ambivalence

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The ambivalence of happiness has often been represented by the wheel of the goddess Fortuna since the Middle Ages .

Ambivalence ( Latin ambo "both" and valere "apply") describes a state of psychological conflict . At the same time, contradicting desires, feelings and thoughts coexist in a person and lead to inner tensions.

In the upscale colloquial language, the adjective is ambivalent (ambivalent, double-valued, ambiguous, diverse). Eugen Bleuler first used the term in 1910 during a lecture. For him, ambivalence was a major symptom of schizophrenia . At the same time, ambivalence is usually not a symptom of a disease, but rather the ability acquired in the maturation process to dispense with defense through division and to be able to endure opposing experiences at the same time.

In a figurative sense, ambivalence - regardless of a pathological understanding of the term - denotes an attitude or approach that sometimes uses the principle of "as well as" to name different, even contradicting theories, concepts, methods, etc. that are developing express the activity and attitude of an individual or group.

meaning

It is a "both / and" of settings and provisions . The term “love-hate relationship” is an example of such a combination of opposing evaluations. Even if the term “love-hate relationship” is purely rhetorical about an oxymoron , antagonistic functions are quite common in physiology . The ambivalence concerns corresponding psychological functions.

Ambivalence does not mean that every thing can have its two sides, as long as it does not cause internal conflict. Rather, a dichotomy of points of view is to be seen underneath , which cause opposing reactions and ultimately can inhibit the ability to make a decision in the broadest sense. In contrast to the child, who is characterized by instinctual fluctuations , Karl Abraham sees the mature person as free from ambivalence. Other psychoanalysts see in most human impulses an ambivalence between libido and thanatos or love and the instinct for destruction and assign them to the ego functions .

Classification and measurement

According to Bleuler, ambivalence can be divided into a juxtaposition of contradicting ones

  1. Feelings - "affective ambivalence"
  2. Desires - "voluntary ambivalence" or ambition tendency
  3. Assessments - "intellectual ambivalence"

The terms " ambitendency " and " ambiguity " are sometimes used interchangeably with ambivalence.

As a result, the term was adopted by Freud in psychoanalysis, where it was further developed in various ways and subsequently adopted in psychology and social psychology and used in psychotherapy.

In motivational psychology, Thomae (1960) uses the term ambivalence to point out aversion-appetite conflicts.

In social psychology, the ambivalence of an attitude can be measured on the basis of the semantic differential . For this purpose, the negative pole (for example "stupid") and the positive pole ("intelligent") are assessed separately. Ambivalence is tapped when an attitude object is simultaneously judged in the direction of the negative and the positive pole. Another way of measuring ambivalence is to assess it directly using a questionnaire.

Explanation : The questionnaire for recording ambivalent sexism towards women (ASI; theory of ambivalent stereotypes ) contains statements that are hostile ("Most women rate harmless comments as sexist") and benevolent ("In the event of a disaster, women must be rescued first") ) Address settings.

In the 1960s, the concept of ambivalence found its way into sociology, initially in the context of the analysis of (professional) roles, later in that of intergenerational relationships and the diagnosis of the time. At about the same time, reception began in literary studies, as well as in art and music studies. In parallel with its reception in the sciences, the term also found its way into everyday language.

Various discussion forums in scientific journals document the further development of the term.

The conceptual history and the discourse analyzes of the concept of ambivalence in different human, cultural and social science discourses and disciplines suggest that anthropologically significant issues are addressed. You can find yourself in overarching ideas such as images of people and society and in the concrete design of human action.

Web links

Wiktionary: Ambivalence  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: ambivalent

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wheel of Fortuna
  2. ↑ Ambivalence. In: Duden , accessed 2017.
  3. ↑ Ambivalence. Invention and representation of the term by Eugen Bleuler. Retrieved June 8, 2016 .
  4. ↑ Uwe Henrik Peters: Lexicon of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Medical Psychology: with an English-German dictionary attached . Elsevier, Urban & Fischer Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-437-15061-6 , pp. 24 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  5. ^ E. Jaeggi: Ambivalence . In A. Schorr (Hrsg.): Concise dictionary of applied psychology. Deutscher Psychologen Verlag, Bonn 1993, pp. 12-14.
  6. ↑ H. Thomae: The human being in the decision . Huber, Bern 1960.
  7. ^ HW Bierhoff: Newer survey methods . In: E. Erdfelder, R. Mausfeld, T. Meiser, G. Rudinger (eds.): Handbook of quantitative methods . Psychologie Verlags Union, Weinheim 1996, pp. 59–70. doi: 10.25521 / HQM05
  8. ↑ K. Jonas, P. Broemer, M. Diehl: Attitudinal ambivalence . In: W. Stroebe, M. Hewstone (Eds.): European review of social psychology . Volume 11. Wiley, Chichester 2000, pp. 35-74.
  9. ^ P. Glick, ST Fiske: The ambivalent sexism inventory. Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism . In: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 70, 1996, pp. 491-512.
  10. ^ P. Glick, ST Fiske: An ambivalent alliance. Hostile and benevolent sexism as complementary justifications for gender inequality . In: American Psychologist , 56, 2001, pp. 109-118.
  11. ↑ K. Lüscher: Ambivalence: A sociological approach . In: W. Dietrich, K. Lüscher, C. Müller (Eds.): Recognize, endure and shape ambivalences. A new interdisciplinary perspective for theological and church work . Theological Publishing House Zurich (TVZ), Zurich, 2009, pp. 17–67.
  12. ^ K. Lüscher: Intergenerational ambivalence. Further steps in theory and research . In: Journal of Marriage and Family (JMF), 64, 2002, pp. 585-593.
  13. ^ K. Lüscher: Continue writing ambivalence . In: Forum of Psychoanalysis. Journal for clinical theory and practice , 27 (4), 2011, pp. 373–393.
  14. ↑ Thinking further ambivalence . In: Familiendynamik , 39 (2), 2014.
  15. ↑ K. Lüscher: People as "omines ambivalent" . In: D. Korczak (ed.): Experiences of ambivalence . Asanger, Kröning, 2012, pp. 11–32.