Oedipus electra complex
Definition, Freud, Examples, Symptoms, and More
The Electra complex is a term used to describe the female version of the Oedipus complex.
It involves a girl, aged between 3 and 6, becoming subconsciously sexually attached to her father and increasingly hostile toward her mother. Carl Jung developed the theory in 1913.
Sigmund Freud, who developed the Oedipus complex theory, first developed the idea that a young girl child competes with her mother for the sexual attention of her father.
However, it was Carl Jung — Freud’s contemporary — who first called this situation the “Electra complex” in 1913.
Just as the Oedipus complex was named after a Greek myth, so is the Electra complex.
According to Greek mythology, Electra was the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. When Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus, killed Agamemnon, Electra persuaded her brother Orestes to help her kill both her mother and her mother’s lover.
According to Freud, all people go through numerous stages of psychosexual development as children. The most important stage is the “phallic stage” between the ages of 3 and 6.
According to Freud, this is when both boys and girls become fixated on the penis. Freud argued that girls fixate on their lack of a penis and, in its absence, their clitoris.
In a girl’s psychosexual development, Freud proposed, she’s first attached to her mother until she realizes she doesn’t have a penis. This causes her to resent her mother for “castrating” her — a situation Freud referred to as “penis envy.” Because of this, she develops an attachment to her father.
Later, the girl identifies more strongly with her mother and emulates her behavior out of fear of losing her mother’s love. Freud called this a “feminine Oedipus attitude.”
Freud believed this was a crucial stage in a young girl’s development, as it leads her to accept gender roles and understand her own sexuality.
Freud proposed that the feminine Oedipus attitude was more emotionally intense than the Oedipus complex, so it was repressed more harshly by the young girl.
This, he believed, led to women being less self-confident and more subservient.
Carl Jung expanded on this theory by labeling it the “Electra complex.” However, this label was rejected by Freud, who said it was an attempt to analogize the Oedipus complex between the sexes.
Since Freud believed there were crucial differences between the Oedipus complex and the feminine Oedipus attitude, he didn’t believe they should be conflated.
Initially, the girl is attached to her mother.
Then, she realizes she doesn’t have a penis. She experiences “penis envy” and blames her mother for her “castration.”
Because she wants to sexually possess a parent and she can’t possess her mother without a penis, she tries to possess her father instead. At this stage, she develops subconscious sexual feelings toward her father.
She becomes hostile toward her mother and fixated on her father. She might push her mother away or focus all her attention on her father.
Eventually, she realizes she doesn’t want to lose her mother’s love, so she becomes attached to her mother again, emulating her mother’s actions.
By emulating her mother, she learns to follow traditional gender roles.
In puberty, she’ll then start becoming attracted to men who aren’t related to her, according to Freud.
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.
The Electra complex isn’t widely accepted in psychology nowadays. As with many of Freud’s theories, the feminine Oedipus attitude complex and the notion of “penis envy” is also widely criticized.
Very little data actually supports the idea that the Electra complex is real. It’s not an official diagnosis in the the new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).
As a 2015 paper points out, Freud’s ideas about psychosexual development have been criticized as outdated because they rely on century-old gender roles.
The concept of “penis envy” has, in particular, been criticized as sexist. 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.
That said, it’s possible for young girls to experience sexual attraction toward their fathers. It’s just not as universal as Freud and Jung believed it to be, according to many in the field.
The Electra complex is no longer a widely accepted theory. Most psychologists don’t believe it’s real. It’s more a theory that’s become the subject of jokes.
If you’re concerned about your child’s mental or sexual development, reach out to a healthcare professional, such as a doctor or child psychologist. They can help guide you in a way that may settle your concerns.
Definition, Freud, Examples, Symptoms, and More
The Electra complex is a term used to describe the female version of the Oedipus complex.
It involves a girl, aged between 3 and 6, becoming subconsciously sexually attached to her father and increasingly hostile toward her mother. Carl Jung developed the theory in 1913.
Sigmund Freud, who developed the Oedipus complex theory, first developed the idea that a young girl child competes with her mother for the sexual attention of her father.
However, it was Carl Jung — Freud’s contemporary — who first called this situation the “Electra complex” in 1913.
Just as the Oedipus complex was named after a Greek myth, so is the Electra complex.
According to Greek mythology, Electra was the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. When Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus, killed Agamemnon, Electra persuaded her brother Orestes to help her kill both her mother and her mother’s lover.
According to Freud, all people go through numerous stages of psychosexual development as children. The most important stage is the “phallic stage” between the ages of 3 and 6.
