THE INTERNATIONAL

PSYCHO ANALYTI CAL

-

LIBRARY
No. 6

THE INTERNATIONAL PSYCHO-ANALYTICAL LIBRARY

EDITED BY ERNEST JONES, M.D.

No. 6

GROUP PSYCHOLOGY
AND THE ANALYSIS
OF THE EGO
SIGMUND FREUD,

MD., LL.D.

AUTHORIZED TRANSLATION BY

JAMES STRACHEY

FIFTH IMPRESSION

LONDON
THE HOGARTH PRESS, 42 WILLL\M IV STREET. W.C.2
AND THE INSTITUTE OF PSYCHO-ANALYSIS
1949

BOSTON UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF qnriAi x^/r^oir

PUBLISHED BY

The Hogarth Press Ltd

LONDON
Clarke, Irwin

&

Co. Ltd

TORONTO

This Translation
First published

1922

Second Impression

940

Third Impression

945

Fourth Impression 1948

Fifth Impression
f.OPYRIC.HT

PRINTED

IN

1949

GREAT BRITAIN BY

LOWE AND BRYDONE PRINTERS

LTD.,

cr t.

LONDON, N.VV.IO

173

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE

comparison of the following pages with the

German

original {^Massenpsychologie

und Ich-Analyse,

Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag, Vienna, 192 i)

will show that certain passages have been transferred

the English version from the text to the footnotes.

This alteration has been carried out at the author's
in

express desire.
technical

All

terms

have

been

accordance with the Glossary to be

translated

published

as

in

supplement to the International Jo7irnal of PsychoAnalysis

J.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

s.

CONTENTS

II

Introduction

Le

Bon's Description of the Group

Mind

in

Other Accounts of Collective Mental Life

IV

Suggestion and Libido

V Two
VI

Artificial

Further Problems and Lines of

i/VII

Identification

^YSl

Being

IX

X
XI

Xn

Groups: the Church and the

in

Love and Hypnosis

The Herd

Instinct

The Group and

Work

the Primal

....

Differentiating

Postscript

Horde

Grade

in the

Ego

Army

GROUP PSYCHOLOGY AND

THE ANALYSIS OF THE EGO
I

INTRODUCTION

The

contrast between Individual Psychology and Social

^

Group Psychology, which at a first glance may

seem to be full of significance, loses a great deal
of its sharpness when it is examined -more closely.
or

It

true

is

that

Psychology is concerned
and explores the paths by

Individual

with the individual

man

which he seeks to find

only rarely and under

satisfaction for his instincts;

certain

exceptional

but

conditions

Individual Psychology in a position to disregard the

relations of this individual to others. In the individual's
is

mental

to

life

someone

else

is

invariably

involved,

as a

*
P Group' is used throughout this translation as equivalent
the rather more comprehensive German Masse\ The author
^

latter word to render both McDougall's 'group', and

Bon's ^foule\ which would more naturally be translated
'crowd '-in English. For the sake of uniformity, however, 'group'
has been preferred in this case as well, and has been substituted

uses
also

this

Le

for 'crowd'

Le Bon.

even

in

Translator

the extracts from the English translation of

?[

Grotip Psychology

and

the Analysis of the

Ego

an object, as a helper, as an opponent,

and so from the ver}^ first Individual Psychology is at
as

model,

same time

Psychology as well in this

extended but entirely justifiable sense of the words.
The relations of an individual to his parents and

the

to his brothers

and to
have

Social

and

sisters,

been

the

physician

his

hitherto

analytic

fact

in

research may

to the object of his love,

all

chief

claim

the relations which

to

be

of

psychoconsidered as

subject

in this respect they may be

with
certain
other
contrasted
processes, described b}^
in which the satisfaction of the
narcissistic
us as

social

phenomena; and
'

'

instincts

is

partially

social

and

them

'autistic'

totally

withdrawn

from the

The contrast between

people.
Bleuler would perhaps call

other

of

influence

or

mental

narcissistic

acts

therefore

falls

wholly

domain of Individual Psycholog}^ and is

not well calculated to differentiate it from a Social
within

the

or

Group Psychology.
The individual in the relations w^hich have already
been mentioned to his parents and to his brothers
and sisters, to the person he is in love with, to his
comes under the influence
friend, and to his physician
of only a single person, or of a ver}^ small number
of persons, each one of whom has become enormously

important

to

Group Psychology
relations

Now

him.
it

has

in

speaking

become

on one side and to

of Social

or

usual to leave these

isolate as the subject of

Introduction

is

may

large

of people simultaneously,

is

Psychology

man

by a

individual

people with whom

connected by something, though otherwise they
in many respects be
strangers to him.
Groups

number
he

an

of

inquirv^ the influencing

as a

therefore concerned with the individual'

member

of a race, of a nation, of a caste,

of a profession, of an

or as a

institution,

component

>

part of a crowd of people who have been organised

into a group at some particular time for some definite
purpose. When once natural continuity has been
severed in this w^ay, it is easy to regard the pheno-

mena

that appear

under

being expressions of
further

reducible,

these
special

special

conditions as

instinct

the social instinct

that

is

not

('herd instinct',

'group mind'), which does not come to

other situations.
But we may perhaps

light in

any

venture to

object that it seems difficult to attribute to the factor

of number a significance so great as to make it capable
by itself of arousing in our mental life a new instinct
that

is

pectation

otherwise
is

possibilities:

not

therefore

Our exbrought into play.

directed towards two other

that the social

instinct

may

not

be a

primitive one and insusceptible of dissection, and that

it
may be possible to discover the beginnings of its

development

in

a narrow^er

circle,

such as that of the

family.

it

Although Group Psychology is only in its infancy,

embraces an immense number of separate issues

\
^

Group Psychology and

and

offers to investigators

have hitherto
from

one

different forms of

a great

countless

even been

not

another.

of the mental

the Analysis of the

problems

properly

The mere

Ego
which

distinguished
of the

classification

group formation and the description

phenomena produced by them

expenditure

and

of observation

and have already given

rise to

require

exposition,

copious* literature.
dimensions of this

Anyone who compares the narrow

will
little book with the extent of Group Psychology
at once be able to guess that only a few points chosen
from the whole material are to be dealt

And

will

they
which the

in fact only

be

depth-psychology
concerned.
specially

a
of

few^

with here.

questions with

psycho-analysis

is

LE BON'S DESCRIPTION OF THE GROUP MIND

Instead

more

of

starting

useful to

begin

from

with

some

seems

it

definition,

of

indication

the

range of the phenomena under review, and to select

from among them a few specially striking and
characteristic

attached.

facts

We

can

to

which

achieve

our

both

inquiry

of

these

can

be

aims by

means of quotation from Le Bon's deservedly famous

work Psychologic des fotdcs)
Let us make the matter clear once

again.

If

with exploring the predisPsychology, concerned

the
instincts, the motives and the aims of
positions,
tions with

man down to his

those who are nearest

achieved

its

an individual

task,

these matters

with

and

actions
to him,

had completely

and had cleared up the

their

inter-connections,

then suddenly find itself confronted by

which would lie before it unachieved.
*

The Crowd: a Study of

2th. Impression,

1920.

the

his rela-

a
It

whole of
it

would

new
would

task

be

Popular Mind, Fisher Unwin,

Group Psychology and the Analysis of

understand

different

And

thought,

had come

it

and acted

felt,

Ego

that under a

obliged to explain the surprising fact

certain condition this individual whom
to

the

in

quite

way from what would have been expected.

this

condition

insertion

his

is

into

collection

of people which has acquired the characteristic of a

What, then, is a 'group'?
^psychological group'.

How
a

does

acquire the capacity for exercising such

mental life of the
influence over the

it

decisive

And what

individual?

change which
It

is

it

nature

the

is

upon the

forces

of

the mental

individual?

the task of a theoretical

Group Psychology

The best way of

questions.
start
with the third.
to
evidently

to answ^er these

three

approaching them is
Observation of the changes

in

the individual's reactions

what provides Group Psychology with its material;

for every attempt at an explanation must be preceded
by a description of the thing that is to be

is

explained.
I

will

now

'The most

says:

Le Bon speak

let

striking
^

is

psychological group
the individuals that
unlike

be

character,

their

or their

peculiarity

the

following.

compose

mode

of

for

life,

it,

presented by a

Whoever be

however

like

their occupations,

intelligence,

the

He

himself.

fact

or

their

that they

group puts them in

possession of a sort of collective mind which makes

have been

transformed

[See footnote page

i.]

into

Le Bon' s
them

think,

feel,

from that

in

think,

feel,

a manner quite different

individual of them would

and act

in

which each

and act were he

a state

in

and

There are certain ideas

come

Mind

Description of the Group

feelings

of isolation.

which

do not

do not transform themselves

into being, or

into

acts except in the case of individuals forming a group.

The

a provisional being formed

of heterogeneous elements, which for a moment are
combined, exactly as the cells which constitute a
psychological group

body form by

living

displays

is

their reunion a nev/ being

characteristics

very

possessed by each of the

shall take the

We

cells

different
singly.'

libert\'

from
(p.

which
those

29.)^

of interrupting

Le

Bon's exposition with glosses of our own, and shall

If
accordingly insert an observation at this point.
the individuals

in

the

group

are

combined

into

must surely be something to unite them,

and this bond might be precisely the thing that is
characteristic of a group. But Le Bon does not answer
unity, there

question; he goes on to consider the alteration

which the individual undergoes when in a group and
describes it in terms w-hich harmonize well with the

this

fundamental postulates of our own depth-psychology.

'

easy to prove how much the individual

forming part of a group differs from the isolated
individual, but it is less easy to discover the causes
It

is

of this difference.
^

[References are to

the English translation.

Translator?^

Group Psychology and

the Analysis of the

Ego

To

obtain at any rate a glimpse of them it is

necessary in the first place to call to mind the truth
established by modern psychology, that unconscious

phenomena play an
not only in organic
of the intelligence.
of small
scious

observer,

The
in

importance

The most

life.

is

preponderating part
but also in the operations

altogether
life,

conscious

analyst,

than a very small number

that determine his conduct.

is'

uncon-

its

the most acute

discovering more
of the conscious^ motives

successful

scarcety

with

comparison

subtle

mind

of the

life

in

Our conscious

'

acts are

the outcome of an unconscious substratum created in

the

mind

substratum

handed

which

generation,
Behind the
lie

edly

constitute

avowed causes

secret

ignorant.^

the

still,

The

the

generation to
genius of a race.

we do
there

which

not

are

we

avow,

many

hidden

motives

ourselves

which

but

others

greater part of our daily actions

of

result

causes
of

common

from

of our acts there undoubt-

causes that

secret

behind these secret

more

down

This

influences.

innumerable

the

of

consists

characteristics

>

main by hereditary

in the

escape

are
are

our

'

observation.
^

reads

(p.

30.)

[The German translation of Le Bon, quoted by the author,

the English translation has 'unconscious'; and

beivusster'

the original French text

inconscients\ Translator.]

[The English translation reads 'which we ourselves ignore'

a misunderstanding of the French word 'ignorees\
Translator.]
'

Le

Bon's Description of the Group

Le Bon

thinks

of individuals
that in this

that

become

in

submerged
~that-^the

which

in

what

mental

is

what

is

shows

and

a group,

The

vanishes.

heterogeneous

is

We

may say
the development of

homogeneous.

superstructure,

individuals

in

distinctiveness

unconscious emerges;

racial

particular acquirements

obliterated

their

way

the

Mind

such

dissimilarities,

is

removed, and that the unconscious foundations, which

are similar in everyone, stand exposed to view.
In this

to

individuals in a

way

show an .average

character.

that they also display

have

new

group would come\^

But Le Bon believes ^

characteristics

and

not

which they

he

previously possessed,
reason for this in three different factors.

