Freud - Contributions to Psychology

Freud has made many contributions to the development of psychology, firstly the Oedipus/Electra complexes. The Oedipus complex involves the male child, and his desire to have his mother to himself and his father out of the way. However he fears castration by the father. To avoid this, he identifies with the aggressor (father), to adopt his attitudes and traits. The Electra complex on the other hand, is relevant to the female child, and concerns …

…development are quite significant. Firstly, the ideas of the Oedipus and Electra complexes assist the development of further research into the studies of gender, learning, stereotyping and so on, including how behaviour is influenced and learnt. The contribution of the psychodynamic theory helps us to understand how and why people react in certain situations the way they do, as well as learning to understand dream interpretations, and how the mind can suppress wishes and desires.