Oedipus complex
Sign in to saveconcept of psychoanalytic theory; a child's unconscious sexual desire for the opposite-sex parent and hatred for the same-sex parent
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The Oedipus complex is a concept from psychoanalytic theory describing an unconscious desire a child may have for the opposite-sex parent combined with rivalry or resentment toward the same-sex parent. Psychoanalysts have considered it important for understanding how childhood relationships shape personality and psychological development.
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Oedipus describes the riddle of the Sphinx by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, c. 1805
In classical psychoanalytic theory, the Oedipus complex is a son's sexual attitude towards his mother and concomitant hostility toward his father, first formed during the phallic stage of psychosexual development. A daughter's attitude of desire for her father and hostility toward her mother is referred to as the feminine (or female) Oedipus complex. The general concept was considered by Sigmund Freud in The Interpretation of Dreams (1899), although the term itself was introduced in his paper "A Special Type of Choice of Object Made by Men" (1910).