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What Is the Meaning of the Word Libido?

Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Related Tags: libido | freud | desire | discovery | theory
 

Instructions

Origins

  • Step 1:
    Sigmund Freud used the term libido to refer to the development of sexual desires. Discovery Health notes that Freud believed that childhood experiences were the most important factor in determining how we would be pleased sexually as adults.

Criticism

  • Step 1:
    Many have criticized Freud's theory of libido development, largely for failing to consider other variables that contribute to the development of adult sexual desire and expression.

Developments

  • Step 1:
    Jung, who developed his theory of libido after Freud, described libido as general psychic energy. Jungian libido can be understood generally as drive, without specific sexual connotations.

Significance

  • Step 1:
    For most speakers of English today who are not in a psychoanalytic context, libido means sexual desire and its levels of intensity, without implying any specific object or causal relationships.

Considerations

  • Step 1:
    There is still much active research being made into what causes varying levels of sexual desire across the sexes and as we age. These phenomena are far from being understood completely.

Resources


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