Five-year-old Nicholas just learned the rhyme, "Step on a crack, break your mother's back." His mother won't let him eat the candy bar his grandmother just gave him until after dinner. Nicholas waves goodbye to grandma, while stepping on all the cracks in his driveway. This may be an example of _____.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Nicholas is not overtly aggressive toward his mother, but he is expressing his frustration in a passive aggressive manner by stepping on all the cracks in the driveway after being denied immediate gratification. This is an example of passive aggressiveness. Delayed aggression and learned helplessness are not applicable in this scenario. An Oedipal response would involve a child's unconscious sexual attraction to the opposite-sex parent and jealousy toward the same-sex parent, which is not evident in this situation.

Five-Year-Old Nicholas Just Learned the Rhyme, "Step on a Crack