Final answer:
Carl Jung's approach to personality development focused on the personal and collective unconscious, which diverged from Freud's emphasis on psychosexual stages. Unlike Freud, he did not see childhood sexuality as central to personality development, but rather as a time of advancing toward psychological integration through individuation.
Step-by-step explanation:
Difference Between Freud and Jung on Childhood's Role in Personality Development
Carl Jung's theory of personality development diverges from Freud's focus on psychosexual development and preoccupation with sex. Freud theorized that personality is shaped significantly by early childhood experiences, centered around specific psychosexual stages where pleasure is sought in different erogenous zones. When these stages are not properly resolved, individuals may develop fixations leading to certain adult personality traits. Jung’s perspective emphasizes the personal and collective unconscious, proposing that our behavior and experiences are influenced by not only our past personal experiences but also by the collective experiences of our ancestors, embedded in what he called archetypes.
Jung de-emphasized the role of sexuality in personality development, unlike Freud who implied that neuroses were often sexually rooted. Instead, Jung believed that our development is more significantly influenced by our striving for individualization and psychological wholeness, a process he termed individuation. According to Jung, childhood plays a role in this process, but it is not the central focus, and it does not involve navigating psychosexual stages. Jung's ideas on childhood development proposed that the child is developing towards realization of the self, which is the product of the integration of all aspects of their personality, including the conscious and unconscious.