Fetishism cause?

[paigetheoracle]

Is Fetishism's base oedipal complex, castration anxiety or just plain imprinting during sexual awakening as with Pavlov's dogs or Konrad Lorenz's work?:shrug:

 

I'm reading 'The Denial of Death' by Ernest Becker at the moment and was wondering if beliefs in this area had moved on since his day, fifty years ago.

[Cephalover]

Well, psychoanalytic theory is becoming less and less prevalent in psychology these days (although it hangs around in literary and postmodern theorists' writings.) Generally the development of fetishes (as I understand it) is thought to be related to conditioning, although it's unlikely that it is as straightforward in most cases as single-step Pavlovian conditioning. It's important to note that slight sexual inclinations (as might exist following a Pavlovian-style pairing of a stimulus with sexual pleasure) can then gradually develop into fetishes, as the association becomes stronger and stronger precisely because the fetishist repeatedly pairs the fetish object or behavior with sexual pleasure.

 

It's also possible that any fetishists initial introduction to their fetish, or the development of their off-beat sexual preference into a full-blown fetish is socially mediated - either through internet communities, through popular culture, through sex-related discourse among their peer group, or even fetish clubs.