Simgund Freud’s psychosexual theory focuses on unconscious sexual drives shaping personality through five childhood stages, with development largely complete by adolescence.
Erik Erikson expanded this into eight psychosocial stages spanning the entire lifespan, emphasizing identity formation through social relationships rather than sexual impulses.
Category | Sigmund Freud | Erik Erikson |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Psychosexual development, influence of sexual drives and unconscious processes on personality | Psychosocial development encompasses the entire lifespan |
| Stages | Five psychosexual stages during childhood and adolescence shape adult personality | Eight psychosocial stages from infancy to old age, each with a unique crisis influencing relationships |
| Role of Society | Primarily focused on individual psychology, less emphasis on social and cultural factors | Explicitly incorporates social influences, recognizing the impact of societal expectations and cultural norms |
| Emphasis | Unconscious as a reservoir of repressed desires from early childhood | Conscious awareness and the ego’s role in resolving psychosocial crises |
| View of Human Nature | Determinism. Behavior driven by unconscious instincts and early childhood | Optimism. Potential for change throughout life, individuals actively shape identities |
1. Focus of Development
Freud’s (1905, 1923) developmental focus is psychosexual: internal drives and how their repression or fulfillment in childhood stages shape one’s later behavior.
Freud’s model centers on how biological instinctual drives, especially sexual and aggressive urges, shape early development.
He believed that personality is largely formed in early childhood as children seek pleasure through different erogenous zones at each stage
Unconscious drives (the libido) are the engine of development in Freud’s view, and managing these instinctual impulses is crucial for healthy growth.
Childhood experiences and conflicts are thus pivotal.
Freud (1905) famously argued that even infants are driven by sexual impulses (polymorphous perversity) and that these early unconscious desires influence adult personality.
Erikson (1958, 1963) proposed a theory of psychosocial development that encompasses the entire lifespan, with each stage marked by a specific psychosocial crisis that needs resolution.
Erikson, a student of Freud, re-envisioned development as a psychosocial process, emphasizing social interaction and cultural context rather than just instinctual sexual drives.
He maintained that while inner drives exist, social relationships and challenges are the primary forces in development.
Importantly, Erikson’s theory spans the entire lifespan, not just childhood.
He proposed that people continue to develop their identity and personality through ongoing social challenges at every age, from infancy to old age
Thus, the focus is on how the ego develops through navigating social conflicts (e.g. building trust, finding role models, forming intimate bonds) in a cultural context.
In Erikson’s view, development is an ongoing, lifelong journey shaped by our interactions with others and our environment, not just by childhood instincts.
2. Stages of Development
Freud (1905) outlined five psychosexual stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital) that occur during childhood and adolescence, arguing that early experiences shape adult personality.
Freud outlined five stages of development, each tied to an erogenous zone and an internal conflict.
- Oral (infancy, pleasure from feeding)
- Anal (toddlerhood, toilet training)
- Phallic (early childhood, curiosity about genitalia and Oedipal feelings)
- Latency (middle childhood, sexual impulses dormant)
- Genital (adolescence, maturation of sexual interests) stages
Progressing through each stage successfully (i.e. with appropriate resolution of the conflict) was thought to be essential for a healthy personality.
If a conflict is not properly resolved – for example, if a child’s needs are over- or under-gratified – Freud suggested the person could become fixated at that stage, leading to lasting traits or neuroses in adulthood
For instance, an adult who is excessively dependent or likes oral stimulation (smoking, overeating) might exhibit an oral fixation stemming from issues in the Oral stage.
Freud’s stages are sequential and mostly confined to childhood and adolescence; by the Genital stage (teen years), he believed the personality structure is largely set.
Erikson (1958, 1963) proposed eight psychosocial stages spanning from infancy to old age, with each stage presenting a unique developmental task or crisis that influences identity and relationships.
