterised by the maturation of the reproductive system, the upsurge of the sex hormones and reactivation of the genitals.
- The erogenous zone is the genitals.
- The adolescents face reality conflicts on how to manage these sexual urges in socially acceptable ways. The their proportion of Id:Ego: Superego will determine their personality in this aspect.
- Throughout adolescence and young adulthood, the sexual energy is channelised into learning, procuring skills, developing friendships, vocational skills and preparing and structuring a career. The individual prepares himself to satisfy his mature sex instinct, later, by having children.
- The people remain in this stage for the rest of their lives.
- Oral Stage
- Contributions And Criticisms Of The Freudian Theory
- Contributions
-
- Introduced the concept of unconscious motivation
- Focused attention on the early experiences for future personality development and evolution of behaviour trait
- Described the role and influence of powerful emotions on personality evolution
- Criticism
-
- Lack of concrete evidence
- Overemphasis on sexual and aggressive instincts.
Summary
- The psychodynamic viewpoint proposes that the mental makeup is dynamised by inborn urges (psychosexual theory) or sociocultural influences (psychosocial theory)
- The psychosexual theory was advocated by Sigmund Freud in 1905.
- The strongest urge that dramatises the personality is the sex instinct.
- Psychic energy has three constituent elements called a psychic triad:
- Id – legislator of the personality
- Ego – executor of the personality
- Superego – judiciary of the personality
- The core of this theory is a biosocial conflict. The mode of resolution of the biosocial conflict with the elements of personality (psychic triad) evolves the personality of the individual.
- The sex instinct is concentrated on specific areas called erogenous zones. The erogenous zones keep shifting with age which gives five stages in this theory. The five stages and their corresponding erogenous zones are the oral stage (oral cavity), anal stage (anal sphincter), phallic stage (genitals), latency stage (no specific zone) and genital stage (genitals).
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