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MENTAL MODEL · M5979

Oedipal Phase

Oedipal Phase
BehaviormediumClinical Psychology
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Updated 2026-08-09

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INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

In classical theory, children between three and five develop attachment to the opposite-sex parent and rivalry or hostility toward the same-sex parent. Passing through the stage successfully, by identifying with the same-sex parent and accepting the incest taboo, is what forms the superego, the moral sense. In the workplace the pattern survives symbolically: the subordinate wants both to unseat the leader and to become the leader, and knowing this unconscious current makes power conflicts easier to handle.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

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Reduce cognitive load

- Authority mapping: locate who carries the symbolic paternal role in the conflict at hand. - Mixed motive: read the rival's wish to displace and to become as a single ambivalent feeling. - Identification channel: convert rivalry into adopting the leader's competence rather than attacking the chair.

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Anchor fast decisions

The child's love for one parent and rivalry with the other create an intolerable conflict that is resolved by identification, taking in the rival's rules, which founds the superego. The same structure recurs wherever a successor both envies and admires an incumbent.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

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    en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_complexZH · Explicit
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