The Oedipus complex and the Electra complex are theories developed by Freud and Jung. The complexes received the names of mythical heroes in order to more clearly explain the behavior of patients.
It should be noted that the Electra complex, like the Oedipus complex, is considered untenable by many modern psychiatrists. Nevertheless, it makes sense to consider these phenomena.
What is the Electra complex
The concept was first introduced by C. G. Jung to explain the experiences of a growing girl and her craving for her father. On the one hand, this complex is opposed to the oedipal complex (the boy's craving for his mother), which was once formulated by Z. Freud. On the other hand, both the Oedipus complex and the Electra complex (according to Freud) characterize the child's attraction to the parent of the opposite sex.
Freud himself believed that it was the Oedipus complex that is characteristic of children of both sexes. A girl attached to her mother in early childhood, growing up, begins to become more and more attached to her father.
Over time, she begins to see a rival in her mother and, of course,begins to feel a sense of jealousy, and later a desire to eliminate the rival. Hatred is constantly growing and aggravated by the fact (according to Freud) that over time the girl discovers that she is arranged not like a father, but like a mother - she does not have a penis. This "discovery" further strengthens the Electra complex. The girl is convinced of her physiological inferiority and begins to blame her mother for giving birth to her with such a noticeable defect. At the same time, she needs the male attention of her father even more and seeks to get pregnant from him. Freudians believe that this "penis envy" can be so strong that the girl even begins to dream of having a baby, and not just a speculative pregnancy.
The next complex is developing - castration.
It is this feeling of inferiority and the castration complex that leads to the fact that the girl, from Freud's point of view, finally develops an Oedipus complex. According to Jung, this state is called the Electra Complex. The desire for castration in boys usually leads to the fact that his desire and attraction to the mother subsides over time. One of the reasons for this repression is the fear of the father. In girls, on the contrary, the Electra complex develops, exerting a noticeable influence on the formation of the female character. In the state of Electra (Oedipus), the girl is longer than the boys. If the complex cannot be completely eliminated, then an adult woman will definitely suffer from various mental disorders.
What's next?
Freud's followers are sure that froma girl suffering from the Electra complex, over time, turns out to be a remarkable specialist. Such a woman is easily trained and teaches, but … just not women. She gets along well with men, but that's all. Her personal life either does not add up, or the girl marries late and for a man many years older than herself. In the "adult" husband, she sees her father, thereby, as it were, achieving the goal that involuntarily arises in front of everyone who suffers from the Electra complex. This goal is not to be like your mother and always stay with your father.
