castration complex

n. 1. In psychoanalysis, a whole constellation of fears and projections of young children centered on being deprived of a penis in boys and of already having been deprived of a penis in girls. 2. In Henry Murray's psychology, an invariant motivation to protect one's self from castration which leads to being overdramatic, attention seeking, and hysterical and arose as a reaction to suppression of childhood masturbation by the parents and particularly by the father.