What Is the Oedipus Complex?

The Oedipus complex—also called the Oedipal conflict or Oedipal situation—is a classical psychoanalytic theory developed by Sigmund Freud that refers to a child’s repressed feelings for sexual desire for their opposite-sex parent and sense of competition with their same-sex parent. It is now a controversial concept among psychologists.

The term is usually used to refer to a boy’s love for his mother and competition for attention with his father. A girl’s jealousy toward her mother and desire for her father is called the female Oedipus complex, or the Electra complex.

Learn more about the Oedipus complex, including its roots in Greek mythology and how the theory was developed.

What Is the Story of Oedipus?

Freud based his theory of the Oedipus complex on the ancient Greek myth of Oedipus, king of Thebes, as told by Sophocles in his play Oedipus Rex. 

The myth holds that Oedipus was adopted as a baby by the king and queen of Corinth. After learning of a prophecy that he will kill his father and marry his mother, the tragic hero sets out on his own. Later, Oedipus marries Queen Jocasta as a reward for solving the Sphinx’s riddle and saving the people of Thebes. Jocasta and the newly crowned Oedipus have four children together.

In Sophocles’ version of the tragedy, first performed in about 429 B.C., Oedipus then searches for the murderer of Laius, the previous king, only to find that Laius died by his own hand. Upon finding out that Laius is his father, Oedipus blinds himself and casts himself into exile. Jocasta, who is both his mother and his wife, died by suicide.

Where Did the Oedipus Complex Come From?

Freud first introduced the concept of the Oedipus complex in his 1899 seminal text, The Interpretation of Dreams. However, he didn’t coin the actual term until 1910, when he outlined his four stages of psychosexual development. 

During each phase, a child’s libido (sex drive) is focused around certain activities and body parts. Freud’s theory held that children who don’t appropriately “resolve” each stage and pass on to the next one will be at risk of developing neurosis (which involves stress, anxiety, and/or obsessions), psychosis (break from reality), or perversions as adults.

According to Freud, infants and children go through the following stages of psychosexual development:

• Oral stage: focuses on activities involving the mouth (such as nursing, sucking, and biting) during a baby’s first year of life.
• Anal stage: centers around retaining and expelling bowel movements during a toddler’s second year.
• Phallic stage: focuses on the penis or clitoris starting around age three.
• Latency stage: children begin to identify with their peers of the same sex around age six.
• Genital stage: children and adolescents start to desire intercourse with an opposite-sex partner.

Freud argued that the Oedipus complex was a natural part of the phallic stage. Between the ages of three and five, he noticed that many children developed an unconscious erotic attraction to their same-sex parent and a rivalry with their opposite-sex parent. He argued that they could resolve this internal conflict by identifying with their same-sex parent and same-sex peers during the latency stage. Through sublimation—the transformation of an unacceptable impulse or desire (in this case, for incest) into a socially condoned one—the child could then shift their original desire for their other parent to an attraction to other people of the opposite sex. 

According to Freud, both girls and boys experience the Oedipus complex during the phallic stage. During this phase of development, Freud believed that girls also experienced penis envy—a longing for a penis and a sense of loss without one. Meanwhile, he argued that boys experienced castration anxiety, a fear of losing one’s penis.

Signs of the Oedipus Complex

In his theory of the Oedipus complex, Freud claimed that young children would try to compete with their same-sex parent for the attention of the parent of the opposite sex. For example, during the phallic stage of his development, a boy might show a strong preference for his mother and try to push his father away. Some children might even be aggressive towards one parent in order to “claim” their time with the other.

Other classic signs of the Oedipus complex might include:

• Wanting the other parent to “go away” to have more time with the opposite-sex parent
• Trying to sleep between one’s parents or otherwise physically separate them
• A boy claiming he wants to marry his mother or a girl saying she wants to marry her father

If a child’s Oedipus complex wasn’t resolved, Freud believed they might develop signs of neurosis as an adult. These might include:

• Anxiety
• Distress
• Dissociation
• Depression
• Somatic (physical) problems
• Obsessive-compulsive behavior
• Persistent, intense fears

Controversy of the Oedipus Complex

Since it was first developed by Freud, the Oedipus complex has been de-emphasized within psychoanalysis and related forms of therapy. The theory is now controversial for a number of reasons, including:

• Child abuse: Starting with social worker Florence Rush in the early 1970s, many researchers have raised concerns that the Oedipus complex could serve as a “cover-up” for child sexual abuse. Focusing on children’s alleged sexual desires, advocates argued, could provide rationalizations and excuses for predators.
• Lack of evidence: Freud developed his theory in part based on one case study of a boy called “Little Hans.” He argued that the boy’s equinophobia (fear of horses) was related to his fear of his father and desire for his mother, as well as castration anxiety. However, later large-scale studies have not been able to verify the existence of the Oedipal conflict. 
• Not applicable to all families, cultures, and sexualities: The Oedipus complex relies on several assumptions about typical family structures, identities, and experiences. For example, the theory assumes that a child is growing up in a two-parent household within a nuclear family and that heterosexuality is the desired “result” of their maturation and development. Since these experiences aren’t universal to all cultures, families, or individuals, many researchers have called the theory’s value into question.
  

A Quick Review

The Oedipus complex refers to a concept developed by Sigmund Freud, the “father” of psychoanalysis, in the early 20th century. 

Freud argued that children between the ages of three and five developed an erotic attraction to their opposite-sex parent and began to see their same-sex parent as a rival for their affections. This desire could be resolved through gradual identification with one’s same-sex parent and peers, starting around the age of six, as well as desire for a heterosexual partner.

Today, the Oedipus complex is a controversial concept within psychology and psychoanalysis. Many researchers have argued that the theory isn’t backed up by empirical evidence. Others argue that the theory positions heterosexuality as the only “healthy” sexual orientation and doesn’t account for all cultures and family structures. Finally, some have raised concerns about potential victim-blaming as a result of the focus on children’s attractions towards adults within classical psychoanalytic theory.