The proposed resolution is identification with the same-sex parent and internalization of parental rules and values. Freud viewed this process as contributing to development of the superego. Kaplan and Sadock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry notes the superego as the “heir” to the Oedipus complex and relates its resolution to early childhood development.
Important: It is a historical psychoanalytic theory, not a psychiatric diagnosis, a forensic diagnosis, or proof of incestuous intent/behavior. Modern psychology does not treat it as an established, universal developmental fact. The
APA psychology reference lists it as a psychoanalytic concept.