According to Freud, this is when both boys and girls become fixated on the penis. Freud argued that girls fixate on their lack of a penis and, in its absence, their clitoris.
In a girl’s psychosexual development, Freud proposed, she’s first attached to her mother until she realizes she doesn’t have a penis. This causes her to resent her mother for “castrating” her — a situation Freud referred to as “penis envy.
” Because of this, she develops an attachment to her father.
Later, the girl identifies more strongly with her mother and emulates her behavior out of fear of losing her mother’s love. Freud called this a “feminine Oedipus attitude.”
Freud believed this was a crucial stage in a young girl’s development, as it leads her to accept gender roles and understand her own sexuality.
Freud proposed that the feminine Oedipus attitude was more emotionally intense than the Oedipus complex, so it was repressed more harshly by the young girl. This, he believed, led to women being less self-confident and more subservient.
Carl Jung expanded on this theory by labeling it the “Electra complex.” However, this label was rejected by Freud, who said it was an attempt to analogize the Oedipus complex between the sexes.
Since Freud believed there were crucial differences between the Oedipus complex and the feminine Oedipus attitude, he didn’t believe they should be conflated.
Initially, the girl is attached to her mother.
Then, she realizes she doesn’t have a penis. She experiences “penis envy” and blames her mother for her “castration.”
Because she wants to sexually possess a parent and she can’t possess her mother without a penis, she tries to possess her father instead. At this stage, she develops subconscious sexual feelings toward her father.
She becomes hostile toward her mother and fixated on her father. She might push her mother away or focus all her attention on her father.
Eventually, she realizes she doesn’t want to lose her mother’s love, so she becomes attached to her mother again, emulating her mother’s actions. By emulating her mother, she learns to follow traditional gender roles.
In puberty, she’ll then start becoming attracted to men who aren’t related to her, according to Freud.
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.
The Electra complex isn’t widely accepted in psychology nowadays.
As with many of Freud’s theories, the feminine Oedipus attitude complex and the notion of “penis envy” is also widely criticized.
Very little data actually supports the idea that the Electra complex is real. It’s not an official diagnosis in the the new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).
As a 2015 paper points out, Freud’s ideas about psychosexual development have been criticized as outdated because they rely on century-old gender roles.
The concept of “penis envy” has, in particular, been criticized as sexist. 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.
That said, it’s possible for young girls to experience sexual attraction toward their fathers. It’s just not as universal as Freud and Jung believed it to be, according to many in the field.
The Electra complex is no longer a widely accepted theory.
Most psychologists don’t believe it’s real. It’s more a theory that’s become the subject of jokes.
If you’re concerned about your child’s mental or sexual development, reach out to a healthcare professional, such as a doctor or child psychologist. They can help guide you in a way that may settle your concerns.
1.11, Oedipus complex and Electra complex. THE SCIENCE OF LOVE
1.11, Oedipus complex and Electra complex
We do not intend to explain or dispute here the already known basic provisions concerning the essence of the Oedipus complex, or a similar condition in women - the Electra complex. Let us consider in the most general terms the classical reasons for the development of these complexes, which are based on “falling in love with a parent of the opposite sex”.
The initial stages of the development of the Oedipus complex are observed when the child does not want to share his mother with anyone, and the father, who appears as a rival, is seen as a hindrance to him.
The child is jealous of the father and subconsciously wants him to leave his mother and that she belongs only to him. He would like his father to leave, disappear or simply cease to exist. For each of these complexes, the situation can be described briefly as follows:
Son:
He loves his mother and wants her to belong only to him. This makes him jealous of his father, and he wants to get rid of him. At the same time, he feels remorse for his feelings for his father.
Daughter:
She would like her father to belong to her alone and is jealous of his mother. The daughter wants to get rid of her mother, but feels remorse and guilt because of her desires.
These complexes do not disappear even at a more mature age, since they are fixed in the subconscious of the individual, where there is neither past nor future, but only the present.
Their consequences are extremely painful and can kill a person. They can turn a man into a feminine type, and make a woman masculine and give rise to such qualities and character traits as shyness, idempotence, internal aggressiveness, feelings of inferiority and guilt, become the cause of sexual perversion and deprive a person of the ability to fight for anything in life.
life.
This is only a brief explanation, details can be found in the specialist literature. It does, however, give an idea of the serious impact these complexes have on marriage. The Oedipus complex is of particular importance, since only a few do not suffer from it. Its effects often appear in a hidden, disguised form, making it difficult to find the true causes. When the so-called. "natural emotional connection", it is suspected that such "Oedipal deviations" are the reason for this. It should not be assumed, for example, that a child in love with his own mother will necessarily demonstrate his strong love. On the contrary, he may develop a deep dislike for his mother as a defensive reaction against the possible danger of incest.