^*The

first

is

seeks

that the individual forming

the

part of

t.-

a group acquires, solely from numerical considerations,

a sentiment of invincible power which allows him to'

had he been alone, he would

He will be the
perforce have kept under restraint.
yield to instincts which,

less disposed to

check himself from he consideration

a group being anonymous,

irresponsible, the sentiment of

that,

and

in

consequence
responsibility which

always controls individuals disappears entirely.' (p. 33.)

From our point of view we need not attribute
so

much

importance

ditions

the

appearance

of

new

would be enough \o say

a group the individual is brought under conwhich allow him to throw off the repressions

characteristics.

that in

to

For us

it

'

of

Group Psychology and

^characteristics

the

mamlestations

that

pFedisposition.

instincts.

of

We

th is

is

no

can find

of

wh ich

in

unconscious^

human mind

tHe

in

evil

is

Ego

Theapparently new
whichhg_,tben^ displays are in fact

unconscious

his

the Analysis of the

all

contained as a

difficulty

inunder^

conscience

or of a
disappearance
standing
^sehse of -responsibility in these circumstances. It has
tEe~*

'

long been our contention that dread of society [soziale

Angsty is the essence of what is called conscience.^
"'^
^

*The second

cause,

intervenes to determine

which

contagion, also
manifestation in groups

the

is

of their special characteristics, and at the same time

they are to take.
Contagion is a pheno-

the trend

menon

of which

it

is

easy

to establish the presence,

not easy to explain. It must be classed

those phenomena of a Jiypnotix: order, which

but that

it is

-t

among
we shall

shortly study.

In a

group every sentiment

and act

is

and

contagious

contagious,

There

is

some

difference

to

such

between Le Bon's view and

ours owing to his concept of the unconscious not quite coinciding

with the one adopted by psycho-analysis. Le Bon's unconscious

more
racial

especially contains the most deeply buried features of the

mind, which as a matter of fact lies outside the scope of

We

do not fail to recognize, indeed, that the

which
nucleus,
comprises the 'archaic inheritance' of the
ego's
human mind, is unconscious; but in addition to this we

psycho-analysis.

distinguish

the

'unconscious repressed', which arose from a

This concept of the repressed is not

portion of that inheritance.

to be found in Le Bon.

Le

Mind

Bon's Description of the Group

1 1

degree that an individual readily sacrifices his personal

interest to the collective interest. This is an aptitude
very contrary to his nature, and of which a man is
scarcely capable, except when he makes part of a
group.' (p. 33.)

We
upon
*

later

shall

on base an important conjecture

this last

statement.

cause, and

third

most important,

the individuals of a group special chaare quite contrary at times to

determines

in

racteristics

which

those

far the

by

by the

presented

isolated

individual.

allude

to that suggestibility of which, moreover, the contagion

mentioned above
'

To

is

only an effect.

understand

to bear in

mind

this

phenomenon

it

is

necessary

certain recent physiological discoveries.

We

know to-day

ual

may be

by various processes an

that

brought

such

into

individ-

condition

that,

conscious personality, he obeys

having
all the
suggestions of the operator who has deprived
him of it, and commits acts in utter contradiction
entirely lost his

with

his

character

and

The

habits.

most

careful

seem to prove that an individual imsome length of time in a group in action

investigations

mersed

for

soon finds

either

himself

in

magnetic influence given out

consequence

by
some other cause of which we
special

state,

fascination

in

which

of

the

the group, or from

in a
are ignorant

much resembles

the

state

of

which the hypnotised individual finds

Group Psychology and

himself

hands of the

the

in

the Analysis of the

hypnotiser.

Ego

The

will
has
vanished ;
entirely
personality
discernment are lost. All feelings and thoughts

conscious

and

bent

are

the

in

determined

direction

by

the

hypnotiser.
'

Such

also

is

approximately the

state

of the

individual forming part of a psychological group.

is

no longer conscious of

his

acts.

In

his

case,

He
as

case of the hypnotised subject, at the same

time that certain faculties are destroyed, others may
be brought to a high degree of exaltation. Under
in

the

of a suggestion, he will undertake the

accomplishment of certain acts with irresistible imthe

influence

petuosity.

the

case

from the

subject,

same

for

strength
*

This impetuosity is the more irresistible in

of groups than in that of the hypnotised
all

by

We

conscious

fact that, the suggestion being the

the individuals of the group,

reciprocity.'

see,

then,

personality,

gains in

34.)

disappearance of the
predominance of the un-

that the

the

by means of sugand contagion of feelings and ideas in an

conscious personality,
gestion

(p.

it

identical direction, the

the

turning

tendency to immediately trans-

form the suggested ideas

into acts; these,

we

see, are

the principal characteristics of the individual forming

He is no longer himself, but has
part of a group.
become an automaton who has ceased to be guided

by

his will.'

(p.

35.)

Le Bon' s
I

Description of the Group

have quoted

this

passage so

Mind

fully in

order to

quite clear that Le Bon explains the condition

of an individual in a group as being actually hypnotic,

make

it

does not merely make a comparison between

have no intention of raising any
the two states.

and

We

objection at this point, but wish only to emphasize

the fact that the tw^o last causes of an individual

a group (the contagion and the

heightened suggestibility) are evidently not on a par,
since the contagion seems actually to be a manifestation

becoming altered

in

of the suggestibility.
Moreover the effects of the two
factors do not seem to be sharply differentiated in
the text of Le Bon's remarks.
may perhaps

We

best interpret his statement if we connect the contagion

with the eftects of the individual members of the

group upon one another,

source

for

w^hile

those manifestations

we

point to another
of suggestion in the

group which are put on a level with the phenomena

But to w^hat source?
hypnotic influence.

We

.of

cannot avoid being struck with a sense of deficiency

when we notice that one of the chief elements of
the comparison, namely the person

who

the hypnotist in the case of the group,

in

Le Bon's

tinguishes

exposition.

between

But

he

is

is to replace
not mentioned

nevertheless

this influence of fascination

dis-

which

remains plunged in obscurity and the contagious effect

which the individuals exercise upon one another and

by which the

original suggestion

is

strengthened.

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

Here

yet another important consideration for

helping us to understand the individual in a group:
Moreover, by the mere fact that he forms part of
is

an organised group,

several

rungs

Isolated, he may be a
a crowd, he is a barbarian

the ladder of civilisation.

in

cultivated individual; in

the

He possesses
a creature acting by instinct.
the
the
violence,
ferocity, and also
spontaneity,

the

enthusiasm

that

man descends

is,

and

heroism

'

of

primitive

beings.

He

then dwells especially upon the low^ering in

intellectual ability which an individual experiences when
(p. 36.)

he becomes merged in a group.^

Let us now leave the individual, and turn to
the group mind, as it has been outlined by Le Bon.
It

shows not a

would
from

find
its

any

difficulty

source.

Le Bon

by pointing

to

its

primitive people

A
It

is

single feature

group

placing or in deriving
himself shows us the way
in

similarity with

and of children

is

impulsive,

led almost exclusively

^

which a psycho-analyst

the

(p.

mental

life

of

40).

changeable and

irritable.

by the unconscious.^ The

Schiller's couplet:
ihn einzeln, ist leidlichklug und verstandig;
Sind sie in corpore, gleich wird euch ein Dummkopf daraus.

Compare

Jeder, sieht

man

[Everyone, seen by himself,

When

is

passably shrewd and discerning;

then straightway you'll find

they're in corpore,

he's

an

ass.]

Unconscious is used here correctly by Le Bon in the

descriptive sense, where it does not only mean the 'repressed'.
^

'

'

Le

Bon' s Description of the Group

Mind

impulses which a group obeys may according to

circumstances be generous or cruel, heroic or cowardly,
but they are always so imperious that no personal

not even that of self-preservation, can

interest,
itself felt

Though
is

41). Nothing about

(p.
it

may

never so

verance.
desire

desire

It

for

long,

cannot

and the

things
for

it

it

is

premeditated.

passionately,
is

make

incapable

yet this
of perse-

any delay between its

of what it desires. It has

tolerate

fulfilment

of omnipotence; the notion of impossibility

^
disappears for the individual in a group.
group is extraordinarily credulous and open

sense

to

influence,

it

has

no

critical

faculty,

and

the

improbable does not exist for it. It thinks in images,

which call one another up by association (just as

w-

they arise with individuals in states of free imagination),

and whose agreement with reality is never checked

by any reasonable function \Instanz\? The_jeelings__of^

a group are always very simple and very
exagger-'^
ated. S o that a group knows neifheP~doubt nor
"

"""

~^

uncertainty.^"
^

Compare Totem unci Tabu, III., 'Animismus, Magie, und

Allmacht der Gedanken.' [Totem and Taboo. New York, Moffat, 10 18.
London, Kegan Paul, 19 19.]

[See footnote p. 69.]

In

the

interpretation of dreams, to which, indeed, we

of unconscious mental life, we follow a

owe our best knowledge

technical rule of disregarding doubt and uncertainty in the narrative

Group Psychology and

the Analysis of the

goes directly to extremes;

It

Ego

suspicion is
expressed, it is instantly changed into an incontrovertible
certainty; a trace of antipathy is turned into furious

hatred

(p.

if

56).^

extremes, a group
can only be excited by an excessive stimulus. Anyone
who wishes to produce an effect upon it needs no
Inclined

as

adjustment

logical

itself

it

in

his

is

to

all

arguments; he must paint

dream, and of treating every element of the manifest

being quite certain. We attribute doubt and uncertainty to the influence of the censorship to which the dream-work
is subjected, and we assume that the primary dream-thoughts are
of the

dream

as

not acquainted with doubt and uncertainty as critical processes.

They may naturally be present, like everything else, as part of
of the day's residue which leads to the dream.
Die
TraumdeuHtng, 6. Auflage, 192 1, S. 386. \The Inter(See
pretation of Dreams. Allen and Unwin, 3rd. Edition, 191 3,
the

content

p. 409.])
^

The same extreme

every emotion

and

it

of the

is

also

and

unmeasured

intensification

a feature of the affective

life

of

of children,

present as well in dream life. Thanks to the isolation

single emotions in the unconscious, a slight annoyance

is

during the day will express

itself in

dream

as a wish for the

offending person's death, or a breath of temptation may give the

impetus to the portrayal in the dream of a criminal action.

Hanns Sachs has made an appropriate remark on this point: 'If

to discover in consciousness all that the dream has made

we try
known

to us of its bearing upon the present (upon reality), we

need not be surprised that what we saw as a monster under the
microscope of analysis now reappears as an infusorium.' {Die

Tratmideutung,

S.

457. [Translation p. 493.])

Le
the

in

and

Bon' 5 Description of the Group

most

forcible

must

he

Mind

he must exaggerate,
same thing again and

colours,

the

repeat

again.

Since a group is in no doubt as to what constitutes truth or error, and is conscious, moreover, of

own

its

it

great sti-ength,
obedient to authority.

be

only

regards

demands of
It

as

merely
its

It

influenced

slightly

heroes

form
is

as

is

intolerant

force

respects

by kindness,
weakness.

of

and can
which

and

it

Fundamentally

is

it

What

wants to be ruled and oppressed and to fear

masters.

is

it

it

even violence.

or

strength,

as

entirely

its

conservative,

has a deep aversion from all innovations and

advances and an unbounded respect for tradition
(p.

it

62).

In order to

make a
one

morals of groups,
the

that

fact

group

individuals

come together in a
fall away and all

their individual inhibitions

all

the cruel,

dormant

when

correct judgement upon the

must take into consideration

brutal

and destructive

in individuals as relics of

are stirred

up to

find

instincts,

which

lie

a primitive epoch,

But under

free gratification.

the influence of suggestion groups are also capable

of high achievements in the shape of abnegation,
unselfishness,

and devotion to an

isolated

personal interest
with groups it
force,

only

ideal.

individuals

motive

prominent.

It is

possible to

speak

While with
almost

is
is

very

of an

the

rarely

individual

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

having his moral standards raised by a group (p. 65).

