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The early interaction of the primary caregiver and the infant with respect to sex, gender and ego-identity
Stockholm University.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3931-1538
2026 (English)In: Frontiers in Psychology, E-ISSN 1664-1078, Vol. 17, article id 1777617Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The sex/gender issue is a deeply controversial field of research. The intention of this article is limited to discussing the primary caregiver’s care of the infant with respect to sexual belongingness, gender ideals/character, as well as a relationship between I and You. A clarification of the relationship between sex, gender and ego-identity is presented. A section discussing the resistance to acknowledge preoedipal motherly care in psychoanalysis precedes an analysis of prenatal and postnatal care of the infant. The psychoanalysts Didier Anzieu, Donald W. Winnicott and Bracha Lichtenberg-Ettinger are the major theoreticians referred to when discussing prenatal and postnatal fetus/infant care. The last section of the article consists of a discussion of and some concluding remarks about: the refutation of essentialism concerning the sexual belongingness of the primary caregiver in the care of the infant; the value of openness with respect to sex and gender as well as drawing attention to the I-You relationship to deepen the understanding of beneficial conditions in infant care; the ill-fitness of phallic masculine gender ideals/character when it comes to infant care, and finally; under optimal conditions, the privileged position of the biological mother with respect to infant care.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2026. Vol. 17, article id 1777617
National Category
Applied Psychology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:su:diva-256036DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1777617OAI: oai:DiVA.org:su-256036DiVA, id: diva2:2064503
Available from: 2026-06-02 Created: 2026-06-02 Last updated: 2026-06-26Bibliographically approved

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Karlsson, Gunnar

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