Definition: A term used by Freud in his theory of psychosexual stages of development to describe a boy's feelings of desire for his mother and jealously and anger towards his father. According to Freud, the boy wishes to possess his mother and replace his father, who he views as a rival for his mother's affections. The Oedipal complex occurs in the phallic stage of psychosexual development. The term was named after the character in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex who accidentally kills his father and marries his mother.
More Psychology Definitions - Psychology Dictionary
More Psychology Definitions - Psychology Dictionary
