In Freudian psychology , psychosexual development is a central element of the psychoanalytic sexual drive theory. Freud believed that personality developed through a series of childhood stages in which pleasure seeking energies from the id became focused on certain erogenous areas. An erogenous zone is characterized as an area of the body that is particularly sensitive to stimulation. The five psychosexual stages are the oral , the anal , the phallic , the latent , and the genital.

Sigmund Freud — is probably the most controversial and misunderstood psychological theorist. There was no such thing as a degree in psychology at the time that he received his education, which can help us understand some of the controversy over his theories today. However, Freud was the first to systematically study and theorize the workings of the unconscious mind in the manner that we associate with modern psychology. In the early years of his career, Freud worked with Josef Breuer, a Viennese physician. Launer, Anna O.

Freud proposed that personality development in childhood takes place during five psychosexual stages, which are the oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages. During each stage sexual energy libido is expressed in different ways and through different parts of the body. These are called psychosexual stages because each stage represents the fixation of libido roughly translated as sexual drives or instincts on a different area of the body. As a person grows physically certain areas of their body become important as sources of potential frustration erogenous zones , pleasure or both. Freud believed that life was built round tension and pleasure.

NCBI Bookshelf. Sarah E. Lantz ; Sagarika Ray. Authors Sarah E. Lantz 1 ; Sagarika Ray 2.