Can a electrical fan cause your car to overheat when idling?

It's two ways your fan will kick on...when your radiator gets Hott enough it should kick on and when you turn your a/c on it will automatically kick on right away. If it's getting Hott just idling I would test the fan clutch.

The fan should kick on when idling, you have 2 fans one for the A/C and the other one for the engine, if the fan does not kick on then check the coolant temp sensor if the sensor is okay then check the fan resistor or relay