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Once Upon A Psychological Theory

An Analysis of Psychological Hypotheses in Fairy Tales and Their Affect on Childhood Development

INDEX



I. Personal Statement

II. Introduction

III. Piaget

A. Childhood Development

i. Sensory-Motor Stage

ii. Preoperational Stage

ii. Stage Of Concrete Operations

iii. Stage Of Formal Operations

IV. Erikson

A. Autonomy And Social Development

i. Theory

ii. “The Goose Girl”

V. Freud

A. The Id, The Ego And The Super Ego

i. Theory

ii. “The Three Little Pigs”

B. Oedipus

i. The Myth Of Oedipus

ii. Theory

ii. “Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs”

iii. “Cinderella”

iv. “Rapunzel”

VI. Conclusion

VII. References

PERSONAL STATEMENT



“The object of psychology is to give us a totally different idea of the things we know best.”

-Paul Valéry



“Once upon a time..”, perhaps one of the single most famous phrases, the key that opens the door to a world of fantasy, enchantment and entertainment, the world of fairy tales. Fairy tales can mean different things to different people, each finds a different type of sanctuary within the realm of the make belief. Children may like fairy tales because good triumphs over evil; adults may favor them because they trigger childhood nostalgia; in the end, everything boils down to the fact that fairy tales were written to be enjoyed, and have become universally beloved.



For my personal project, I decided to take Paul Valéry’s notion of psychology’s objective to a universal level, by psychoanalyzing the effects of fairy tales. I chose psychology because...