Electra complex

[ ih-lek-truh kom-pleks ]

noun

, Psychoanalysis.

1. a daughter's unconscious sexual desire directed toward her father, usually originating in childhood: designation based on the Greek myth of Electra and Agamemnon. Compare Oedipus complex.

Electra complex

noun

1. psychoanal the sexual attachment of a female child to her father See also penis envy

Word History and Origins

Origin of Electra complex¹

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

Her father, the Freudian practitioner, explains she clearly has an “Electra complex,” “she was really in love with him and wanted to marry him and there was no point in denying it.”

From Washington Post

An analogous theory proposed by Carl Jung is known as the Electra complex in females.

From Scientific American

“The old theory to explain Capgras syndrome was that it was some kind of Freudian thing, a childhood Oedipus or Electra complex,” Ramachandran said.

From Washington Post

From the very beginning she was surly with me, and she didn’t have to worry about getting over any Electra complex, because she never had one.

From Literature

Today, Freud's Oedipus complex and Jung’s Electra complex serve as textbook examples of poorly devised notions according to scientific criteria, ones that often draw scorn during psychology lectures.

From Scientific American