Psychodynamic explanation of gender development- Oedipus and Electra complex 100% Review Test

Psychodynamic explanation of gender development- Oedipus and Electra complex 100% Review Test Idenification - ANS-A desire to be associated with a person or group because they have desirable characteristics Internalisation - ANS-When a person adopts the attitudes and behaviour of another person. Pre-phallic children - ANS-Phallic stage is where gender development occurs between the ages of 3 and 6. Before reaching this stage, children have no concept of gender identity. Freud described pre-phallic children as bisexual as they are neither masculine or feminine. The focus of pleasure in the phallic stage is the genitals where children experience the oedipus or electra complex. These stages are crucial in the formation of gender identity. The Oedipus Complex - ANS-Freud proposed that during the genital stage, boys experience the Oedipus Complex which has three key components: - at the age of three or four, a young boy becomes aware of his sexuality and desires his mother, wanting her sole attention. - boys then see their fathers as a rival for their mother's love and, as a result wish he were dead. The boy realises that his father is more powerful than he is creating anxiety and a fear of castration for his feelings for his mother. These fears are repressed. - the complex is eventually resolved because the boy begins to identify with his father. The boy then internalises his father's gender identity and takes this as his own gender identity. This leads to masculine behaviour and attitudes. The Electra Complex - ANS-The Electra Complex is used to explain why girls develop feminine behaviours developed by Jung. The basic concept is: - a young girl blames her mother for her lack of penis, believing she was castrated and so she experiences penis envy. She sees herself and her mother as being in competition for their father's love. Girls develop a double-resentment towards their mother. - the complex is resolved when overtime the girl accepts that she will never have a penis and substitutes her penis envy for a desire to have children, reducing her anger towards her mother. The girl can now identify with her mother and take on typical gender behaviours. The end resolution is less satisfactory for girls because their identification with the same-sex parent is less strong - Freud believed there was little reason for anyone to identify with a woman because of her lower status. Case study: Little Hans - ANS-Freud's evidence for the Oedipus complex was limited but he presented the case of Little Hans to explain the concept. Hans, who was 5, had a fear of being bitten by a horse. Freud's interpretation was that Hans' fear represented Hans' real unconscious fear of castration from his father. He suggested that Hans transferred his repressed fear of his father onto horses via displacement. Weakness - does not support the Oedipus complex - ANS- Continues...