People often seek to find in their marriage partner a replacement for their mother or father. To use the terminology of Transactional Analysis, "in his childhood ego, the individual looks for the mother ego of a woman or the father ego of a man.
" A man desires a woman to play a role similar to that of his mother: for her to "adopt" him, protect him, care for him, and "emotionally nurture" him. A woman, on the other hand, subconsciously seeks protection from a man, equivalent to that which she received from her father. This is not to say that this is always bad, but in practice, such subconscious desires are often a serious hindrance in the relationship of partners.
There are three very serious problems that make healthy relationships between partners impossible:
1. The desire to forever preserve the situations of one's own childhood her personality. In this case, the individual develops an internal dependence that helps him feel calm, secure and self-confident. "In love with a mother" is not related to love in the full sense of the word, but rather means dependence on the mother, since initially they were a single whole that a person can hardly ever forget. In this case, "in love with his mother" means "in need of his mother," since initially it was she who satisfied all the needs of the child.
In essence, such a relationship has purely selfish motives. Many children in the process of development acquire complete psychological independence from the mother. However, unfortunately, there are many who are unable or unwilling to do so. They continue to live, keeping in touch with the "mother's womb" until the last hour. These are people who, even in adulthood, maintain contact with their mother at the level at which she existed in their childhood. Such people internalize the image of their own mother and turn it into a kind of "psychological refuge". When such a man meets a woman with whom he may have a close relationship, the image of the mother is externalized and projected onto this woman, thus the man receives something like a mother-lover embodied in flesh and blood. In the subconscious of the individual, the concepts of "mother" and "spouse" are mixed, and there is a real danger that he will have such a relationship with a partner that once existed with his mother, i.e. he will perceive his wife as a nurse and an ideal servant.
He will seek to use his wife to satisfy his needs and will never be able to truly love her.
The problem becomes even more serious if the mother of such a person in childhood spoiled him. This exacerbates his narcissistic tendencies, as she made him believe that he is the perfect being. Narcissism often gives rise to fantasies of its own omnipotence, and these components form a truly hellish mixture - a sure guarantee of an unhappy marriage. A "spoiled" husband will insist that his whims be fulfilled immediately and unquestioningly, just as they were in childhood. Otherwise, he will get angry, offended, torment his partner and, in the end, leave him. Similar behavior is observed in women who are in love with their own father.
Due to the exorbitant demands of a person suffering from this disease and his inability to give himself to a partner in such cases, happiness in marriage becomes practically unattainable.
2. Feelings of guilt
The Oedipus complex always gives rise to a strong feeling of guilt, because the individual subconsciously believes that he has entered into an incestuous relationship with his mother.
His super-ego - conscience - seeks to suppress erotic desires, the object of which is the mother. For him, such tendencies are morally unacceptable. This creates a huge internal tension, since everything that is suppressed reappears cyclically and must be constantly suppressed, which causes mental stiffness and a significant expenditure of energy. It is likely that such a person will try to shift the blame onto his partner and thus come to the conclusion that he is not worthy of his love, a situation that logically has only a subjective meaning. Most likely, as a result, the individual's emotional relationships will alternate between periods of euphoria and depression. It is also possible that he subconsciously seeks to inflict pain and suffering on himself in order to atone for his own guilt.
3. An unbalanced relationship
When one of the spouses suffers from the Oedipus complex, it upsets the balance in the relationship of the couple. In such a connection, relations cannot be equal, since one of the partners will play the role of a child, and the other - a father or mother.
According to the Hermetic philosophy, normal communication between partners is possible only if there is a balance between the roles of father and mother. In practice, this means that a man can only consider a woman as a mother if he himself can behave like a father. A woman, in turn, can treat her partner as a father if she herself is able to behave like a mother. In this case, the relationship will not be selfish, but will illustrate the well-known expression that says that a woman should be a friend, daughter, wife, lover, helper and mother, and a man should be a spouse, son, lover, comrade and father. The father aspect must be seen as some amount of masculine energy, and the mother aspect as the feminine energy operating within the couple. There are couples where the total amount of female energy exceeds 80%, and there are those where the active male energy reaches 70-90%. An equal amount - 50% male and 50% female energy - is the key to happiness in a couple's love relationship.
