Castration anxiety is best described as which of the following?

• A. The fear of damage to the genitals by the same-sex parent as punishment for sexual feelings toward the opposite-sex parent.
• B. A fear of losing one's penis due to medical procedures.
• C. A fear of death during adolescence.
• D. A fear of rejection by peers.

Answer: (A)

Castration anxiety is a Freudian idea describing a boy’s fear that the father will castrate him as punishment for his sexual feelings toward the mother. This fear arises during the phallic stage of development and motivates the child to identify with the father, helping shape the moral standards of the superego. The description that the boy fears genital harm from the same-sex parent as punishment for desires toward the opposite-sex parent captures this psychoanalytic dynamic precisely.

The other ideas miss the symbolic, developmental aspect. A fear of losing the penis due to medical procedures is a literal, physical fear, not the internalized, symbolic fear Freud described. A fear of death during adolescence is a different kind of concern altogether, not tied to the Oedipal dynamics. A fear of rejection by peers speaks to social anxiety or self-esteem, not to the specific paternal punishment scenario involved in castration anxiety.