According to which theory does proper gender development occur when a child resolves competition with the same-sex parent by identifying with that parent?

• A. Information-Processing Model
• B. Psychodynamic Theory
• C. Social-Cognitive Theory
• D. Biopsychology

Answer: (B)

In psychodynamic theory, gender development comes from the child resolving feelings of rivalry with the same-sex parent by identifying with that parent. The idea, dating back to the Oedipus and Electra concepts, is that after working through this conflict, the child adopts the same-sex parent’s gender role and values, which helps form a stable gender identity. For boys, this means modeling after the father; for girls, modeling after the mother. This explains why identification with the same-sex parent is seen as the mechanism driving gender development in this theory. Other theories describe different processes—cognitive processing, observational learning, or biological factors—but they don’t center on resolving a parental rivalry through identification with the same-sex parent.