psychodynamic explanation of gender development: Freud's theory

Question 1

Oedipus complex

Answer 1

boys develop incestuous feelings towards their mother at the phallic stage
form a jealous hatred towards their father
recognises his father’s power over him and fears he may be castrated
to resolve the conflict, boy gives up his love for his mother and begins to identify with his mother

Question 2

Electra complex

Answer 2

at the phallic stage, girls experiences penis envy seeing their mother as competition
girls develop a double-resentment for their mother: as a love rival and blaming their mother for their lack of a penis
girls eventually substitute penis envy for the desire to have children

Question 3

identification and internalisation

Answer 3

boys - boy incorporates his father into his own personality which allows him to internalise his male gender
girls - girl incorporates her mother into her own personality which allows her to internalise her female gender

Question 4

evaluation: research contradicts the Oedipus complex

Answer 4

Freud’s theory implies that sons of punitive fathers should go on to develop a more robust sense of gender identity than other boys because higher levels of anxiety should produce stronger identification with the aggressor
Blakemore and Hill dispute this and believe the reverse to be true

Question 5

evaluation: inadequate account of female development

Answer 5

Electra complex was based on the work of Carl Jung and Freud admitted that females were a mystery to him
Horney argued that penis envy was a cultural construct rather than an innate trait and challenged this androcentric approach