Gender - Psychodynamic Flashcards
(15 cards)
Psychodynamics
The study of how unconscious drives shape behaviour, feelings, and personality. Applied to gender development.
Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of gender
Suggests gender behaviour develops due to unconscious thought processes. An individual’s sexuality develops through five psychosexual stages. Gender development occurs during the 3rd stage—the phallic stage—at around 5 years old, when a child must resolve it.
Oedipus Complex (Freud)
Boys have unconscious sexual feelings towards their mother and see their father as a rival. They fear the father will discover these desires and punish them (castration anxiety). To reduce this anxiety, the boy identifies with the father, internalising his gender role and becoming like him.
Electra Complex (Jung, 1913)
Girls feel in competition with their mother for their father’s attention and love. Eventually, the girl identifies with her mother and internalises her gender role. The girl develops penis envy, desiring a penis and a baby. She resolves this by identifying with her mother.
Identification (Freud’s view on gender development)
Children identify with the same-sex parent to resolve the Oedipus/Electra complex. They internalise the parent’s behaviours, values, and gender role. This signals that they have emerged from the phallic stage, developing gender identity.
Freud (1909) – Little Hans case study
A 5-year-old boy developed a phobia of horses and had dreams about giraffes. Freud used letters from Hans’s father to interpret the horse phobia as castration anxiety—Hans feared his father would harm him for desiring his mother.
The dream of sitting on a crumpled giraffe while a large one called out was seen as representing Hans’s sexual desire for his mother. Freud used this case to support the idea of the Oedipus complex and psychodynamic gender development.
Stevenson and Black (1988) – AO3
Conducted a meta-analysis of 67 studies on father-absent families. Found:
• Boys over 6 without father figures showed more stereotypically masculine behaviour than boys with fathers.
Green (1978) – AO3
Compared boys raised in heterosexual vs lesbian households. Found:
• No significant difference in gender development between the two.
• Contradicts Freud’s claim that a male “father figure” is necessary for typical gender identity.
Evaluation: Impact of Stevenson & Green studies
Undermines Freud’s theory. Shows that a male role model isn’t essential for gender identity, challenging the Oedipus/Electra complex.
AO3 – Social Sensitivity of Freud’s Theory
Freud’s theory has been used to criticise and stigmatise same-sex and single-parent families, suggesting they can’t properly raise children without a father figure. These assumptions are incorrect, and the theory’s implications are socially sensitive and ethically problematic.
Martin and Little (1990)
Found children as young as three showed strong sex-typed behaviours (e.g., favouring gender-typical toys).
Suggests gendered behaviour develops before full understanding of gender or resolution of the Oedipus/Electra complex. Contradicts Freud, who said gender develops around age 5 after phallic stage resolution.
Evaluation – Oedipus Complex as Unconscious
The Oedipus complex is unconscious, so it can’t be directly tested or measured.
This makes the theory unfalsifiable and unscientific, as it lacks empirical support.
Evaluation – Case study method (e.g., Little Hans)
Case studies are subjective, often rely on interpretation, and are biased.
Hans’s parents were Freud’s followers and may have influenced the interpretation. Reduces validity and generalisability of findings.
Evaluation – Temporal Validity
Freud’s theory may lack temporal validity. It was based on the early 20th century, where nuclear families were common.
In modern times, family structures are more varied (e.g., same-sex parents), reducing the theory’s applicability.
Evaluation – Face Validity
Some parents observe behaviour that seems to fit Freud’s model (e.g., “mummy’s boy” or “daddy’s girl”).
These patterns may support face validity of the theory but are anecdotal and not scientific.
