What is the difference between oedipus complex and electra complex

Freud developed the underlying ideas of the Electra complex, although he did not term it as such. Freud rejected the term and described it as an attempt "to emphasize the analogy between the attitude of the two sexes.

Freud referred to a daughter's tendency to compete with her mother for possession of her father as the feminine Oedipus attitude or the negative Oedipus complex. It was Jung who dubbed Freud's feminine Oedipus attitude as the Electra complex. Freud and Jung were originally close friends and colleagues, but Jung increasingly grew dissatisfied with certain aspects of Freud's theories.

He felt that Freud emphasized the role sexuality played in motivating human behavior. Eventually, Jung resigned from his psychoanalytic affiliations and acrimony grew between the two men. According to Freudian theory, an important part of the developmental process is learning to identify with the same-sex parent. During the stages of Freud's theory of psychosexual development, the libidinal energy is focused on different erogenous zones of the child's body. If something goes wrong during any of these stages, a fixation at that point in development might occur.

A fixation is a persistent focus on an earlier psychosexual stage. Such fixations, Freud believed, often led to anxiety and played a role in neurosis and maladaptive behaviors in adulthood. Freud described the feminine Oedipus attitude complex as a daughter's longing for her father and competition with her mother. The daughter possesses an unconscious desire to replace her mother as her father's sexual partner, thus leading to a rivalry between daughter and mother.

The Electra complex is thought to take place during the phallic stage of psychosexual development, ages 3 to 6, during which time daughters spend more time with their fathers, flirting and practicing sexual behaviors without sexual contact. Freud did admit that he knew less about the development of little girls than little boys.

A number of defense mechanisms play a role in resolving the Electra complex. It is the primal id a component of personality present from birth that compels the child to possess her father and compete with her mother.

To resolve the conflict, these urges and desires must first be repressed from conscious memory. Freud also suggested that when a young girl discovers she does not have a penis, she develops "penis envy" and begins to resent her mother for "sending her into the world so insufficiently equipped.

Eventually, this resentment leads the daughter to identify with her mother and incorporate many of the same personality characteristics into her ego. This process also allows the daughter to internalize her mother's morality into her super-ego, which ultimately directs her to follow the rules of her parents and society.

Freud believed that it was this process that also leads children to accept their gender roles, develop an understanding of their own sexuality, and even form a sense of morality. The Electra complex is not widely accepted among mental health professionals today, who often view Freud's ideas about psychosexual development as outdated and sexist since they rely on century-old gender roles. That said, research does show that children learn about gender roles and sexuality from their parents.

They can then make treatment recommendations to address any sexual behavior problems. Some adults, Jung noted, could regress to the phallic stage or never grow out of the phallic stage, leaving them sexually attached to their parent.

Very little data actually supports the idea that the Electra complex is real. The Oedipus and Electra complexes also imply that a child needs two parents — a mother and a father — to develop properly, which has been criticized as heteronormative.

The Electra complex is no longer a widely accepted theory. They can help guide you in a way that may settle your concerns. The Oedipus complex is one of the most discussed and criticized issues in psychology. Learn more about its origins and hypothesis here. Medical experts and regular moms…. Psychoanalysis seeks to understand the unconscious mental processes that determine thoughts and feelings.

Read more on how it works and what it can…. Experts say there a number of ways to reduce children's screen time as the COVID pandemic subsides. They suggest outside activities and timers. Toxic masculinity has proven consequences.

Here's one dad's take on how to raise boys to be emotionally healthy. Parenting isn't easy, and parental burnout can make it even harder to take care of yourself and your kids. Oedipus complex is a term Sigmund Freud used in his psychoanalytic theory of sexual drive.

According to Freud, this complex occurs during the phallic stage of development around 3 — 6 years in children. Freud first talked about this concept in his book The Interpretation of Dreams , but it was in the s that this term actually began to be used.

Moreover, it is also important to note that people use Oedipus complex as a general term to describe both Oedipus and Electra complexes. Then the boy gradually starts to identify with the father as a way to cope with this castration anxiety. He starts to adopt the values, attitudes and characteristics of his father, for example, gender roles and masculine personality.

Through this process, the father becomes a role model instead of a rival, and boys acquire their superego and the male sex role.