Whereas the intellectual capacity of a group is always
far

below that of an

may

rise as

below

above

high

his

ethical

its

individual,

as

may

it

conduct

sink

deep

it.

Some

other

features

Le Bon's

in

description

a clear light how well justified is the identification of the group mind with the mind of primitive

show

in

In groups the most contradictory ideas can

people.
exist side by side and tolerate each other, without

from

the

any conflict arising

between them. But

this is also the

conscious mental

of individuals, of children and of

life

logical

contradiction

case

in

the un-

neurotics, as psycho-analysis has long pointed out.^

^

In

young

children,

who

attitudes towards those

for instance, ambivalent emotional

are nearest to them exist side by

long time, without either of them interfering with

expression of the other and contrary one. If eventually a
conflict breaks out between the two, it is often settled by the
side for a

the

child

making a change of object and displacing one of the

ambivalent emotions on

opment

Of a neurosis

to a substitute.

in

an

adult

The

will

history of the develshow that a sup-

also

pressed emotion may frequently persist for a long time in unconscious or even in conscious phantasies, the content of which
naturally runs directly counter to some predominant tendency,
and yet that this antagonism does not result in any proceedings

ego against what it has repudiated. The

tolerated
for quite a long time, until suddenly one
phantasy
as
a
result
of an increase in the affective cathexis
day, usually
footnote
of
the phantasy, a conflict breaks out
[see
page 48]

on the part of the

is

between

it

and the ego with

all

the usual consequences.

In the

Le Bon's

Description of the Group

Mind

19

group, further, is subject to the truly magical

power of words; they can evoke the most formidable
tempests in the group mind, and are also capable of

^Reason and arguments are

incapable of combating certain- words and formulas.

them

stilling

117).

(p.

with

are uttered

They

solemnity in

the

presence of

and as soon as they have been pronounced

an expression of respect is visible on every coun-

groups,

tenance,

and

are considered

are bowed.

heads

all

natural

as

It

forces,

By many
as

they

supernatural
this con-

in

is

only necessary
powers.' (p. 117.)
nection to remember the taboo upon names

among

people and the magical powers which they

^
ascribe to names and words.

primitive

And,truth.

finally,

groups

They demand

have

never

thirsted

after

and cannot do without

illusions,

process of a child's development into a mature adult there is a

more and more extensive integration of its personality, a coordination of the separate instinctive feelings and desires which
have grown up in him independently of one another. The analogous

has long been known to us

the sexual instincts into a definitive

process in the domain of sexual

as

the

co-ordination of

all

life

genital organisation. {Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie, 1 90 5.

[Three Contributions' to the Sexual Theory. Nervous and Mental

Disease

Monograph

unification of the

of the
that

of

libido is

men

ego

Series,
is

No.

liable to

1910.])

same interferences

shown by numerous

of science

who have

Bible, and the like.

*
See Totem unci Tabu.

Moreover, that the

7,

the

familiar

as that

instances, such as

preser\^ed their faith

in

the

20

Group Psychology and

the Analysis of the

Ego

them. They constantly give what is unreal precedence

over what is real; they are almost as strongly influenced by what is untrue as by what is true. They

have an evident tendency not to distinguish between

the two (p. ^^),

We
the

life

have pointed out that this predominance of

of phantasy and of the illusion born of an
wish

unfulfilled

We

of neuroses.
are guided

is

by

is

the ruling factor in the psychology

have found that what neurotics

not

ordinary

objective

reality

but

based

hysterical symptom
psychological reality.
instead
of
upon the repetition of real
upon phantasy
experience, and the sense of guilt in an obsessional

neurosis

is

based upon the

is

was never carried

dreams and in hypnosis,

which

of a group

the

function

fact

of an

evil

intention

Indeed, just as in
in the mental operations
for testing the reality of
out.

things falls into the background in comparison with

the strength of wishes with their affective cathexis.^

What Le Bon
groups

is

says on the subject of leaders of

less exhaustive, and does, not enable us to

make out an
thinks that as

underlying

soon

as

principle

so

clearly.

are

He

gathered
beings
whether
matter
no
numbers,
together
they are a herd of animals or a collection of human
beings, they place themselves instinctively under the
in

certain

[See footnote p. 48.]

living

Le

Bon's Description of the Group

authority of a chief
ient
It

herd,

(p.

134).

which could never

has such a thirst

for

Mind

group

21

an obed-

is

without a master.

live

obedience

that

it

submits

anyone who appoints himself its master.

way the needs of a group carry
Although
half-way to meet the leader, yet he too must fit in

instinctively to

in this

it

with

it

in his

personal qualities.

He must

heldji-iascination by a strong
order to awaken the group's faith

faith
j

himself

be

(in an idea) in
he must possess

a strong and inipnsing will, which the group, which

has no will of its own, can accept from him. Le
Bon then discusses the different kinds of leaders, and
the means

the whole he believes that the leaders

felt

On

by which they work upon the group.

by means of the ideas

in

make themselves

which they themselves

are fanatical believers.

Moreover, he ascribes both to the ideas and to

the leaders a mysterious and irresistible power, which
he calls 'prestige'. Prestige is a sort of domination
exercised over us by an individual, a work or an idea.
It entirely paralyses our 'critical faculty, and fills us

astonishment

with

and respect.

arouse a feeling like that

(p.

148).

He

distinguishes

of

would

It

fascination

in

seem

to

hypnosis

between acquired or

arti-

and personal prestige. The former is attached

to persons in virtue of their name, fortune and reputation, and to opinions, works of art, etc., in virtue

ficial

of tradition.

Since

in

every

case

it

harks back to

U"'

22

Group Psychology and

the past,

it

this

cannot be of

standing
attached to a

means of
thing

it,

the Analysis of the

much

Ego

help to us in underPersonal prestige is

puzzling influence.

few people, who become leaders by

and it has the effect of making every-

obey them as though by the operation of some

magnetic

magic.

All

dependent upon success, and

failure (p.

We

however,

prestige,
is

lost in

the

is

also

event of

159).

cannot

feel

that

Le Bon has brought

the

function of the leader and the importance of prestige

completely into harmony with his

picture of the group mind.

brilliantly

executed

Ill

OTHER ACCOUNTS OF COLLECTIVE

MENTAL LIFE

We

have

way

of introduction,

our

own Psychology

made use

of

Le

because
in

upon unconscious mental

the
life.

Bon's
it

fits

description
in

by

so well with

emphasis which it lays

But we must now add

that as a matter of fact none of that

author's state-

ments bring forward anything new. Everything that he

says to the detriment and depreciation of the manifestations

by others
equal

group mind had already been said

before him with equal distinctness and

of the

and has been repeated

statesmen and writers since

hostility,

thinkers,

in

unison

the

by

earliest

periods of literature.^ The two theses which comprise the most important of Le Bon's opinions, those

touching upon the collective inhibition of intellectual

functioning and the heightening of affectivity in groups,
*

Die Psychologie der Kollektivitdien.

B. Kraskovic jun.
Translated [into German] from the Croatian by Siegmund von
Posavec. Vukovar, 191 5. See the body of the work as well as
:

the bibliography.

24

Group Psychology and

had been formulated

the Analysis of the

shortly before

by

Ego

Sighele.*

At

over as being peculiar to Le

bottom,
Bon are the two notions of the unconscious and of
all

that

is

left

comparison with the mental life of primitive

people, and even these had naturally often been

the

alluded to before him.

more, the description and estimate

of the group mind as they have been given by Le
Bon and the rest have not by any means been left

what

But,

is

undisputed. There is no doubt that all the phenomena

of the group mind which have just been mentioned

have been correctly observed, but

to

it

manifestations

other

is

also possible

of

the

group
a
in
which
formation,
precisely opposite sense,
operate
and from which a much higher opinion of the group
mind must necessarily follow.
distinguish

Le Bon

himself was prepared to admit that in

certain circumstances the morals of a group can be
higher than those of the individuals that compose it,
and that only collectivities are capable of a high
of

degree
isolated

prominent.'
it

is

(p.

and devotion.

personal interest
force, with groups it

individuals

motive

only
that

unselfishness

is
is

While with
almost the

very

rarely

Other writers adduce the

65.)

only society which prescribes

any

fact

ethical

See Walter Moede *Die Massen- und Sozialpsychologie im

:

Meumann and Scheibner's Zeitschrift fur

pddagogische Psychologie und experimentelle Pddagogik. 191 5, XVI.
kritischen Oberblick.'

Other Accounts of Collective Mental Life

standards

at

all

for

the

while

individual,

25

he as a

one way or another to come up to its

Or they point out that in exceptional
high demands.
circumstances there may arise in communities the
rule fails

in

phenomenon of enthusiasm, which has made the

most splendid group achievements possible.
As regards intellectual work it remains a fact,
that great decisions in the realm of

indeed,

thought

and momentous discoveries and solutions of problems

are only possible to an individual, working in solitude.
But even the group mind is capable of genius in
intellectual creation, as
itself,

It

as well as

by

is

shown above

by language
and the like.

all

folk-song, folk-lore

how much

an open question, moreover,

remains

the individual thinker or writer owes

[to

the stimulation

of the group in which he lives, or whether he does

more than perfect a mental work in which the others

have had a simultaneous share.

In face of these completely contradictory accounts,

though the work of Group Psycholog}'were bound to come to an ineffectual end. But it

it

looks

as

easy to
dilemma.

is

find

more hopeful escape from

number of very

different

the

formations have
^

'

probably been merged under the term group and

may require to be distinguished. The assertions of
Sighele,

Le Bon.

find the

short-lived character,
hastily

rest relate to

which some passing

groups of a
interest has

agglomerated out of various sorts of individuals.

26

Gro2ip Psychology

The

and

the Analysis of the

Ego

of revolutionary
and
groups,
those
of the great French Revolution, have
especially
influenced
their descriptions.
The opunmistakably
characteristics

opinions owe their origin to the consideration

those stable groups or associations in which

posite

of

mankind pass

their lives,

and w^hich are embodied

in

the institutions of society. Groups of the first kind stand

in the same sort of relation to those of the second
as a high but

choppy sea to a ground swell.

McDougall, in his book on The Group Mind^
starts out from the same contradiction that has just

been mentioned,

and finds a solution

factor of organisation.
'

for

it

In the simplest case,

in

the

he says,

'

group possesses no organisation at all or one

He describes a group
scarcely deserving the name.
the

of this

crowd

kind
of

without

as

human

groups many

at

and

of the

But he admits that a

come

can hardly

beings

possessing

an organisation,

'crowd'.

all

that

events

the

precisely

in

together
rudiments of
these

simple

fundamental facts of Collective

Psychology can be observ^ed with special ease (p. 22).

Before the members of a random crowd of people
can constitute something

the nature of a group in

the psychological sense of the word, a condition has
to be fulfilled; these individuals must have something
in

common
^

with

in

one another, a

Cambridge University

common

Press, 1920.

interest

in

Other Accounts of Collective Mental Life

an object, a similar emotional bias
or

and

other,

interpolate)

some

situation

I
should like to^
('consequently',
of
reciprocal influence
degree

some

'

The

23).

in

27

the

of

'this

mental

(p.
higher
degree
homogeneity', the more readily do the individuals
form a psychological group, and the more striking

are the manifestations of a group mind.

The most remarkable and also the

'

exaltation
in

formation

intensification

of

it

(p.

of

of a

group Is the
emotion
produced

24).

men's emotions are stirred

opinion

that

conditions;

those

or

member

every

pitch

of the

result

portant

who

'

In

McDougall's

a group to a
or never attain under other

they seldom

and

most im-

in

pleasurable experience for

are concerned to surrender themselves so
is

it

unreservedly to their passions and thus to become

merged in the group and to lose the sense of the
limits of their individuality.
The manner in which

away by a common imexplained by McDougall by means of what

individuals

pulse

he

is

calls

by way
that

is,

are

thus

carried

the 'principle of direct induction of emotion

of the primitive sympathetic response' (p. 25),

by means of the emotional contagion with

we

are already familiar.

