Children become grown ups by imitating grown ups. A boy acquires a man's behavior by imitating his father. A girl acquires womanly manners by imitating her mother.
At the same time a boy with a strong organism and, consequently, a fair amount of self confidence, is not as slavish in his imitation of his father's ways as one who is cursed with a delicate constitution or who may have been made timid by fear-producing or humiliating experiences.
The former is more adventurous in every way and will, not only roam farther away from his home, but let his eyes also roam on men outside of the family circle, whom he will pick out as secondary models.
The weak boy, seeking safety and following the line of least effort, will cling to the closest model, his father, and in extreme cases, will identify himself with him.
The Identification Mania. An exaggerated mania for identification is always a symptom of weakness and inferiority.
The weak man joins numberless organisations and derives a great deal of pride from the mere fact of his membership in them. In general he will not allow anyone to discuss or criticise those organisations. The anonymous citizen of Chicago or Chillicothe is easily aroused by criticisms of his native city overheard elsewhere, for he identifies himself with his native city for lack of any distinction of his own. Members of so called "aristocratic" families, themselves incapable of any achievement, are most unbearable owing to their family pride. They obscurely feel that if their relationship to some more or less distinguished ancestor was taken away from them they would sink into complete obscurity. The stupid traveler who constantly flaunts the flag of his country wherever he happens to be, is also an inferior who is trying to claim all the virtues which the jingoes of his land consider as national characteristics.
Close imitation and identification with the person we imitate cannot but lead to conflicts, for it sooner or later means that we encroach upon the rights of our model.
Early Conflicts. The little boy who imitates his father, identifies himself with him and tries to "become" his father, may only provoke mirth when he dons his father's garments or carries his father's walking stick.
When he carries his imitation to the point of handling his father's razors or sampling his cigars, he may court what, to him, is a very unintelligible, illogical and humiliating form of punishment.
"If father is always right, why do I get spanked for doing what father does?" the child asks himself with a child's pitiless logic.