Five-year-old Cara has recently begun imitating her mother's actions and mannerisms. Freud would probably say that Cara's identification with her mother is the child's way of resolving the anxiety caused by:

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According to Freudian theory, identification with the same-sex parent is one of the ways children resolve the Oedipus complex, which is a normal phase of psychosexual development during the phallic stage (around ages 3-6). The Oedipus complex is characterized by the child's unconscious desire for the opposite-sex parent and hostility toward the same-sex parent, which creates anxiety. Identification with the same-sex parent helps the child resolve this anxiety and move on to the next stage of development. Therefore, Cara's identification with her mother is most likely related to her resolution of the Oedipus complex.

Five-Year-Old Cara Has Recently Begun Imitating Her Mother's Actions and Mannerisms