castration complex

in Freudian psychoanalytic theory, the whole combination of the child’s unconscious feelings and fantasies associated with being deprived of the phallus, which in boys means the loss of the penis and in girls the belief that it has already been removed. It derives from the discovery that girls have no penis and is closely tied to the Oedipus complex.

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Psychology term of the day

December 19th 2024

Thanatos

n. the personification of death and the brother of Hypnos (sleep) in Greek mythology, whose name was chosen by Sigmund Freud to designate a theoretical set of strivings oriented toward the reduction of tension and life activity (see death instinct). In Freud’s dual instinct theory, Thanatos is seen as involved in a dialectic process with Eros (love), the striving toward sexuality, continued development, and heightened experience (see life instinct). See also nirvana principle.