Psychodynamic Explanations for Gender Development

• Freud believed that gender development occured at the phallic stage, where boys experience the Oedipus complex, and girls experience the Electra complex.
• The Oedipus Complex:

  1. Freus said boys begin to desire their mothers and see their fathers as a rival for her attention, so develop a hatred for him.
  2. Boy develops castration anxiety, thinking his father will punish him for his affections
  3. Boys resolve this conflict by identifying with the father and adopting fathers values (internalisation) therfore developing a male gender identity.
• The Electra Complex:

  1. Girls develop a desire for their fathers due to 'penis envy' - they feel inferior for not having a penis and being close to their father iis a way of having a penis.
  2. The mother is seen as a rival for their fathers attention and develop a hatred for their mother.
  3. Eventually girls resolve this by identifying with the mother and adopting the mothers values (internalisation) - therefore developing a female gender identity.
• A strength to support Freuds theory is his 'Little Hans' case study. Hans was 5 years old with a phobia of horses - particularly of a horse biting his finger. Freud interpreted this to represent Hans' castration anxiety. Freud concluded that Hans was experiencing the Oedipus Complex.
• Limitations of Psychodynamic Theory of gender development:

  • Supporting evidence lacks scientific credibility. Two of the most important reasons are that it lacks population validity as it is a case study on a unique individual. Furthermore its likely to be biased as Little Hans father was a friend of Freud so was possibly only giving supporting evidence.
  • There is evidence that contradicts this theory, evidence from single parent families are no more likely to develop atypical gender than children raised in traditional 2-parent families.