This way of explaining early mental development is characteristic of Kleinian object relations theory, not classical Freudian theory.
Melanie Klein proposed that:
Psychological development starts much earlier than Freud suggested (infancy, not just phallic stage).
The infant constantly uses:
Introjection → internalizing good/bad objects (like mother’s breast symbolically)
Projection → pushing unwanted feelings outward
Through this interaction:
Early ego structure forms
Early superego appears (much harsher and earlier than Freud proposed)
Primitive roots of Oedipal dynamics begin in infancy
Sándor Ferenczi
- Worked on trauma, mutual analysis, and early relationships
- Did not frame ego/superego/Oedipus formation through introjection–projection interplay like Klein
Robert Young
- Historian of psychoanalysis and science
- Not a primary theorist of structural psychic formation
Sigmund Freud
- Introduced ego, superego, and Oedipus complex
But:
- Emphasized drives and psychosexual stages
- Did not build theory around introjection–projection interaction as foundational mechanism
-Saw superego forming later (after Oedipal resolution), unlike Klein.
Year-wise PYQs
