In case of ‘Electra complex’ as propounded by Sigmund Freud, the girl loves her father and starts to view her mother as her rival. What is the critical component to resolve this complex?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Development of identification with her mother
Option (1) The transition into latency stage — Incorrect. The latency stage, from about seven years until puberty, is a period in which sexual urges are relatively inactive. It comes after the phallic stage; moving into it does not by itself resolve the complex.
Option (2) Development of identification with her mother — Correct. The girl attaches her love to the father, but when she realises that this is unlikely she begins to identify with her mother and copy her behaviour, as a means of sharing in her father’s affection. The critical component in resolving the complex is the development of identification with the same sex parent.
Option (3) Development and transitioning into Anal stage — Incorrect. The anal stage, at around ages two and three, comes before the phallic stage. It concerns control of urination and defecation, so it cannot resolve a complex that arises later.
Option (4) Development of ‘Oedipus complex’ — Incorrect. The Electra complex is the girl’s form of the Oedipus complex; the boy’s Oedipus complex involves love for the mother and hostility towards the father. Developing a complex does not resolve one.
NCERT (2025-26): “Stages of Personality Development … For girls, the Oedipus complex (called the Electra Complex after Electra, a Greek character, who induced her brother to kill their mother) follows a slightly different course. By attaching her love to the father a girl tries to symbolically marry him and raise a family. When she realises that this is unlikely, she begins to identify with her mother and copy her behaviour as a means of getting (or, sharing in) her father’s affection. The critical component in resolving the Oedipus complex is the development of identification with the same sex parents.…” |