In the psychosexual stages of development, failure of a child to pass…

In the psychosexual stages of development, failure of a child to pass successfully through any stage leads to:

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 4

The correct answer is Option (4) → Fixation

Option (1) Regression — Incorrect. Regression takes a person back to an earlier stage: when the resolution of problems at a stage is less than adequate, the person shows behaviours typical of a less mature stage. It is a likely outcome after such a failure, but it is not what the failure itself leads to; that is fixation.

Option (2) Electra-complex — Incorrect. The Electra complex is the name for the girl’s form of the Oedipus complex in the phallic stage, when she attaches her love to her father. It is a feature of one stage, not the result of failing to pass a stage.

Option (3) Maturity — Incorrect. Maturity in psychosexual development is attained in the genital stage, the end of a successful journey through the stages, the opposite of failure.

Option (4) Fixation — Correct. Freud held that failure of a child to pass successfully through a stage leads to fixation to that stage: the child’s development gets arrested at an earlier stage. A child who does not pass successfully through the phallic stage, for example, fails to resolve the Oedipal complex and may still feel hostile towards the parent of the same sex.

Note: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2026 on 31-05-2026 (Slot 1).

NCERT (2025-26): “Stages of Personality Development … Failure of a child to pass successfully through a stage leads to fixation to that stage. In this situation, the child’s development gets arrested at an earlier stage. For example, a child who does not pass successfully through the phallic stage fails to resolve the Oedipal complex and may still feel hostile toward the parent of the same sex. This failure may have serious consequences for the child’s life. Such a boy may come to consider that men are generally hostile, and may wish to relate to females in a dependable relationship. Regression is also a likely outcome in such situations. It takes a person back to an earlier stage. Regression occurs when a person’s resolution of problems at any stage of development is less than adequate. In this situation, people display behaviours typical of a less mature stage of development.…”