The fact is that the
of
the
of
an
emotional state is
perception
signs
calculated automatically to arouse the same emotion

which

in

the person

who

number of people

perceives them. The greater the

whom the same emotion can

in

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

28
\y

be simultaneously observed, the

does

stronger

this

automatic compulsion grow.

The individual loses his
power of criticism, and lets himself slip into the

same

But

emotion.

so

in

doing

he

the

increases

people, who had produced

this effect upon him, and thus the emotional charge
of the individuals becomes intensified by mutual

excitement of the

interaction.

other

Something

is

work in
do the same as the
at

unmistakably

the nature of a

compulsion to
The
others, to remain in harmony with the many.
coarser and simpler emotions are the more apt to
spread through a group in this way (p. 39).

This mechanism for the intensification of emotion

is

favoured by some other influences which emanate

from groups.
a

group impresses the individual with

sense of unlimited power and of insurmountable

peril.

For

human

society,

moment

the

which

whose punishments the

is

replaces the
the wielder of

it

individual fears,

sake he has submitted to so

many

and

whole

of

authorit}^,

for

inhibitions.

whose
It

is

him to put himself in opposition

to it, and it will be safer to follow the example of
those around him and perhaps even 'hunt with the
In obedience to the new authority he may
pack'.
out of action, and so
conscience
put his former
clearly perilous

for

'

surrender to the
that

is

hibitions.

certainly

On

'

attraction

obtained

the

whole,

of the increased pleasure

from the removal of intherefore,

it

is

not

so

Other Accounts of Collective Mental Life

we

that

remarkable

should

see

29

an individual

in

group doing or approving things which he would

have avoided in the normal conditions of life; and in
this

way we may even hope

the

mystery

which

word

enigmatic

so

is

to

often

clear

up a

little

covered

of

the

by

suggestion'.

does

dispute the thesis as to

inhibition
of intelligence in groups
the collective
He says that the minds of lower intelligence
(p. 41).

McDougall

down
The

bring
level.

not

those

of a

latter

are

higher order to their own

obstructed in their activity,

general an intensification of emotion

creates unfavourable conditions for sound intellectual

because

work,

in

and further because the individuals are intim-

by the group and their mental activity is

not free, and because there is a lowering in each
idated

sense of responsibility

of his

individual

for

own

his

performances.

The judgement

which

with

up the psychological behaviour of a simple

is
nised' group
no more friendly than

Le Bon.

Such a group

impulsive,

extreme
tions

and

the

careless

incapable

is

excessively

displaying only

less

of

refined
in

the

unorgathat

of

but

the

emotional,

irresolute

coarser

sentiments;

deliberation,

any

inconsistent,

fickle,

in action,

suggestible,

ment,

violent,

sums

McDougall

hasty

and

emo-

extremely
in

simpler

judg-

and

imperfect forms of reasoning; easily swayed and led,

30

Group Psychology and

the Analysis of the

Ego

lacking in self-consciousness, devoid of self-respect and

of sense of responsibility, and apt to be carried away

by the consciousness of
tends

to

learnt to expect

the

all

produce

its

own

any irresponsible and absolute

behaviour is like that of an unruly

power.

an untutored passionate savage

its

situation, rather than like that of its

the worst cases

it is

McDougall

in

a strange

average member;
a wild beast,

like that of

human

beings.'

contrasts

the

rather than like that of

Since

it

of

child or

in

that

we have

manifestations

Hence

and

so

force,

(p.

45.)

behaviour

of a

highly organised group with what has just been described, we shall be particularly interested to learn
in

what

factors

/
^

this
is

it

consists,

organisation

and

The author enumerates

produced.
'

conditions

principal
life

what

by

for

raising

collective

five

mental

to a higher level.

The

first

should be

and fundamental condition

some degree

for

some time;

that there

of continuity of existence in
be either material or formal:

This may
the group.
the former, if the same

group

is

individuals

and

the

persist

latter,

if

the

in

there

is

developed within the group a system of fixed positions

which are occupied by a succession of individuals.
The second condition is that in the individual

member
formed

of the group some definite idea should be

and
of the nature, composition, functions

capacities of

the group,

so

that

from

this

he

may

Other Accounts of Collective Alental Life

develop
whole.

an

The

emotional

the

to

relation

as

group

group should be brought

into interaction (perhaps in the form of rivalry) with
other groups similar to it but differing from it in
third

is

many respects.
The fourth

that the

group should possess

and especially such as

the

that

is

customs and habits,

traditions,

determine

the

of

relations

members

its

one

to

another.

The

fifth

is

group should have a

the specialisation and

that the
in

structure, expressed

entiation of the functions of

to

According
are

group

these

if

McDougall,

psychological
formation are removed.

differ-

constituents.

its

the

fulfilled,

definite

conditions
of

disadvantages

The

the

lower-

collective

avoided by withdrawing
ing
the performance of intellectual tasks from the group
of intellectual ability

and reserving them

It
seems to

McDougall

cure for

were

the

us

group

the

that

the

as

of the

his

own

of

organisation

be

those

individual

continuity,

which
'

in

described

how

features

and

his

to

a
in

pro-

which

which

extinguished in him by the formation of the

For the individual, outside the primitive

possessed

it.

condition

consists

precisely

of

'

justification

The problem

characteristic

members

for individual

designates
with more

group can
another way.

is

are

group.

group,

self-consciousness,

Group Psychology and

32

the Analysis of the

Ego

and customs, his own particular funcand position, and kept apart from his rivals.

his traditions

tions

to his entry into an

'

unorganised group he had

lost this distinctiveness for a time. If we thus
recognise that the aim is to equip the group with the

Owing

attributes

of

of a valuable

the

individual,

remark of

we

shall

be reminded

Trotter's,^ to the effect that

the tendency towards the formation of groups is biologically a continuation of the multicellular character

of

the higher organisms.

all

Instincts

of the Herd in Peace and War. Fisher Unwin, 1916.

IV

SUGGESTION AND LIBIDO

^

We

started

individual in a

to

what

the

group

is

fundamental

alteration

its

influence

in his

His emotions become extraordinarily

while his intellectual ability

reduced,

both

processes

an

that

fact

subjected through

often a profound

is

activity.
sified,

from

mental
inten-

becomes markedly

being

the

in

evidently

direction of an approximation to the other individuals

in

by

the group; and this result can only be reached

the removal of those inhibitions upon his instincts

which are peculiar

to

each

resigning those expressions

are especially his own.

individual,

of his

We

and

by

inclinations

his

which
I

have

heard

that

these

unwelcome consequences are to some extent

least prevented by a higher
of the
organisation

often

at

group;
fact

of

but

this

Group

does not contradict

Psychology the

the intensification
of the

intellect

'

the fundamental

two theses as to
of the emotions and the inhibition

in primitive

groups.

Our

interest

is

34

Group Psychology and

now

directed to discovering the psychological explan-

the Analysis of the

of this mental change which

the individual in a group.
ation

It

b}'

the

in-

which has

timidation of the individual

mentioned,

experienced

that rational factors (such

clear

is

is

that

is,

Ego

as

already

been

instinct of self-

the action of his

preservation) do not cover the observable phenomena.

Beyond this what we are offered as an explanation

by
is

authorities

upon Sociology and Group Psychology

always the same,

names,

Tarde

and that

is
'

calls

it

agreeing with

even though

the

magic
'

imitation

writer

who

but

given various

is

it

w^ord

'suggestion'.

we

protests

cannot
that

help

imitation

comes under the concept of suggestion, and is in

Le Bon traces back all the
fact one of its results.^
factors:
puzzling features of social phenomena to two
the mutual suggestion of individuals and the prestige
But prestige, again, is only recognizable
of leaders.
for

McDougall
evoking suggestion.
for a moment gives us an impression that his prinmight enable
ciple of primitive induction of emotion

by

its

capacity

'

'

But
us to do without the assumption of suggestion.
on further consideration we are forced to perceive
that this principle says no more than the familiar
assertions

about

imitation'

Brugeilles: 'L'essence

Revne philosophiqne,

1913,

or

'contagion',

du phenomene

XXV.

except

social: la suggestion.'

Suggestion
for

There
which,
tion

in

decided
is

no

stress

doubt

that

something exists in us
aware of signs of an emo-

when we become
someone else, tends
it,

resist

the

to

often

make
do we

emotion,

Why,

opposite way?

35

emotional factor.

the

upon

same emotion; but how

oppose

and Libido

us

fall

into the

and

not successfully
react in quite an

do

w^e invariably give

therefore,

way to this contagion when we are in a group?

Once more we should have to say that what compels us to obey this tendency is imitation, and what
induces the emotion in us is the group's suggestive

Moreover, quite apart from this, McDougall

does not enable us to evade suggestion; we hear

influence.

from him as well as from other writers

that

groups

are distinguished by their special suggestibility.

shall therefore be prepared for the statement

We

that

suggestion

actually an

(or

more

correctly

irreducible, primitive

damental fact

in

the

mental

life

suggestibility)

is.

a fun-

phenomenon,
of man. Such,

"*

too,

was the opinion of Bernheim, of whose astonishing \

arts I was a witness in the year 1889. But I can^
remember even then feeling a muffled hostility to
tyranny of suggestion.
showed himself unamenable

this

What
said

patient

who

was met with the shout:

are you doing? Vous vous contresuggestionnez!\

myself that this was an evident injustice

to

and an act of violence.

a right

When

to

For the

counter-suggestions

if

man

certainly

had

they were trying to

Group Psychology and

36

the Analysis of the

Later on

subdue him with suggestions.

my

Ego

resistance

took the direction of protesting against the view that

suggestion, which explained everything, was itself to

be preserved

from

repeated the old conundrum

of

Thinking

explanation.

it,

^
:

Christoph trug Christum,

Christus trug die ganze Welt,

wo

hat Christoph
Damals hin den Fuss gestellt?^

Sag'

Christophorus Christum,

sed Christus

sustulit

orbem:

Constiterit pedibus die ubi Christophorus?

Now

once more

approach the riddle of

suggestion after having kept away from it for some
thirty years, I find there is no change in the situation.

To

this

that

can discover only a single exneed not mention, since it is one

statement

ception, which

which bears witness to the influence of psycho-analysis.

I

notice

particular

efforts

are

being

made

to

suggestion correctly, that

to fix the conventional use of the name.^ And this

formulate
is,

that

the

concept

Konrad Richter:

1896, Acta Germanic a, V,

of

'Der deutsche

S.

Christoph.'

Berlin,

i.

Christopher bore Christ; Christ bore the whole

did Christopher then put his foot?']
where
world; Say,
'
Thus, McDougall: *A Note on Suggestion.' Journal of
^[Literally:

Neurology and Fsy chop aihology, 1920, Vol.

I,

No.

i.

Suggestion and Libido

37

by no means superfluous, for the word is acquiring

a more and more extended use and a looser and
and will soon come to designate
looser meaning,

is

any sort

where

influence

ot

'

'

as

whatever, just

and

to suggest

'

'

in

English,
correspond to

suggestion
our nahelegen and Anregung. But there has been no
explanation of the nature of suggestion, that is, of

the conditions under which influence without adequate

logical foundation takes place. I should not avoid
the task of supporting this statement by an analysis of
the literature of the last thirty years, if I were not
aware that an exhaustive inquiry is being undertaken

hand which has

close at

very task.
Instead of
the

this

this

make an attempt

shall

of libido

concept

view the fulfilment of

in

the

for

purpose

at using
of throwing

a concept which has

the study of psycho-

upon Group Psychology,

done us such good service in

light

neuroses.