To achieve such a harmonious ratio, both men and women must overcome their egoism, this will allow them to avoid the painful desire to “absorb” a partner, which invariably leads to disappointment and failure. A person who seeks to “absorb” or dominate another is usually not aware of this, but regardless of whether he is aware of his behavior or not, the result will always be the same, unless the partner shows a tendency to masochistic behavior and does not passively allow to be dominated.
It should be understood that the Oedipus complex has an extremely negative effect on the relationship between a man and a woman. Of course, understanding alone is not enough to overcome all obstacles. If the hidden negative factors are recognized and understood, the couple can see what weaknesses exist in the relationship that hinder true communication, and this can help partners achieve true love. Naturally, one should not be too upset about one's own "Oedipal tendencies". You need to be aware of this phenomenon and try to change your behavior.
This will become possible if a person understands that there are more suitable and pleasant ways to cope with various everyday situations.
Dependence on the mother puts a person in a subordinate position, preventing him from achieving success in love and in life - this is exactly what happens when he suffers from the Oedipus complex. If a person is fully aware and understands that he is missing out on the brilliant opportunities that life itself offers him, it will not be difficult for him to change his attitude. At least it will be no more difficult than for a young man who leaves his home in search of independence.
It is important to know that the Oedipus complex is a conditioned psychological reaction that can be changed or eliminated to the same extent that an automatic or mechanical reflex can be destroyed, but this is possible only on condition that a person understands the mechanism of this phenomenon quite well. He must learn how to describe his experiences, "movements of the soul" as accurately as possible and interpret them in the most impartial way.
It is necessary to study the causes underlying the Oedipus complex and understand its mechanism of action in order to develop the correct criteria for its evaluation. It should not be forgotten that love does not come suddenly, only those who fight for it and try to master the technique of love can achieve it. True happiness does not grow like a wild flower, it comes to those who have shown a sufficiently high spirit and self-discipline.
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Oedipus complex and Electra complex
Posted by Tatiana at . Published by Psychoanalysis Last updated: 03/07/2015
"Oedipus complex" is a term used by Sigmund Freud in his theory of psychosexual development to describe the feelings of a boy who desires his mother and feels jealousy and anger towards his father. In fact, the boy feels in his father a competitor, a rival in the struggle for the attention and love of his mother.
In psychoanalytic theory, the Oedipus complex refers to the special attraction of a child to a parent of the opposite sex.
Freud suggested that the Oedipus complex plays a huge role in the phallic stage of psychosexual development. He also believed that the successful completion of this stage, which involves the identification of one's gender, ultimately leads to the development of a mature sexual identity.
Understanding the Oedipus Complex
According to Freud, the boy desires to possess his mother and replace his father with her, who also considers the child a competitor in the struggle for mother's affection. The Oedipus complex arises at the phallic stage of psychosexual development between the ages of three and five, which serves as an important aspect of the formation of sexual identity.
Freud first expounded the concept of the Oedipus complex in his book The Interpretation of Dreams (Die Traumdeutung), published in 1899. Despite this, he did not formally use the term "Oedipus complex" itself until 1910.
He named this phenomenon in honor of Oedipus, a character in one of the tragedies of Sophocles. He killed his father and married his mother.
Resolution of the Oedipus complex
In order to develop into an adult with an established identity, a child must associate himself with a parent of the same sex - then this conflict will be resolved. Freud suggested that while the id wants to eliminate the father, the more realistic ego knows that the father is much stronger.
Freud believed that the boy was experiencing what he called castration fear - the fear of losing a penis both literally and figuratively. Freud believed that as soon as a child becomes aware of the physical differences between men and women, he begins to believe that in women the penis has been removed and that his father will do the same to him, punishing him for being attracted to his mother.
In order to overcome this conflict, the boy begins to identify with his father. It is at this moment that the Super-Ego is formed.
The super-ego becomes a kind of internal moral authority that seeks to suppress the urges of the identifier and force the ego to act according to moral standards.
In his book Ego and Id (also: I and It), Freud explained: “The stronger the Oedipus complex was and the faster (under the influence of authority, religious teaching, training and reading) its repression took place, the stricter the Super- The ego will later reign over the ego as conscience, or perhaps as unconscious guilt."
Elektra Complex
The Electra Complex is a psychoanalytic term used to describe girls' desire to compete with their mother for the love of their father. That is, a kind of "female" version of the Oedipus complex.
According to Sigmund Freud, in her psychosexual development, a girl is initially attached to her mother. But when she learns that she does not have a penis like men, she becomes attached to her father and begins to blame her mother for the "castration". As a result, she begins to identify with her mother and imitate her for fear of losing her father.
