Oedipus complex n
1) a child's positive libidinal feelings toward the parent of the opposite sex and hostile or jealous feelings toward the parent of the same sex that develop usu. between the ages of three and six and that may be a source of adult personality disorder when unresolved used esp. of the male child see ELECTRA COMPLEX
2) the unresolved oedipal feelings persisting into adult life
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repressed sexual feelings of a child for its opposite-sexed parent, combined with rivalry towards the same-sexed parent: said, in Freudian psychoanalytic theory, to be a normal stage of development. The end of the Oedipus complex in children is marked by a loss of sexual feelings towards the opposite-sexed parent and an increase in identification with the same-sexed parent. Arrest of development at the Oedipal stage is said to be responsible for sexual deviations and other neurotic behaviour.
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in psychoanalytic theory, the feelings and conflicts occurring in a child during the phallic phase of psychosexual development that result from sexual attraction to the opposite-sex parent, including envious, aggressive feelings toward the same-sex parent.Medical dictionary. 2011.