Libido
of

the

an expression taken from the theory

emotions.
as

(regarded
at

is

present

We

call

the

that

actually

name

the energy
though not

magnitude,
mensurable) of those

quantitative

which have to do with

under

by

word Move'.

instincts

may be comprised
The nucleus of what we

all

that

(and this is what is

called love, and what the poets sing of)
But we
in sexual love with sexual union as its aim.

mean by
commonly

love

naturally consists

Group Psychology and

38

do not separate from

share in the

and

on

friendship

name

the

and love

'

in

has a

self-love,

love
for

Ego

what
case
on the oneany
hand,

this

love

other,

the Analysis of the

for

parents
in

humanity

and

children,

and

general,

also

devotion to concrete objects and to abstract ideas.

Our justification lies in the fact that psycho-analytic
research has taught us that all these tendencies are

an

expression

relations

way towards
are

they

of the

same

instinctive

between the sexes these

sexual union

from

diverted

from reaching

but

in

aim

this

though

it,

always

activities;

in

instincts force their

other circumstances
or

are

prevented

preserving

enough

of their original nature to keep their identity recognizable

such features as the longing for
(as in
proximity, and self-sacrifice).
are of opinion, then, that language has carried
out an entirely justifiable piece of unification in

We

'

love with its numerous uses, and

creating the word
that we cannot do better than take it as the basis

of our scientific
to

By coming

discussions
this

and expositions as

decision,

well.

psycho-analysis has

let

a storm of indignation, as though it had been

Yet psychoguilty of an act of outrageous innovation.
analysis has done nothing original in taking love in
loose

this

wider

'

sense.

In

its

origin, function,

and

relation

sexual love, the

Eros' of the philosopher Plato
coincides exactly with the love force, the libido, of
to

psycho-analysis,

as

has

been

shown

in

detail

by

and Libido

Suggestion

Nachmansohn and
in

famous

his

above

all

'

'

wider

not

39

and when the apostle Paul,

Pfister;^

the

Corinthians, prizes love

else, he certainly understands it in the same
epistle

only shows that men do

great thinkers seriously, even

But

sense.^

take

alw^ays

to

this

their

when they

profess most to admire them.

Psycho-analysis, then, gives these love instincts
the name of sexual instincts, a potiori and by reason

The majority

of their origin.

of

'

educated

'

people

insult, and
regarded
have taken their revenge by retorting upon ps3^cho-

have

this

nomenclature

analysis with the reproach of

who

sex as

considers

miliating

of the

human

to

as

an

Anyone

pan-sexualism'.

something mortifying and hu-

nature

at liberty to

is

make use

more genteel expressions 'Eros' and

erotic'.

might have done so myself from the first and thus

have spared myself much opposition. But I did not
1

want

for

to,

lead one; one gives

by

being
^

avoid

One can never

heartedness.

little

to

like

way

ashamed

of

sex;

to

faint-

tell

where that road

may

in

words, and then

little

first

substance too.

in

concessions

cannot see any merit

the

Greek

word

in

Eros',

Nachmansohn: *Freuds Libidotheorie verglichen mit der

Platos'. Internationale Zeitschrift fiir Psychoanalyse,

Bd. in; Pfister: 'Plato als Vorlaufer der Psychoanalyse',
ibid., 192 1, Bd. VII. ['Plato: a Fore-Runner of Psycho-Analysis'.
International Journal of Psycho- Analysis, 1922, Vol. III.]

Eroslehre
191 5,

'Though

have not love,

men and of angels, and

as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.'

speak with the tongues of

am become

40

Group Psychology and

which

is

soften the affront,

to

more than a
and

[love];

make no

We
position

the Analysis of the

translation

finally,

is

of our

in the

Ego

end nothing

German word Liebe

he whq knows how to wait need

concessions.
will

that

try

our fortune,

love

relationships

neutral expression,

emotional

essence of the group mind.

the authorities

What would

with

then,
(or,

to

the

sup-

use a more

also constitute the

ties)

Let us remember that

make no mention
correspond

cealed behind

of any such relations.

to them is evidently con-

the screen, of suggestion.

support in the first instance

the shelter,

Our hypothesis

finds

from two passing thoughts.

First,

that

a group

is

clearly held together by a power of some kind: and

to what power could this feat be better ascribed

than to Eros, who holds together everything in the

world? Secondly, that if an individual gives up his
distinctiveness in a group and lets its other members
influence

him by suggestion,

it

gives

one the

im-

pression that he does it because he feels the need

of being in harmony ^ith them rather than in opposition
it

to

them

so

that perhaps

after all

he does

^ihnen zu Liebe'}
^

[An idiom meaning

of them'.

Translator.]

*for their sake'.

Literally: *for lore

TWO

ARTIFICIAL GROUPS: THE

CHURCH

AND THE ARMY

We

what

from

recall

may

morphology of groups that

it

is

we

know

of

possible to distinguish

very different kinds of groups and opposing

their

development.

and extremely

There

are

the

lines in

very fleeting

groups

homogeneous ones, made

of individuals, and unhomoge-

lasting ones;

up of the same

sorts

neous ones; natural groups, apd artificial ones, requiring

an external force to keep them together; primitive
groups, and highly organised ones with a definite
structure.

explained
a distinction
given

too

leaderless

for reasons which have yet to be

should like to lay particular stress upon

But

we

to

little

v/hich

the

attention;

groups

refer

and those with

to

the

have

authorities

to

that

leaders.

between

And,

we

usual

rather

in

shall

complete opposition
practice,
choose a relatively simple group formation as
our point of departure, but shall begin with highly

not

organised,

lasting

and

artificial

groups.

The most

Group Psychology and

42

the A^ialysis of the

Ego

example of such structures are churches

communities of believers and armies.
A church and an army are artificial groups, that

interesting

is,

certain

external

force

is

employed to prevent

them from

disintegrating and to check alterations in

structure.
As a rule a person is not consulted,

their

or

given no choice, as to whether he wants to

such a group; any attempt at leaving it is

is

enter

met with persecution or wdth severe punishor

has quite definite conditions attached to it.
ment,
It
is
quite outside our present interest to enquire

usualty

need such special safeguards.

are only attracted by one circumstance, namely
that certain facts, which are far more concealed in
these

why

associations

We

can be observed very clearly in those

highly organised groups which are protected from
dissolution in the manner that has been mentioned.

other

cases,

In

church

(and

we may

with advantage take

Church as a type) as well as in an

army, however different the two may be in other
respects, the same illusion holds good of there being
a head
in the Catholic Church Christ, in an army
its Commander-in-Chief
who loves all the individuals

the

Catholic

in

the

group

with

an

equal _^ Love.

Everything

depends upon this. illusion; if it were to be dropped,

then both Church and army would dissolve, so far
as the external force permitted
love was expressly enunciated

them

to.

This equal
*

by

Christ:

Inasmuch

Two Artificial Groups:

done

as ye have

my

the Church

unto one of the least of these

it

ye have done

brethren,

and the Army 43

He

unto me.'

it

stands

members

of the group of believers

in the relation of a kind elder brother; he is their

to

the

individual

All the demands that are made

surrogate.
the individual are derived from this love of

father

upon

Christ's.

the

democratic

is

everyone
share

equal,

is

family

themselves

no

It

love

doubt

in

and

that

Christ,

the

Christ

is

tie

an

good

of

father

who

reason

is,

loves

they

of his
officer

it

of the

The

like

The Commander-in-Chief
his soldiers equally,

each

and

tie

holds
is

for that

comrades among themselves. The

structurally from the Church in being

up of a

as

all

unites

are

differs

army
built

ai'my.

them. There

cause

which unites them with one another.

call

brothers

is,

for

which
the

also

believers

that

which Christ has

that

with

individual

is

invoked,

brothers

the

through
is

through
very reason that before Christ
and that everyone' has an equal

not without a deep reason

similarity between the Christian communit}''
love.

his

in

that the

and

the

for

Church,

runs

character

series

of such groups.

Ever}^ captain
were, the Commander-in-Chief and the father

company,
of

his

and so
section.

is

It

every non-commissioned
true that a similar

is

in the Church, but it

hierarchy has been constructed
does not play the same part in it economically; for

more knowledge and care about

individuals

may be

44

Group Psychology and

the Analysis of the

attributed to Christ than to a

Ego

human Commander-in-

Chief/
It

is

to

be noticed that

groups each individual

An

of the

is

in

these two

bound by

libidinaP

artificial

ties

on

objection will justly be raised against this conception

next foot-note] structure of an army on the

libidinal [see

ground that no place has been found in it for such ideas as

those of one's country, of national glory, etc., which are of such
in holding an army together.
The answer is that
a dififerent instance of a group tie, and no longer such a

importance
that

is

simple one; for the examples of great generals, like Caesar,

Wallenstein, or Napoleon, show that such ideas are not indisshall presently touch
pensable to the existence of an army.

We

upon the possibility of a leading idea being substituted for a

leader and upon the relations between the two. The neglect of
this libidinal factor in

an arrny, even when it is not the Only factor

not merely a theoretical omission but

operative, seems to be
also a practical danger.

unpsychological

as

Prussian militarism, which was just as

German

science,

may have had

to suffer the

We

know that the war

the great war.
neuroses which ravaged the German army have been recognized
as being a protest of the individual against the part he was ex-

consequences of this

in

pected to play in the army; and according to the communication

of E. Simmel [Kriegsneurosen und Psychisches Trauma'. Munich,
191 8), the hard treatment of the men by their superiors may be
considered as foremost among the motive forces of the disease. If
the importance of the libido's claims on this score had been
^

better appreciated, the fantastic promises of the American President's fourteen points would probably not have been believed

so easily, and the splendid instrument would not have broken in

the hands of the German leaders.
^

[Here and elsewhere the German ^hbidinos' is used simply

Libido'
adjectival derivative from the technical term
^

as

an

Two

Artificial

Groups : the Church and the

the one hand to the leader (Christ, the

in-Chief)

and

on

members

of the

the

hand

other

How

group.

Army

Commanderother

the

to

two

these

45

ties

are

whether they are of the same

kind and the same value, and how they are to be
related to each other,

described

reserved

psychologically

these

we

But

subsequent enquiry.
ture even now upon a mild reproach

ven-

shall

against

the

appreciated
psychology of

the

for not having sufficiently

authorities

importance of the
group, while our
investigation
It

position.

must be

questions

for

leader

own

in

the

choice

of a

first

brought us into a more

would appear as though we
has

the

object for
favourable

were

on

the right road towards an explanation of the principal

phenomenon of Group Psychology the individual's

lack of freedom in

bound

in

we

tie,

a group.
If each
individual is
two directions by such an intense emotional

no

shall find

difficulty

in

to that

attributing

circumstance the alteration and limitation which have

been observed

a group lies
be found

studied

group

'libidinal' is

to avoid

dinous'.

same

hint to the

to

best

in his personality.

the

of

effect,

that

the

essence of

in the libidinal ties existing in

in

the

in

military

that

phenomenon

kind

groups.

becomes

it,

is

also

of panic,

which

is

arises

if

panic

disintegrated.

Its

accordingly introduced in the translation in order

highly-coloured connotation of the English 'libi-

Translator\

46

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

are

characteristics

that

none

orders

the

of

listened

are

any longer
superiors
that each individual is only solicitous

by

on

given

to,

his

and

own

and without any consideration for the rest.

The mutual ties have ceased to exist, and a gigantic
account,

and senseless
is

it

[Angst]

is

set

free.

At

this

objection will naturally be made

rather the other way round; and that the

point, again,

that

dread
the

dread has grown so great as to be able to disregard

of consideration for others.
all ties and all feelings

McDougall has even

(p.

24)

made

use of the case

of panic (though not of military panic) as a typical

instance of that intensification of emotion by contagion

much

('primary induction') upon which he lays so

emphasis. But nevertheless this rational method

The ver\^
inadequate.
dread
has
the
question that needs explanation is why
become so gigantic. The greatness of the danger
of explanation

here

is

quite

cannot be responsible, for the same army which now

to panic may previously have faced
falls a victim
equally

great

success;

it

is

danger with complete

greater
the very essence of panic that it

or
of

bears no relation to the

often

breaks

out

upon

danger that threatens,

the

most

trivial

If an individual in panic dread begins to

own

be

and

occasions.
solicitous

account, he bears witness in so

doing to the fact that the emotional ties, which have
hitherto made the danger seem small to him, have

/only

on

his

Two

Artificial Groups: the

ceased to

exist.

