An individual is distinguished from another through personality differences, which indicates how a person thinks, acts, and behaves. Sigmund Freud was a successful psychologist concerned with the study of human psychology, and he suggested that personality is influenced by unconscious, conscious, and preconscious mental processes. In the conscious phase, humans analyze the information present, which helps in rationalizing and regulating behaviors and thoughts in relation to the external world (Mandelbaum et al., 2016). In this stage, people postpone gratification to an appropriate time. Therefore, Freud indicated that with each developmental stage, there are past experiences influencing people’s actions.
Freud made raised many controversial issues concerning personality, especially sexual development. He discussed the Oedipus complex, an unconscious sexual desire exhibited during a child’s oral developmental stage. In this phase, the child will develop sexual feelings for the opposite parent, resulting in anger and jealousy. These perversions are repressed as the child grows more conscious and rational, but they never die (Mandelbaum et al., 2016). Freud’s ideas are critical because they describe conflicts faced by people in expressing intimate personal fantasies and leading a socially acceptable life.
This condition is more difficult in society where adolescent individuals struggling to integrate sexual and emotional development are exposed to a wide range of sexually explicit content in entertainment and adverts. Freud’s psychoanalysis benefits include encouraging parents to actively participate in children’s development, especially in integrating sexuality in a more balanced way. It also indicates people should be in control of their uninhibited sexual fantasies, which could lead to violence or unwanted aggressions. In such a case, an individual might not easily be swayed by what they view because they are in control of their sexual perversions. The challenge with this psychoanalysis is the view he had on women as inferior to men. This notion is propagated through advertising where sexualized female models to elicit positive response from male consumers. A study by Gramazio et al. (2020) revealed men with higher hostile sexual tendencies and negative emotions showed more purchase intentions in sexualized ads. This conviction about women in the digital era can lead to continued violence and exploitation by men where they are taken as sexual objects.
Reference
Gramazio, S., Cadinu, M., Guizzo, F., & Carnaghi, A. (2020). Does sex really sell? Paradoxical effects of sexualization in advertising on product attractiveness and purchase intentions. Sex Roles, 1-19. Web.
Mandelbaum, B., Schraiber, L. B., & d’Oliveira, A. F. P. (2016). Violence and family life: psychoanalytic and gender approaches. Saude e Sociedade, 25, 422-430. Web.