Examining the Changes from Adolescents to Adulthood According to Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality Development

Abstract

This paper examines the transition from adolescence to adulthood through the lens of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality development. It outlines the core structures of the psyche—the id, ego, and superego—and their dynamic interactions in shaping behavior. The analysis is framed within Freud's five psychosexual stages (oral, anal, phallic, latent, and genital), with a particular focus on the latency period and the reawakened genital stage that characterizes adolescence. The paper explores how the psychological changes of adolescence, including the push for independence, the formation of identity, and the maturation of relationships, can be understood as a process of navigating the demands of the id, the reality-testing of the ego, and the moral dictates of the superego. While acknowledging criticisms of Freud's theory, the paper concludes that his model provides a significant conceptual framework for understanding the unconscious influences and early childhood foundations that underpin the developmental challenges on the path to adult maturity.