Now

Church and the

that he

is

Army

by himself

47

in facing

the danger, he may surely think it greater. The fact

is, therefore,, that panic dread presupposes a relaxation
in
it

the libidinal structure of the group and reacts to

in a justifiable manner,
and the contrary view

that the

owing

libidinal

ties

to dread in

the

the

of

face

group

of the

are

danger

destroyed
can be

refuted.

The contention

that dread in a

group

ed to enormous proportions by means

(contagion)

is

is

increas-

of induction

not in the least contradicted

by these

McDougall's view meets the case entirely

when the danger is a really great one and when the
remarks.

group has no strong emotional

are

fulfilled, for instance,

ties

when a

conditions

fire

which

breaks out

in

a place of amusement.
But the really
instructive case and the one which can be best emtheatre

or

ployed for our purposes is that mentioned above, in

which a body of troops breaks into a panic although
the danger has not increased beyond a degree that
is usual and has often been
It is
previously faced.
not to be expected that the usage of the word
*

'

should be clearly

and unambiguously determined.

Sometimes it is used to describe any collective dread, sometimes even dread in an individual
panic

when

it

exceeds

all

seems to be reserved
of

dread

is

bounds,

and often

for cases in

not warranted

the

name

which the outbreak

by the occasion.

If

we

48

Group Psychology and

take

word

the

dread,

we

Dread

in

an

'

in

panic

can

the

sense

of

Ego

collective

establish

individual

is

far-reaching
analogy.
either
provoked
by the

danger or by the cessation of emo-

of a

greatness

'

the Analysis of the

tional ties (libidinal cathexes^ \Libidobesetzungen\)\ the

latter is the

of

case

same way panic

neurotic

arises

either

dread.^

owing

In

to

just

the

an increase

common danger

of the

of the emotional

and the

ties

latter case

or owing to the disappearance

which hold the group together;

is

analogous to that

of neurotic

dread.^
from the Greek 'Katexco', 'I occupy'. The
^Besetzung' has become of fundamental importance
in the exposition of psycho-analytical theory. Any attempt at a short
^

['Cathexis',

German word

is likely to be misleading, but speaking

very loosely, we may say that 'cathexis' is used on the analogy
of an electric charge, and that it means the concentration or

definition or description

accumulation of mental energy in some particular channel. Thus,

when we speak

of the existence in

someone of a

libidinal cathexis

shortly, of an object-cathexis, we mean

that his libidinal energy is directed towards, or rather infused

of an object, or,

into,

more

the idea {Vorstellung) of some object in the outer world.

to obtain a more precise knowledge of the

Readers who desire

are referred to the discussions in 'Zur Einfuhrung des

Narzissmus and the essays on metapsychology in Kleine Schriften
zur Neurosenlekre, Vierte Folge. Translator.^

term

See Vorlesungen zur Einfuhrung in die Psychoanalyse.

XXV, 3. Auflage, 1920. {Introductory Lectures on Psycho- Analysis.
Lecture XXV. George Allen and Unwin, 1922.]
^

fantastic

v. Felszeghy's interesting though somewhat

'Panik
und Pankomplex'. Imago, 1920, Bd. VI.
paper

Compare Bela

Two

like

Anyone who,
a

Church and the

Artificial Groups: the

one

as

panic

'

McDougall

the

of

(1.

Army

describes

c),

functions

plainest

49

of

the

'

arrives at the paradoxical position that

group mind
this group mind does away with itself in one of its
It
most striking manifestations.
is
impossible to
doubt that panic means the disintegration of a group;
,

it

involves

the

cessation

of

members

sideration which the

all

the

feelings

of con-

of the group otherwise

show one another.

is

The typical occasion of the outbreak of a panic

very much as it is represented in Nestroy's parody
about Judith

of Hebbel's

play
cries aut

soldier

and thereupon

'
:

all

and

The general has

head

lost his

mutual

ties

appear,
their

leader.
flask

Bologna

The

birth

outbreak of

the
the

same;

between the members of the group

as a rule, at the

same time

The group
when its top

dissolution of a

vanishes
is

religious

the
dis-

as the tie with

in

broken

'
!

The

the Assyrians take to flight.

some sense or other, the

loss of the leader in

of misgivings about him, brings on

panic, though the
danger remains

Holofernes.

dust,

like

off.

group

is

not so

short time ago there came into

my hands an English novel of Catholic origin, recommended by the Bishop of London, with the title

easy to

When

observe.

It

Was Dark,

It

gave a

clever and,

as

it

seems to me, a convincing picture of such a possiThe novel, which is

bility and its consequences.

50

Group Psychology and

the Analysis of the

Ego

supposed to relate to the present day, tells how a

conspiracy of enemies of the figure of Christ and of
faith
succeed in arranging for a
the Christian

be

to

sepulchre

discovered

an inscription,

sepulchre

is

mathaea

confesses

that

in

which Joseph

in

for

In

Jerusalem.

reasons

of

this

of Ari-

piety

he

removed the body of Christ from its ^rave

day after its entombment and buried it
The resurrection of Christ and his
in this
spot.
divine nature are by this means disposed of, and the

secretly

on the

third

of this archaeological discovery

result

is

a convulsion

and an extraordinary increase

in all crimes and acts of violence, which only ceases
when the forgers' plot has been revealed.
The phenomenon which accompanies the dissoin

European

lution that

civilisation

is

here supposed

to

overtake

a religious

not dread, for which the occasion is wanting.

Instead of it ruthless and hostile impulses towards

group

is

other people make their appearance, which, owing to

the equal love of Christ, they had previously been
But even during the kingdom of
unable to do.^
Christ those people

who do
who do

munity of believers,
he does not love, stand
*

not belong to the comnot love him, and whom

outside this

tie.

Therefore

the explanation of similar phenomena after the

of the paternal authority of the sovereign given in
P. Federn's Die vaterlose
Vienna, AnzengruberGesellschaft.

Compare

abolition

Verlag, 1919.

Two
a

Groups : the Church and the

Artificial

even

religion,

if

it

calls

itself

the

Army

religion

of love,

must be hard and unloving to those who do not

belong to it. Fundamentally indeed every religion is
in this same way a religion of love
for all those

whom it embraces; while cruelty and intolerance

towards those who do not belong to it are natural
to every religion.

However

we ought

personally,

not

difficult

to

we may

find

it

reproach believers too

account; people who are unbelieving

or indifferent are so much better off psychologically
severely on

this

in this respect.

shows
turies,

itself

If

to-day that

so violent and

we can

intolerance

cruel

as

no longer

former cen-

in

scarcely conclude that there has been

human manners. The cause is rather \

a softening in
to be found in the undeniable weakening of religious /
feelings and the libidinal ties which depend upon

them.

If

/religious

another group

one and

the

tie

takes

socialistic

so

of the

the

place

tie

seems to be

then there will be the

doing
same intolerance towards outsiders as in the age of
the Wars of Religion; and if differences between

succeeding

in

scientific opinions

cance

for groups,

repeated with

this

could
the

new

ever attain a

same

result

similsir

motivation.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK
LIBRARY

signifi-

would again be

VI

FURTHER PROBLEMS AND LINES OF WORK

We

have

hitherto

and

have

found

emotional

considered

that

One

ties.

they

are

two

artificial

groups
dominated by two

of these, the tie with the leader,

events for these cases) to be more of

a ruling factor than the other, which holds between
the members of the group.

seems

(at

all

Now much

remains to be

else

examined and

We

should
the morphology of groups.
described
have to start from the ascertained fact that a mere
in

collection of people
ties

have not been

have to admit that

in

any collection of people the

form a psychological group may very

should have to give
become prominent.

tendency
easily

not a group, so long as these

established in it; but we should

is

to

We

our attention to the different kinds of groups, more

or less stable,

that arise spontaneously,

and

to study

the conditions of their origin and of their dissolution.

should above all be concerned with the distinction

We

and Lines of Work

Fu7'ther Problems

53

between groups which have a leader and leaderless

We should consider whether groups with
groups.
leaders

not be the

may

whether

the

in

more

an idea,

others

not be substituted for the

to

and complete,

primitive

an abstraction,

leader

which religious groups, with

may

(a state of things

their

invisible

head,

form a transition stage), and whether a common tendency, a wish in which a number of people can have
a share, may not in the same way serve as a
This

substitute.

or

less

abstraction,

completely embodied

we might

might be more

again,
in

the

figure

of what

secondary leader, and interesting

varieties w^ould arise from the relation between the
call

idea and the leader.

The

leader or the leading idea

might also, so to speak, be negative; hatred against
a particular person or institution might operate in
just the same unifying way, and might call up the

same kind of emotional

Then the question would

ties

really

But
have

these

all

been

dealt

Group Psychology,
interest

will

in

whether a leader

essence of a group

which may, moreover,

part

in

not succeed

the
in

literature

of

diverting our

from the fundamental psychological problems

confront

us

our attention

will

that

questions,
w^ith

positive attachment.

also arise

indispensable to the
and other questions besides.
is

as

And
the structure of a group.
first be attracted by a consideration
in

which promises to bring us

in the

most direct way

Group Psychology and the Analysis of

54
^to
/

a proof that

libidinal

ties

are

the

Ego

what characterize

a group.

Let us keep before our eyes the nature of the

emotional relations which hold between men in general.
According to Schopenhauer's famous simile of the
freezing porcupines no one can tolerate a too intimate
approach to his neighbour.^
The evidence of psycho-analysis shows that almost
every intimate emotional relation bets^^een two people
which lasts for some time marriage, friendship, the

leaves a
parents and children^
sediment of feelings of aversion and hostility, which

relations

have

first

between
to

be eliminated by

repression.

This

is

less
disguised in the common wrangles
business partners or in the grumbles of a subordinate

between

*A company of porcu'^ines crowded themselves very

together one cold winter's day so as to profit by one
another's warmth and so save themselves from being frozen to
*

close

But scon they

death.

felt

one another's

And now, when

quills,

which induced

warmth
separate again.
once
evil
arose
the
second
them
nearer
brought
together again,
more. So that they were driven backwards and forwards from
one trouble to the other, until they had discovered a mean
distance at which they could most tolerably exist' {Parerga und
Paralipomena, II. Teil, XXXI., 'Gleichnisse und Parabeln'.)
them

to

the need for.

Perhaps with the solitary exception of the relation of a

to her son, which is based upon narcissism, is not
disturbed by subsequent rivalry, and is reinforced by a rudimentary

mother

attempt at sexual object-choice.

Further Problems and Lines of Work

at his superior.

The same

thing happens

come

in

units.

together
thinks

than
is

the

the

time

Every

two

the South

superior

most jealous

races

to

or

of

better

of

birth

Of two neighbouring towns each

other.

other's

related

the

itself

down upon

looks

when men

become connected by a marriage, each

families

them

larger

55

rival;

every

little

the others with contempt.

one

keep

another

at

canton
Closely

arm's

length;
the North German,
every kind of aspersion upon

German cannot endure

Englishman casts

the Scotchman, the Spaniard despises the Portuguese.

are no longer astonished that greater differences
should lead to an almost insuperable repugnance,

We

such as the

Aryan

for

feel for the German, the

and
the white races for the
Semite,

Gallic

the

people

coloured.

