Empirical contributions to a theory of ambivalence.

Ambivalence is defined as the coexistence of opposed emotional attitudes toward a significant figure in the social environment. A new technique for the assessment of ambivalence is described; its application in a series of studies on college students, hospitalized schizophrenics, and school children reviewed. The obtained relationships of ambivalence to sociocultural characteristics, perceived family relationships, psychosexual conflicts, defenses, and superego variables are presented. Data on the generality of ambivalent feelings toward parents, other authority figures, God, and siblings are also given. Finally, the empirical findings are pulled together to evolve a theoretical account of the psychodynamics of ambivalence, covering both etiological aspects and manifestations in the adult personality.