In "The Uses of Enchantment" (1976), child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim discusses Goldilock's struggle to grow beyond her Oedipal issues to confront adolescent identity problems. The story does not encourage children to solve the problems of growing up, Bettelheim writes, and does not end with the traditional "happily ever after" promise for those who solve their Oedipal issues. He believes the tale does not allow the child reader to gain emotional maturity. 