Identification

This is the process whereby one's ego seeks to emulate another. It is particularly important in overcoming the Oedipus complex: the young child deals with his primitive desires by identifying with his parents, imitating them to such an extent that, ultimately, he introjects the parental authority—and thus develops a super-ego. Identification is quite different from object-choice: "If a boy identifies himself with his father, he wants to be like his father; if he makes him the object of his choice, he wants to have him, to possess him" ("New Introductory Lectures" 22.63).