The electra complex in the girls

All the girls go through a stage of admiration of dad: he is his favorite, it is with him that they want to go everywhere, play, have fun ... It is the well-known phase of 'papitis ' It is a normal period in the development of every girl who starts around 3 or 4 years and reaches its maximum express

All the girls go through a stage of admiration of dad: he is his favorite, it is with him that they want to go everywhere, play, have fun ... It is the well-known phase of 'papitis '

It is a normal period in the development of every girl who starts around 3 or 4 years and reaches its maximum expression on 5-6.

What is the electra complex in girls

The Electra Complex, psychoanalytic concept and term coined by the psychiatrist Carl Young as opposed to the feminine Oedipus of S. Freud, deals with this phase of father's infatuation by the that girls spend around 3 - 4 years. The Electra Complex, much more elaborated than what we will present here, aims to explain the competition and rivalry between mother and daughter for earning the affection and attention of dad that appears at this stage.

As in the Oedipus Complex, the name comes from Greek literature and mythology. Electra daughter of Agamemnon (king of Mycenae) and Clytemnestra, conspired and convinced his brother to kill his mother, thus avenging the death of the father at the hands of Clytemnestra's lover, his mother.

How to identify the electra complex in girls

As in the Oedipus Complex, we should pay special attention if we have a girl who:

- Spends the day saying that when she is older she will marry dad.

- He cries inconsolably when dad leaves.

- She always wants to be in the middle of dad and mom, she feels jealous of the signs of affection that mom makes to dad.

- Your favorite word is 'no'.

- Shows some hostility towards mom.

Tips for parents: how to deal with the Electra complex

As in any stage of the development of our children we must be patient and help them overcome their internal conflicts, conflicts that allow them to grow and mature to continue forming their own personality.

To do this, we will try to avoid magnifying her actions or ridicule the girl because she feels jealous of her mother, with whom she competes and rivals to get the affection of dad. It is important not to enter the game of rivalries, thus preventing you from feeling that you have a place that does not correspond to you.

Knowing that this is one more phase of our girl's evolutionary development, we should try to make her understand that dad is her dad, that he loves her madly but that dad's partner is a mom. About 6-7 years this stage ends and it is from this moment when the girls begin to take as model and referring to mom, her role model, her model to imitate.