A Level Psychology OCR Practice Exam

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What did Hans's dream about giraffes represent as per Freud's analysis?

His desire for playfulness
His fear of abandonment
His attraction to his mother and father
His confusion about adulthood

The correct answer is: His attraction to his mother and father

Freud's analysis of dreams often ties them to the individual's unconscious desires and conflicts. In the case of Hans's dream about giraffes, it symbolizes complex feelings towards his parents, particularly his attraction to his mother. The presence of the giraffe can represent the sexual and affectionate feelings that Freud believed children experience towards their opposite-sex parent, aligning with the ideas presented in the Oedipus complex. This conflict is a central theme in Freud's theory of psychosexual development, where unresolved feelings can manifest through symbols in dreams. Thus, the dream reflects a child's subconscious grappling with feelings toward parental figures, which is why the notion of attraction to his mother and father holds relevance in this analysis.