Oedipal Stage
Oedipal Stage – in psychology, the Oedipal stage is also referred to as preschool childhood. It is the period from three to five or six years of age. At this age, according to psychoanalytic theory, the basic patterns of sexual behavior are formed, as well as the superego – the main controlling agency of human behavior and the locus of feelings of guilt, ideals, conscience, and morality.
During the Oedipal stage, the basic patterns of masculinity and femininity develop: the child internalizes the feminine or masculine role accepted in a given culture, while more or less successfully resolving the main neurotic problems associated with these roles – castration anxiety in boys and penis envy in girls. The system of psychological defenses of the personality becomes more refined, and the person’s relations with the world develop and become more complex (Kalina, 2001, p. 135).
Reference:
Kalina, N. F. (2001). Osnovy psikhoanaliza [Foundations of psychoanalysis]. Kyiv: Vakler. [in Russian].
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