Little Hans
Cards (9)
- Little Hans was a 5-year-old boy with a phobia of horses.
- From around three years of age, Little Hans showed an interest in βwiddlersβ, both his own penis and those of other males, including animals.
- Freudβs interpretation linked Hansβs fear to the Oedipus complex, the horses (with black harnesses and big penises) unconsciously representing his fear of his father.
- Freud concluded that the boy was afraid that his father would castrate him for desiring his mother.
- Horses, particularly horses with black harnesses, symbolized his father.
- Freud saw Hansβ phobia as an expression of the Oedipus complex.
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- Little Hans provides limited support for the Oedipus complex
- Hans's father provided Freud with the details of the case study
- he was familiar with the concept of the Oedipus complex so it is possible this influenced the information he provided to Freud
- he may have asked Hans leading questions, seeing an Oedipus conflict where one did not exist
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- the method used to conclude Little Hans's behaviour was due to the Oedipus complex is not a scientific way of investigating a phobia
- there is a lack of objectivity in the analysis as it was conducted second-hand through Hans's father and the data was interpreted to fit with Freud's existing theory
- the method used was a case study which makes it impossible to generalise the findings from Little Hans to all people (low population validity)
- this method is not replicable
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- 5-year old boy afraid of horses after seeing one collapse in the street
- example of the Oedipus complex and castration anxiety
- Freud suggested Hans's phobia was a form of displacement in which his repressed fear of his father was displaced onto horses
- horses were a symbolic representation of Hans's castration anxiety