2.5 The Psychodynamic Explanation of Gender Development
- Freud saw conscious behaviour as motivated by unconscious drives.
- The mind consists of: Ego (reality principle) balances the unreal opposing demands
of the id (selfish pleasure) and the superego (moral perfection.)
- Conflict between these occur in each of the five stages or psychosexual development
(Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latent, Genital) after which the adult personality is formed.
Gender
- Gender development occurs in the phallic stage (age 4/5 years) through resolution
of either the Oedipus or Electra complex.
- Child identifies with the same-sex parent.
- Child internalises and adopts the same sex parent’s gender-related behaviours and
attitudes.
Oedipus and Electra Complex:
- In the first 2 stages, a child is perceived as bisexual as
o Gender identity is not existing
o No visible difference between boys and girl’s behaviour
- When a child enters the phallic stage between 3 and 5, its libido (life force) is seen as
increasingly focused upon its genitals and the child needs to resolve a complex
before developing their gender identity.
Complex:
Oedipus: Lust for mother vs hostility towards father= castration anxiety (son fears his father,
as he thinks if his father realises son’s desire for his mother, he’ll remove his penis.)
Electra: Lust for father vs Resentment towards mother-fear of losing mother’s love= penis
envy (daughter believes that she doesn’t have a penis, as she has been castrated; her
mother also doesn’t have one, so she is blamed. She desires a penis- that’s why she desires
the father; penis envy converted into desire for a baby.)
Resolution:
Identification: the process of acquiring the characteristics of the same-sex parent.)
The boy represses his desire for mother and identifies with his father.
The girl represses her desire for father and identifies with her mother.
Internalisation: incorporating the same sex-parent into an individual’s personality
Identification allows the boy to incorporate his father into his own personality, permitting
him to internalize his male gender; if not he would be confused about his sexual identity.
Identification allows the girl to incorporate her mother into her own personality, permitting
her to internalize her female gender; if not she would be confused about her sexual identity.
, EVALUATION
+There is research evidence to support the psychodynamic explanation of
gender development. For example, Snortum et al found that 46 males
who were exempted from military services for being homosexual had
more close-bonding and controlling mothers and rejecting fathers than a
control heterosexual group. This supports the idea that males who fail to
resolve their Oedipus complex by identifying with their fathers could
become homosexual.
However, a limitation of support for the theory is that there is generally
a lot of studies that refute the theory. For example, Snortum et al’s
findings of homosexual men having unresolved Oedipal complexes is
refuted by countless studies that show that there is no difference in the
incidence of homosexuality between individuals raised only by a same-sex
parent and those raised with opposite sex parents.
Another limitation of the theory is that it is unscientific. Freud’s
concepts such as libido, Oedipus and Electra complexes are based on the
human mind’s unconscious state, so lack testability. It is therefore
impossible to measure or test in any empirical way so the theory can only
be backed up by case studies and subjective information, like ‘Little Hans
Study.’ Hans self-reported information and Han’s father was an avid
supporter of Freud, thus potentially biased. The theory lacks objective
information and is supported by unreliable and unscientific research.
The theory also may lack temporal validity. The psychodynamic
explanation reflects the stereotypical gender roles in the early 1900s that
women are inferior to men, which is not an idea widely accepted today.
Freud was also known to be a misogynist so it is highly likely that he
would have considered these stereotypes. The theory therefore lacks
temporal validity so cannot be relied upon today to explain gender
development.
2.6 Atypical Gender Development
Classification:
- Atypical gender development is referred to in the DSM-V by the clinical label of
‘Gender Dysphoria.’
- This is an abnormal condition where an individual’s gender doesn’t fit their sex. E.g. a
biological male, with male genitalia, feels they are female, and vice versa.
- 1/5,000. More males have this than females.
Psychological impact:
- The prejudice and negative feelings of anxiety/distress they experience may lead to
depression, self-harm, even suicide.
- Freud saw conscious behaviour as motivated by unconscious drives.
- The mind consists of: Ego (reality principle) balances the unreal opposing demands
of the id (selfish pleasure) and the superego (moral perfection.)
- Conflict between these occur in each of the five stages or psychosexual development
(Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latent, Genital) after which the adult personality is formed.
Gender
- Gender development occurs in the phallic stage (age 4/5 years) through resolution
of either the Oedipus or Electra complex.
- Child identifies with the same-sex parent.
- Child internalises and adopts the same sex parent’s gender-related behaviours and
attitudes.
Oedipus and Electra Complex:
- In the first 2 stages, a child is perceived as bisexual as
o Gender identity is not existing
o No visible difference between boys and girl’s behaviour
- When a child enters the phallic stage between 3 and 5, its libido (life force) is seen as
increasingly focused upon its genitals and the child needs to resolve a complex
before developing their gender identity.
Complex:
Oedipus: Lust for mother vs hostility towards father= castration anxiety (son fears his father,
as he thinks if his father realises son’s desire for his mother, he’ll remove his penis.)
Electra: Lust for father vs Resentment towards mother-fear of losing mother’s love= penis
envy (daughter believes that she doesn’t have a penis, as she has been castrated; her
mother also doesn’t have one, so she is blamed. She desires a penis- that’s why she desires
the father; penis envy converted into desire for a baby.)
Resolution:
Identification: the process of acquiring the characteristics of the same-sex parent.)
The boy represses his desire for mother and identifies with his father.
The girl represses her desire for father and identifies with her mother.
Internalisation: incorporating the same sex-parent into an individual’s personality
Identification allows the boy to incorporate his father into his own personality, permitting
him to internalize his male gender; if not he would be confused about his sexual identity.
Identification allows the girl to incorporate her mother into her own personality, permitting
her to internalize her female gender; if not she would be confused about her sexual identity.
, EVALUATION
+There is research evidence to support the psychodynamic explanation of
gender development. For example, Snortum et al found that 46 males
who were exempted from military services for being homosexual had
more close-bonding and controlling mothers and rejecting fathers than a
control heterosexual group. This supports the idea that males who fail to
resolve their Oedipus complex by identifying with their fathers could
become homosexual.
However, a limitation of support for the theory is that there is generally
a lot of studies that refute the theory. For example, Snortum et al’s
findings of homosexual men having unresolved Oedipal complexes is
refuted by countless studies that show that there is no difference in the
incidence of homosexuality between individuals raised only by a same-sex
parent and those raised with opposite sex parents.
Another limitation of the theory is that it is unscientific. Freud’s
concepts such as libido, Oedipus and Electra complexes are based on the
human mind’s unconscious state, so lack testability. It is therefore
impossible to measure or test in any empirical way so the theory can only
be backed up by case studies and subjective information, like ‘Little Hans
Study.’ Hans self-reported information and Han’s father was an avid
supporter of Freud, thus potentially biased. The theory lacks objective
information and is supported by unreliable and unscientific research.
The theory also may lack temporal validity. The psychodynamic
explanation reflects the stereotypical gender roles in the early 1900s that
women are inferior to men, which is not an idea widely accepted today.
Freud was also known to be a misogynist so it is highly likely that he
would have considered these stereotypes. The theory therefore lacks
temporal validity so cannot be relied upon today to explain gender
development.
2.6 Atypical Gender Development
Classification:
- Atypical gender development is referred to in the DSM-V by the clinical label of
‘Gender Dysphoria.’
- This is an abnormal condition where an individual’s gender doesn’t fit their sex. E.g. a
biological male, with male genitalia, feels they are female, and vice versa.
- 1/5,000. More males have this than females.
Psychological impact:
- The prejudice and negative feelings of anxiety/distress they experience may lead to
depression, self-harm, even suicide.