When
who
of

this

hostility

are otherwise loved

feeling;

we

and

directed

is

we

describe

explain

the

it

against people
as ambivalence/

fact,

in

what

is

probably far too rational a manner, by means of the

numerous occasions for conflicts of interest which
arise

precisely

undisguised
feel

in

such

antipathies

intimate

and

aversions

In

the

which

people
they have to do
expression of self-love of

towards strangers with

we may

relations.

whom

recognize the
narcissism.
This self-love works for the self-assertion
of the

rence

and behaves as though the occurdivergence from his own particular

individual,

of

any

Group Psychology mid

56

of

lines

development

and a demand

why such
just

details

that

involved

We

in

them

do not know

should have been directed to

of differentiation;
this

Ego
of

criticism

for their alteration.

sensitiveness

these

takable

the Analysis of the

whole

but

connection

is

it

unmis-

men

give

evidence of a readiness for hatred, an aggressiveness,

the source of which is unknown, and to which one
is

tempted to ascribe an elementary character.^

But the whole of this intolerance vanishes, tem-

porarily or permanently, as the result of the formation

group, and in a group.

formation persists or so far as

So long

of a

it

as a group

extends, individuals

tliey were uniform, tolerate other

people's peculiarities, put themselves on an equal level
with them, and have no feeling of aversion towards

behave as though

Such a limitation of narcissism can, according

our theoretical views, only be produced by one
Love for
factor, a libidinal tie with other people.

them.
to

oneself
for

knows only one

objects.^

The

barrier

question

love

will

at

for others, love

once be raised

In a recently published study, Jenseits des Lustprinzips

International Psycho(1920) [Beyond the Pie astire Principle,
I
No.
have
attempted to connect the
Analytical Library,
4],

polarity of love
instincts of life
as the purest

and hatred with a hypothetical opposition between

and death, and to establish the sexual instincts

examples of the former, the

instincts of

life.

^See *Zur Einfuhrung des Narzissmus', 19 14. Kleine Schriften

znr Neurosenlehre, Vierte Folge, 191 8.

Further Problems and Lines of Work

57

whether community of interest in itself, without any

addition of libido, must not necessarily lead to the

of other people and to considerateness for

This objection may be met by the reply that

toleration

them.

no

nevertheless
effected

in

this

lasting

limitation

since

way,

of

narcissism

is

does not

tolerance

this

longer than the immediate advantage gained

from the other people's collaboration. But the practical

persist

less than might be

has
shown
that in cases of
experience
libidinal ties are regularly formed be-

importance of the
supposed,

for

collaboration

discussion

is

tween the fellow-workers which prolong and solidify

the relation between them to a point beyond what
is

merely profitable.

social

relations

analytic

as

The same thing occurs in men's

has become familiar to psycho-

research in the

course of the

The

of the individual libido.

libido

development

props

itself

upon

the satisfaction of the great vital needs, and chooses as

its first objects the people who have a share in that
process.

And

whole, just
the civilizing

the

in

as

in

factor

from

development of mankind as

individuals,
in

to

the

love

sense

altruism.

change
egoism
both of the sexual love

for

alone

that

And

it

acts

a'l

as

brings ry
is true

this

women, with

all

the

obligations which it involves of sparing what wornen

are fond of, and also of the desexualised, sublimated
homosexual love for other men, which springs from

Avork in

common.

Group Psychology and

therefore

If

to

subject

Ego

groups narcissistic self-love is

which do not operate outside

limitations

cogent evidence that the essence of a

formation consists in a new kind of libidinal

that

them,

group
ties

in

the Analysis of the

among

is

the

But our
question as

which

exist

of neuroses

members of the group.

now leads us on to

interest

to
in

what may

the

In

groups.

we have

the pressing
be the nature of these ties

hitherto

psycho-analytic study

been occupied almost

exclusively with ties that unite with their objects those

love instincts which still pursue directly sexual aims. In

groups there can evidently be no question of sexual

aims of that kind.
are concerned here with love

We

instincts

which have been diverted from

their original

though they do not operate w^ith less energy

on that account. Now we have already observed
aims,

range of the usual sexual object-cathexis

[Objektbesetzung] phenomena w^hich represent a di-

within

the

of

version

have

and

the

described

have

from

instinct

them

as

degrees

that

recognized

encroachment

the

our

closely

upon
attention more

its

they

ego.
to

sexual

aim.

We

of being in love,
involve a certain

We

shall

these

now

turn

phenomena of

expectation of finding in
them conditions which can be transferred to the ties

being
that

know
know

in

love,

in

the

firm

But we should also like

groups.
whether this kind of object-cathexis, as

exist

it

in

in

sexual

life,

represents

the

to

we

only manner

Further Problems and Lines of Work

59

people, or whether we
must take other mechanisms of the sort into account.
of emotional

As

tie

with

other

we

from psycho-analysis
that there do exist other mechanisms for emotional
ties,

a matter of fact

learn

the so-called identifications^

insufficiently-known

processes and hard to describe, the investigation of

which will for some time keep us away from the
subject of

Group Psychology.

VII

IDENTIFICATION

Identification

known

is

to

psycho-analysis
emotional tie with

as

the

another
expression of an
It
a
in
the
early history of the
person.
plays
part
little boy will exhibit a special
Oedipus complex.
earliest

interest

in his father;

he would

like to

grow

like

him

We

him, and take his place everywhere.

may say simply that he takes his father as his ideal.
This behaviour has nothing to do with a passive or

and be

like

feminine

males

in

it

general);

masculine.

complex,

towards

attitude

It

for

in

fits

which

At the same

is

father

his

on

very

the
well

(and

towards

contrary typically
with the Oedipus

helps to prepare the way.

time as this identification with his
it

boy has begun to develop

a true object-cathexis towards his mother according
He then
to the anaclitic type \Anlehnungstypus\}
father, or a little later, the

'

[Literally, leaning-up-against type

*I

lean

up

against'.

In

the

first

';

from the Greek* dvaicXCva'

'

phase of their development the

61

Identi/ication
exhibits,

two psychologically

therefore,

distinct

ties:

a straightforward sexual object-cathexis towards his

mother and a typical identification towards his father.
The two subsist side by side for a time without any
mutual influence or interference.
In consequence ol
the irresistible advance towards a unification of mental
life

come

they

complex

Oedipus

The

little

way

with

on a

father then takes

identical

to

his

that

mother.

and

last;

from

originates

boy notices
his

at

together

his

His

normal

the

confluence^

their

stands

father

identification

hostile colourincr

in

his

with

his

and becomes

with the wish to replace his father in regard

mother

as

well.

ambivcdent from the

in

Identification,

very

first;

it

can

turn

fact,

is

into

an

expression of tenderness as easily as into a wish for

someone's removal.
It behaves like a derivative
the
in

first oral phase of the

organisation of the libido,
which the object that w^e long for and prize is

by eating and

assimilated
as such.

The

cannibal, as

is

in that

we know,

way

annihilated

has remained at

sexual instincts have no independent means of finding satisfaction;

they do so by propping themselves upon or Meaning up against'
the

self-preser\'ative

sexual object
this

path;

is

that

is,

discussion

The

be of the

of the

individual's first choice of a

'anaclitic type'

when he choses

same person who has

full

instincts.

said to

satisfied his early

anaclitic

and

when

it

follows

as his first sexual object the

non-sexual needs. For a

narcissistic

choice compare 'Zur Einfuhrung des Narzissmus'.

of

objecttypes
Translator.']

62

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

this

standpoint;

he has a devouring affection

only devours people of whom

and

enemies

for his

he

is

fond.^

The subsequent
the father

the

easily

It

may happen

inverted,

and

taken as the object of a feminine

object from which the directly sexual

father

an

attitude,

lost sight of.

Oedipus complex becomes

the

that
that

may

history of this identification with

be

is

look for satisfaction; in that event the identification with the father has become the precursor of
an object tie with the father. The same holds good,
instincts

with the necessary substitutions, of the baby daughter

as well.
It

easy to state

is

between

an

identification

in

a formula the distinction

with

the

choice of the father as an object.

father

one's father

second

he
to

what one would

is

what one would

that

distinction,

taches

is

the

The former

is

is,

In the first case

like to be^

to

like

and

in the

have.

The

depends upon whether the

tie

at-

subject or to the object of the ego.

therefore already possible before any

sexual object-choice has been made.

and the

It is

much more

See Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie, and Abraham's

iiber die friiheste

pragenitale Entwicklungsder Libido', Internationale Zeitschrift fur Psychoanalyse,
1916, Bd, rV; also included in his Klinische Beitrdge zur Psycho-

Untersuchungen

stufe

analyse
1921).

(Internationale

psychoanalytische

Bibliothek.

Nr.

10,

63

Identification
difficult

of

tion

to give a clear metapsychological representathe distinction.

can only see that

We

identification

mould a person's own

of the one that has been taken

endeavours

after the fashion

ego

to

as a 'model'.

Let us disentangle
the

structure

identification

as

occurs

it

symptom from

of a neurotic

its

complicated connections.
Supposing that a
(and we will keep to her for the present)

in

rather

little^ girl

develops

identification

may come

same painful symptom as her mother for instance,

the same tormenting cough.
Now this may come

the

about

from
a

various ways.

in

the

hostile

mother's

Oedipus complex; in that case

desire on the
part to
girl's

and

place,

object love tow^ards

a realisation, under
^

her

of

guilt,

desire

You wanted

are
the

The

anyhow

father,

influence

to

take

far

as

her

mother,

the

of

signifies

take

her

expresses

her

and brings

her
the

mechanism

complete

symptom

be your

to

as

the

it

pain
the

of

mother's

and

about

sense

of

place:

now you

This
goes'.
structure of

is

symptom. Or, on the other hand, the

symptom may be the same as that of the person
who is loved (so, for instance, Dora in the

hysterical

'

Bruchstiick

father's

einer

cough);

in

her
imitated
Hysterieanalyse'^
that case we can only describe

\Kleine Schriften zur Neurosenlehre. Zweite Folge.]

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

64

<^

of things by saying that identification has

instead of object-choice, and that object-

state

^.the

appeared
'hoice has regressed

is

it

tie;

have heard

the earliest and original form of

often happens that under the con-

that identification

emotional

We

to identification.

ditions in which symptoms are constructed, that is,

where there is repression and where the mechanisms

of

unconscious

the

are

dominant,

turned back into identification

object-choice

the

is

ego, that is, assumes the characteristics of the object. It is noticeable

ego sometimes copies

not loved and sometimes the one

that in these identifications the

the person

who

loved.

is

cases

who

the

who

There
portant

must

It

identification

limited one

person

is

is

is

us that in both

strike

and

extremely
and only borrows a single trait from the

is

its

is

case

of

partial

object.
third

particularly

symptom

identification leaves

who

also

frequent

formation,

in

and im-

which

the

any object relation to the person

being copied

entirely out of account.

Sup-

a boarding
school has had a letter from someone with whom she

posing, for instance, that

is

secretly

she

that

some
the

in

love

reacts

to

of her friends

fit,

as

we

The mechanism

say,
is

one of the

girls in

which arouses her jealousy, and

it

with

who know

of hysterics; then
about it will contract

fit

by means of mental
that

infection.

of identification based

the possibility or desire of putting oneself in the

upon
same

65

Identification

The

situation.

other

girls

would

like to

have a secret

love affair too, and under the influence of a sense of

also

they

guilt

the

accept

involved

pain

in

it.

It

would be wrong to suppose that they take on the

out

symptom
sympathy
this

is

of

only

On the contrary, the\

sympathy.
out of the identification, and

arises

proved by the

fact

that infection or imitation

of this kind takes place in circumstances where even

less pre-existing sympathy is to be assumed than
usually exists

between

friends in a girls' school.

One

ego has perceived a significant analogy with another

upon one point in our example upon a similar

readiness

for

an identification

is
thereupon
under
the
influence
point, and,
of the pathogenic situation, is displaced on to the
symptom which the one ego has produced. The

constructed

emotion;

on

this

by means of the symptom has thus

mark of a point of coincidence between
egos which has to be kept repressed.

identification

become
the

tv\^o

the

What we have

learned from these three sources

may be summarised

as

follows.

