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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Freud's theory of psychosexual development includes the Oedipus complex, which occurs during the phallic stage (around ages 3 to 6). During this stage, children develop unconscious sexual desires for the opposite-sex parent and view the same-sex parent as a rival. Freud believed that the child resolves this conflict by identifying with the same-sex parent, adopting their characteristics and behaviors as their own. Therefore, Cara's imitation of her mother can be seen as a manifestation of her identification with her mother and her resolution of the Oedipus complex.

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