Ch 2 Outline 1 Psychoanalytic Theory

Vocabulary flashcards covering Freud's psychoanalytic theory, key complexes (Oedipus, Electra), related figures (Horney, Chodorow), and common critiques including gender, intersectionality, and accessibility across identities.

Psychoanalytic Theory

Freud's theory of personality development emphasizing unconscious processes and psychosexual stages; dominated psychology for decades and was criticized for male-centered views.

Psychosexual Development

Freud's stage-based account of personality development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) driven by sexual instincts.

Oedipus Complex

In boys, a conflict involving sexual desire for the mother, rivalry with the father, fear of castration, and eventual identification with the father to internalize societal morals.

Electra Complex

In girls, conflict involving desire for the father, penis envy, blaming the mother, and incomplete resolution compared to the Oedipus complex; linked to perceived inferiority.

Penis Envy

Freud's concept that girls envy male genitals, contributing to a sense of inferiority.

Womb Envy

Karen Horney's idea that men envy women's capacity to bear and nurture life; used to reinterpret male achievement as compensatory for biological limitation.

Karen Horney

Early female psychoanalyst who challenged Freudian views of male superiority and proposed womb envy; emphasized social and cultural factors in development.

Nancy Chodorow

Feminist psychoanalytic theorist who argues that gender roles arise from mother–daughter attachment and caregiving patterns; advocates shared parenting to reduce gender inequality; critiqued for subjective methods and limited samples.

Mother–Daughter Attachment

Strong emotional bond that leads daughters to learn caregiving and femininity; mothers and daughters may show stronger attachment than mothers and sons.

Caregiving Socialization

Process by which daughters learn caregiving tendencies while sons may lack them, shaping gender roles.

Gender Roles

Societal expectations for behavior and identity based on gender, influenced by parenting and psychoanalytic theories.

Intersectionality

Analytical framework for considering multiple social categories (race, class, gender); noted as missing in some psychoanalytic theories.

Cisgender

Individuals whose gender identity aligns with their sex assigned at birth; noted as a limitation when theories exclude non-cisgender experiences.

Gender Binary

Rigid division of gender into two distinct categories (man/woman); criticized for excluding nonbinary identities.

Heterosexual Focus

Critique that many psychoanalytic theories center on heterosexual relationships, neglecting LGBTQ+ perspectives.