Libido development

Each stage of personality development may be conceived as the consequence of the investment of libidinal energy in a particular bodily zone. Libidinal energy (largely synonymous with the life instinct) is conceived as the drive toward gratification of wishes and motives, as the striving for pleasure, and as the energy behind all human behaviour. This instinctual energy activates the mode of functioning of the zone in question. The bodily zone and mode of functioning that mature during a given period of development determine the person's adaptive activity at that stage of his life. The nature of the zone's operation therefore constrains, or provides the limits, within which the person's identity will be formed and within which his social interaction may take place.

Libido development occurs in distinct stages:< 1. [Oral stage]

(1 year). The child's first maturational stage of psychosexuality is the result of libidinal investment in the oral zone of his body which serves the primary self-preservative functions of breathing, drinking and eating. This stage of functioning is therefore the basis of all human trust and social communality, with its associated sharing of a common cultural world. Associated with this stage is a crisis of trust or confidence.

2. [Anal stage]

(1-3 years). The instinctual urges then shift to the anal and erogenous zones and their functions of retention and evacuation, which require the child to attempt to master his own impulses. Associated with this stage is the crisis in which the child either develops a feeling of autonomy or one of shame and doubtfulness about his actions and his capacity to behave in an independent and appropriate fashion.

3. [Phallic stage]

(3-5 years). The next shift is from himself to another person, usually a member of the child's family. The child identifies with the same-sex parent in such a way that his instinctual urge is to usurp that parent's role with respect to the parent of the opposite sex. The consequences of this (oedipal) crisis are primary identification with mother or father, and relatively normal or abnormal personality development. Associated with resolution of this conflict between the child's initiative and his consequent guilt is his acquisition of a sense of moral responsibility. The child begins to understand, and to operate in accordance with, the rules and regulations of his social milieu.

4. [Latency stage]

(6-11 years). In this subsequent stage there is a reduction of libidinal energy invested in the genital zone and the onset of a period of sexual retrogression or quiescence. The psychosocial crisis that arises during this stage of identity formation centers on whether the child will become adequately industrious, in his own and others' eyes, or will feel inferior and inadequate.

5. [Adolescent stage]

(12-15 years). In this stage the person's sexual impulses shift to a new sexual object, namely a person of the opposite sex outside the family. The crisis is one of identity adoption and repudiation versus identity diffusion, with the danger that the individual will not further develop his ego autonomy or sense of integrity with a hierarchy of values that make certain things in life particularly meaningful to him.

6. [Genital stage]

(16-18 years). The young adult's instinctual energy and sexual gratification then become fully centered upon the genital erogenous zone. This coordination under the control of the genital zone is directed by the aim of obtaining full sexual gratification in another person. The crisis is one of achieving and obtaining full gratification from intimacy and solidarity with others versus isolation and withdrawal from partnerships. Associated with this, the individual must develop skills that permit him to work competently and with a sense of responsibility and directed attention in the face of the routine of daily life.

7. [Adult stage]

. This is characterized by the utilization of sexual pleasure for purposes of propagation, the establishment of a family and a circle of significant relations. The adult becomes part of and helps to construct the social order. The crisis is one of generativity, making happen and caring for versus self-absorption and a pervading sense of stagnation and interpersonal impoverishment. The adult who achieves gratification from helping others to grow and from creating is equipped with the personal integrity necessary to face the final crisis of life, namely his own disintegration and death.