The stages are commonly known by opposing outcomes: for example:
- Trust vs. Mistrust in infancy
- Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt in toddlerhood
- Initiative vs. Guilt in early childhood
- Industry vs. Inferiority in school age
- Identity vs. Role Confusion in adolescence
- Intimacy vs. Isolation in young adulthood
- Generativity vs. Stagnation in middle adulthood
- Ego Integrity vs. Despair in old age
At each stage, the person faces a social or emotional challenge (such as developing trust in caregivers, or forming a stable identity during the teen years).
Successful resolution of each stage’s conflict strengthens the ego and cultivates a psychological virtue (e.g. hope, will, purpose, fidelity, love, care, wisdom)
For example, resolving the first crisis of trust vs. mistrust leads to the virtue of hope, whereas resolving the identity crisis in adolescence leads to fidelity (an ability to live true to oneself)
Unlike Freud’s stages, which end in adolescence, Erikson’s stages ensure that development is a lifelong process.
Even in adulthood we continue to confront new developmental tasks (such as finding meaningful relationships or keeping a sense of purpose in mid-life) and our personality is refined through these experiences.
3. Role of Society and Culture
Freud (1923) primarily focused on biological drives and individual psychology, with less emphasis on social and cultural factors.
Freud’s theory gives relatively little attention to broader social or cultural influences.
It is primarily an intrapsychic theory – focusing on the individual’s inner world of instincts and family dynamics.
Development for Freud happens mostly through the child’s relationship with parents (e.g. the Oedipus complex within the family) and the internalization of norms via the superego, but he did not emphasize differences in cultural context or social structures in shaping the stages.
In other words, Freud saw his psychosexual stages as universal drives of human nature, and while familial interactions (like how parents toilet train or respond to the child’s impulses) matter, larger societal factors were not central in his stage model.
Society mainly enters Freud’s theory as a source of repression and moral rules (through parents and cultural taboos) that the child’s psyche must accommodate, rather than as a shaper of the sequence of development.
Erikson (1958, 1963) incorporated social influences into his theory, recognizing the impact of societal expectations and cultural norms on development.
Erikson’s theory is explicitly contextual, highlighting that culture, society, and historical period fundamentally shape development.
He believed each psychosocial stage is influenced by social institutions and cultural expectations (for example, the specific ways trust is fostered in infancy or how identity is formed in adolescence can vary by culture).
Erikson had a global perspective – he studied child-rearing in different societies (such as observing Sioux and Yurok Native American communities in his research) and incorporated those insights into his theory.
In his psychosocial model, the outcome of each crisis (and the balance between the opposing tendencies) can be affected by the support or hindrance of the social environment.
Social roles and cultural norms are built into the stages (e.g., the concept of Generativity in midlife involves contributing to society and guiding the next generation, which assumes a cultural context for what is valued as a contribution).
Overall, Erikson placed much heavier emphasis on the interaction between the individual and society: development is seen as a product of both personal growth and social influence.
4. The Unconscious Mind
Freud (1915) focused on the unconscious as a reservoir of repressed desires and conflicts stemming from early childhood experiences.
A cornerstone of Freud’s theory is the prominence of the unconscious mind.
Freud asserted that people are often driven by unconscious desires, memories, and conflicts that they are not aware of but that nonetheless influence their feelings and behaviors
In development, Freud believed that the most critical conflicts (such as infantile sexual wishes or aggressive impulses toward a parent) are repressed into the unconscious.
These repressed contents continue to shape personality and may surface indirectly (for instance, as anxieties, dreams, or psychosomatic symptoms).
He likened the mind to an iceberg, with the vast majority of mental processes (the unconscious) hidden below the surface.
Thus, in Freud’s stages, a child might resolve a conflict only unconsciously – for example, a boy in the Phallic stage represses his Oedipal desire for his mother due to fear of his father (castration anxiety), which then unconsciously contributes to forming his superego and gender identity.
Erikson (1958, 1963) emphasized ego awareness and social understanding over Freud’s emphasis on unconscious instinctual urges, marking a move toward a more conscious and rational view of human development.
While Erikson was influenced by Freud and acknowledged the existence of the unconscious, he shifted focus toward the conscious ego and social experience in guiding development.
