beating fantasy

in the classical psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud, a male or female child’s fantasy of being beaten by his or her father or mother. For both sexes, the fantasy is interpreted as an expression of the child’s oedipal desires toward the father and is said to be based on the child’s belief that the father beats the mother in the primal scene. Thus, the fantasy of being beaten provides sexual arousal.

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Psychology term of the day

November 27th 2024

biological warfare

the use of agents such as bacteria, viruses, and toxins to incapacitate or destroy humans, nonhuman animals, or crops in war.