Many aspects of the Oedipus complex have been criticized. Critics argue that the theory was established with minimal evidence, making it difficult to justify as a universal phenomenon without consideration for differing cultural and social factors. Some of Sigmund Freud’s critics have focused on the larger implications of his theory on gender and sexuality—for instance, his idea, which is strongly contested, that homosexuality derives from an abnormal resolution of the Oedipus complex. Learn more.