Erikson did not delve deeply into mechanisms of repression or the id vs. superego conflicts; in fact, he was relatively indifferent to purely unconscious processes in explaining development.
Instead, Erikson argued that humans are largely aware of their goals and motivations as they progress through life, and that the ego plays a constructive, organizing role in actively shaping personality.
He believed the ego develops strengths (like hope, will, purpose, fidelity, etc.) by consciously facing and resolving each stage’s crisis.
In Erikson’s theory, individuals actively engage in self-reflection and choice – for example, during the Identity vs. Role Confusion stage, adolescents explore different roles and ideas consciously to forge their identity
Unconscious influences are not denied, but they are not the main drivers of the developmental stages in the psychosocial model
Instead, ego identity and personal meaning, which involve conscious integration of experience, are central.
5. View of Human Nature
Freud (1915) presented a more deterministic view of human nature, with behavior driven by unconscious instincts and early childhood experiences.
Freud’s theory can be described as deterministic, meaning it suggests that our paths are largely determined by factors outside our control – specifically, by our early childhood experiences and innate drives.
Freud believed that the core of an individual’s personality is formed in the first few years of life and that later development is fundamentally constrained by those early events.
If something goes awry in a childhood stage (for example, a fixation or an unresolved conflict), Freud held that the person would carry those issues into adulthood, with only limited capacity to alter course.
There is a pessimistic undertone: adult neuroses and character flaws are seen as direct products of early-life events and unconscious conflicts, implying that by the end of adolescence one’s personality is more or less set in stone.
Additionally, Freud viewed human nature as driven by instinctual urges (sex and aggression) that society must tame, painting a picture of human beings as governed by primal urges and childhood dynamics.
Erikson (1958, 1963) ofered a more optimistic view, emphasizing the potential for growth and change throughout life, with individuals actively shaping their identities through resolving psychosocial crises.
Erikson’s stance on determinism is often seen as more moderate.
He acknowledged the influence of early experiences and the unconscious, but he also believed in personal agency and cultural influence, positioning his theory between Freud’s strict determinism and a pure free-will perspective).
Erikson’s perspective on human nature is more optimistic and growth-oriented.
He saw people as capable of continual development and adaptation throughout their entire lives
In Erikson’s theory, each new stage of life brings new opportunities to overcome challenges and develop strengths, even if difficulties occurred at earlier stages.
This implies a belief in human resilience and the possibility of change: a troubled childhood need not doom a person, because new experiences (a supportive relationship in young adulthood, a sense of accomplishment in mid-life, etc.) can alter one’s trajectory.
Erikson also had a generally positive view of the ego’s capacity to harness free will and social resources to grow.
Human nature, in his view, involves not just resolving internal conflicts but also finding meaning and contributing to society, which lends a more hopeful tone – for example, even someone who struggled in youth could achieve ego integrity in old age by reflecting on life and finding acceptance.
By extending stages into adulthood and emphasizing identity evolution, Erikson portrayed humans as adaptive and capable of new insights at each phase of the life cycle
This lifespan approach suggests a dynamic human nature that is shaped by cumulative experiences, rather than Freud’s relatively static end-point by adolescence.
Sources
- Erikson, E. H. (1950). Childhood and society. New York: Norton.
- Erickson, E. H. (1958). Young man Luther: A study in psychoanalysis and history. New York: Norton.
- Erikson, E. H. (1963). Youth: Change and challenge. New York: Basic books.
- Erikson, E. H. (1964). Insight and responsibility. New York: Norton.
- Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: Norton.
- Erikson E. H . (1982). The life cycle completed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
- Erikson, E. H. (1959). Psychological issues. New York, NY: International University Press.
- Freud, S. (1900). The interpretation of dreams. S.E., 4-5.
- Freud, S. (1905). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. Standard Edition 7: 123- 246.
- Freud, S. (1915). The unconscious. SE, 14: 159-204.
- Freud, S. (1920). Beyond the pleasure principle. SE, 18: 1-64.
- Freud, S. (1923). The ego and the id. SE, 19: 1-66.
- Freud, S. (1925). Negation. Standard edition, 19, 235-239.
