ground not because of a lack of biological maturation, but because of psychologi-
cal conflict. Freud suggested that the child has a certain amount of dawning sexual
desire and tends to make the parent of the opposite sex the focus of this desire.
However, due to moral development, guilt sets in and the libido goes into hiding.
It is repressed to an unconscious level.
The emotional conflict associated with the child’s forbidden wish to seek sex-
ual expression with a parent is called the Oedipus complex.Freud was inspired
to coin this term from his familiarity with the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex(i.e.,
“Oedipus, the King”) written by the dramatist Sophocles around 400 B.C. In the
play, Oedipus inadvertently kills his own father and unknowingly marries his own
mother. Writing in German in Austria, Freud used the term Oedipus complexto
refer to either males or females. Later authors, writing in the United States, some-
times use the term Oedipus complexto refer to males and Electra complexto
refer to females. (Electrais also a Greek play. Written by the dramatist Euripides,
also around 400 B.C., it bears some resemblance to Oedipus Rex.)(a) According to Freud, during the latency stage the libido is repressed to an
level.(b) What name did Freud give to the emotional conflict associated with a child’s forbidden
sexual wish during the latency stage?
(c) What term, not coined by Freud, is sometimes used to describe a female child’s sexual
conflict during the latency stage?
Answers: (a) unconscious; (b) The Oedipus complex; (c) The Electra complex.The genital stagebegins at twelve or thirteen and continues throughout
adulthood. With puberty, biological maturation can no longer be denied. The
repression lifts and the individual becomes intensely conscious of sexual interest.
Libido makes a final shift from the phallus to a more general interest in the oppo-
site sex. In normal development, the individual transfers sexual interest away from
the parent and toward potential partners who are not members of the family.
Freud’s outline suggests that much can go wrong with sexual development.
There can be too much excitation and arousal associated with one of the stages. Or,
conversely, there can be too much inhibition, punishment, or emotional injury asso-
ciated with one of the stages. Freud indicated that either too much excitation or too
much inhibition can induce a fixation of libido,meaning the libido is to some
extent “stuck” in one particular erogenous zone. According to Freud, such fixations
may play a role in various problems and maladaptive behaviors, including overeat-
ing, constipation, pedophilia, exhibitionism, fetishism, and sexual dysfunctions.
Freud’s theory is, as are all theories, a set of concepts, not a set of facts. Freud’s
theory has received its share of criticism. For example, research suggests that
although self-stimulation of the phallus is relatively common in children, it is not,Developmental Psychology: How Children Become Adults 159