First,

identification

the original form of emotional tie with an object;

secondly, in a regressive way it- becomes a substitute
for a libidinal object tie, as it were by means of the

is

introjection
it

may

of the object

arise with every

quality shared with

object

of the

some

sexual

into

the

ego;

and

thirdly,

perception of a common
other person who is not an

new

instinct.

The more important

66
this

Group Psychology

common

quality

is,

more

the

new

sent the beginning of a

Ego

successful

become, and

identification

partial

a7td the Analysis of the

it

this

may

thus repre-

may

tie.

We

already begin to divine that the mutual tie

between members of a group is in the nature of an

based upon an important

quality; and we may suspect that

of this kind,

identification

common
common quality

emotional
this

in

lies

the nature of the

tie

with

Another suspicion may tell us that we

the leader.
are far from having exhausted the problem of identification, and that we are faced by the process which
^

calls

psychology

'

and which

empathy \Einfuhlung\
our

plays the largest part in

understanding of what

inherently foreign to our ego in other people. But

we shall here limit ourselves to the immediate emo-

is

tional

side

effects of identification,

significance for

its

and

psychoses, has
to us in

tification

immediately
these

cases

already
problems of

detail

as

shall

material

iden-

exhibit

to

some other cases which

comprehensible.
in

has

difficult

been able

also

on one

life.

which

research,
Psycho-analytic
attacked
the
more
occasionally

the

shall leave

our intellectual

treat
for

our

are not

two

of

further

consideration.

The genesis
class

been

of

cases

of male
is

as

homosexuality

follows.

in

young man

large

has

unusually long and intensely fixated upon his

mother in the sense of the Oedipus complex. But
~

67

Identification
at last,
for

end of

after the

exchanging

his

his puberty,

mother

for

the time

comes

some other sexual

Things take a sudden turn: the young man

does not abandon his mother, but identifies himself
with her; he transforms himself into her, and now
object.

about

for objects which can replace his ego

and
for him,
on which he can bestow such love and
care as he has experienced from his mother. This is

looks

a frequent process, which can be confirmed as often

as one likes, and which is naturally quite independent
of any hypothesis that may be made as to
ganic driving force and the motives of the
transformation.
ation

of

is

its

ample

striking thing

scale;

features

it

about ^

the or-

sudden

this identific- \

remoulds the ego

sexual

one

in

character

/
important
upon the model of w^hat has hitherto been the object.
In this process the object itself is renounced
whether
its

in

its

entirely

the

or in the sense

unconscious

is

of being preserved
question outside the

discussion.

Identification

nounced or

lost as

a substitute for

this object into the ego,

to

us.

process

with an object

is

of the

it,

only

in

present

that

is

re-

introjection of

indeed no longer a novelty

kind may sometimes be

A short time
directly observed in small children.
ago an observation of this sort was published in the

Internationale Zeitschrift fiir Psychoanalyse.

child
\vho was unhappy over the loss of a kitten declared
straight out that now he himself was the kitten, and

Group Psychology and

68

the Analysis of the

accordingly crawled about on

all

fours,

Ego

would not eat

at table, etc.^

Another

such

instance

object has been provided

an

cholia,

introjection

by the

which

affection

of

of melan-

analysis

counts

the

of

among

most

the

exciting causes the real or emotional loss of a loved object.

leading characteristic

remarkable of

its

of these cases

a cruel self-depreciation

is

combined with

and

relentless self-criticism

of the ego
bitter self-

reproaches. Analyses have shown that this disparagement and these reproaches apply at bottom to the
object and represent the ego's revenge upon it. The
shadow of the object has fallen upon the ego, as I have
said elsewhere.^

The

introjection of the object

unmistakably clear.
But these melancholias
else,

which

may be

here

show us something

also

of importance

They show us the ego

cussions.

is

for

our later

dis-

fallen

into

divided,

two pieces, one of which rages against the second.

This second piece is the one which has been altered

by

introjection

and which contains

the

But the piece which behaves so cruelly

known
*

to

us

either.

Marcuszewicz

Kindern.'

It

Internationale

is

object.

not un-

comprises the conscience,

'
:

lost

Beitrag

zum

Zeiischrift

autistischen

Denken

fur Psychoanalyse,

a
bei

1920,

Bd. VI.
^

['Trauer und Melancholic' Kleine Schrifien zur NeurosenVierte

lekre,
Folge, 191 8.]

69

Identification

faculty \histanzY vi\\}c{\x\ the ego, which even

normal times takes up a critical attitude towards
the ego, though never so relentlessly and so unjusticritical

in

fiably. On previous occasions we have been driven to

the hypothesis^ that some such faculty develops in
our ego which may cut itself off from the rest of

the

ego and come

called

the

it

we have

into
'

ego ideal

ascribed

to

with

conflict

'

it

We

it.

and by way of functions

moral

the

self-observation,

conscience, the censorship of dreams, and the

influence in repression.
have said that it

We

heir

to

the

original

have

narcissism

which the

in

chief
is

the

childish

ego found its self-sufficiency; it gradually gathers up

from the influences of the environment the demands
which

that

environment makes

which the ego cannot always rise

when he cannot be satisfied with

be able
which has been

nevertheless
ideal

to

find

upon the
his

ego

satisfaction

differentiated

In delusions of observation, as

ego and

to; so that a man,

out

we have

itself,

may

the ego
of the ego.
in

further shown,

the disintegration of this faculty has become patent,

and has thus revealed its origin in the influence of

like
instance' in the phrase 'court of first
\^Instanz*
was originally a legal term. It is now used in the sense
instance'
of one of a hierarchy of authorities or functions.
Translator.]

cholic'.

'Zur Einfiihrung

des

Narzissmus',

'Trauer und Melan-

/O

Group Psychology and

the Analysis of the

Ego

superior powers, and above all of parents/ But we

have not forgotten to add that the amount of distance

between

and the

this

ego

ideal

many people

this

differentiation

real

ego is very variable from one individual to another, and that with
within

not go further than with children.

But before we can employ

the

this

ego does

material

for

understanding the libidinal organisation of groups, we

must take into account some other examples of the

mutual relations between the object and the ego.^

*

*Zur Einfiihrung des Narzissmus.'

We

?ire very well aware that we have not exhausted the

nature of identification with these examples taken from pathology,

that we have consequently left part of the riddle of group

formations untouched. A far more fundamental and comprehen-

and

sive psychological analysis

would have

to intervene

at this point.

A
/

path leads from identification by way of imitation to empathy,

that is, to the comprehension of the mechanism by means of

which we are enabled to take up any attitude at all towards

another mental life. Moreover there is still much to be explained
in the manifestations of existing identifications. These result among
other things in a person limiting his aggressiveness towards those
with whom he has identified himself, and in his sparing them
and giving them help. The study of such identifications, like
those, for instance,

Robertson Smith

which

lie

at

the root

to the surprising result

of clan feeling,

that they rest

upon

led

the

substance {Kinship and Marriage, 1885),

and may even therefore be brought about by a meal eaten in
common. This feature makes it possible to connect this kind of
recognition of a

common

identification with the early history of the

constructed in Totem iind Tabu.

human

family which

VIII

BEING IN LOVE AND HYPNOSIS

Even
true

in its

to

name

some
*

usage of language remains

the

caprices

kind

of

realit3'\

Thus

it

the

gives

'

a great many kinds of emotional

relationship which we too group together theoretically
as love; but then again it feels a doubt whether
this

of

love

love

is

to

real,

true,

actual

love,

and so

hints

at

a whole scale of possibilities within the range of the

shall have no difficulty in
phenomena of love.

We

making the same discovery empirically.

In one class of cases being in love is nothing
more than object-cathexis on the part of the sexual
with a view to directly sexual satisfaction, a
cathexis which expires, moreover, when this aim has

instincts

been reached;
love.

But,

as

this is

what

is

called

common,

sensual

we know,

remains so simple.

It

the libidinal situation rarely

was possible to calculate with

upon the revival of the need which had

expired; and this must no doubt have been the
certainty

just
first

'J2

Group Psychology and the Analysis of

the

Ego

motive for directing a lasting cathexis upon the sexual

object and for

'

loving

it

in the passionless intervals

as well.

To

this

must be added another

factor

derived

from the astonishing course of development which is

pursued by the erotic life of man. In his first phase,
which has usually come to an end by the time he is
years old, a child has found the first object for
his love in one or other of his parents, and all of
five

his

sexual instincts with their

demand

for satisfaction

have been united upon this object. The repression

which then sets in compels him to renounce the
greater number of these infantile sexual aims, and
leaves behind a profound modification in his relation
to

his

parents.

The

child

still

remains

tied

to

parents, but by instincts which must be described as being 'inhibited in their aim \zielgehemmte\\

his

The emotions which he

feels

henceforward towards

these objects of his love are characterized as 'tender'.

It is well known that the earlier
sensual tendencies
'

remain more or

'

strongly preserved in the unconscious, so that in a certain sense the whole of the
less

original current continues to exist.

At puberty,

as

we know,

there set in

new and

In
very strong tendencies with directly sexual aims.
unfavourable cases they remain separate, in the form

Cf.

Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie,

I.e.

Being in Love and Hypnosis

of

a sensual

trends which persist.

the two aspects of

kind

this

tender*

emotional

are then faced

which

certain

by a picture
movements in

will

women whom he

deeply respects but

him to sexual

excite

We

such delight in idealising.

man of
show a sentimental enthusiasm for

take

literature

from the

current,

73

activities,

and he

who do

not

only be
he does not love

potent with other women whom

but thinks little of or even despises.^

will

'

More

often,

adolescent succeeds in bringing about

a certain degree of synthesis between the unsensual,
heavenly love and the sensual, earthly love, and his
the

however,

to

relation

inhibited

his

of

interaction
in

sexual object is characterised by the

uninhibited instincts and of instincts

their

aim.

The depth

contrasted

as

with

to which anyone

purely sensual
desire, may be measured by the size of the share
taken by the inhibited instincts of tendem*ess.
is

in

love,

his

In connection with this question of being in love

we

have always been struck by the phenomenon of sexual

over-estimation

the

fact that the loved

object enjoys

a certain amount of freedom from criticism, and that

all its characteristics are valued more
highly than those
of people
at a time

who
when

are not loved, or than

it

itself

was not loved.

its

If

own were
the sensual

*Uber die allgemeinste Emiedrigung des Liebeslebens.

Kleine Schriften zur Neurosenlehre, Vierte Folge, 19 1 8.

'

Group Psychology and

74

somewhat more

are

tendencies

the Autolysis of the

Ego
repressed

effectively

produced that the object

has come to be sensually loved on account of its
spiritual merits, whereas on the contrary these merits
or set aside, the illusion

may

really only

is

have been

lent

to

it

by

sensual

its

charm.

The tendency which

respect
easier

the

that

is

for

of idealisation.

us to find our
is

object

way

being treated

when we

own

falsifies

in

are

judgement in this
But this makes it

about.

the

We

see that

same way

in love a

as our

considerable

ego, so that
'amount of narcissistic libido overflows on to the object.
It is even obvious, in many forms of love choice, that
the object serves as a substitute for some unattained
love it on account of the
ego ideal of our own.

We

which we have striven to reach

perfections

own
in

our

like to

procure
roundabout way as a means of satisfying our

ego,

this

and which we should now

for

narcissism.
If

love

the

sexual

increase even

over-estimation

and the being

further, then the

in

interpretation of

The
becomes still more unmistakable.
tendencies whose trend is tovv-ards directly sexual
satisfaction may now be pushed back entirely, as
the

picture

man's
regularly happens, for instance, with the young
more
and
more
sentimental passion; the ego becomes
unassuming and modest, and the object more and more
sublime and precious, until at last it gets possession

Being

in

Love and Hypnosis

of the entire self-love of the ego, whose self-sacrifice

thus follows as a natural consequence.
The object
has, so to speak, consumed the ego. Traits of
humility, of the

limitation

injury occur
extreme case

every case

result

remain

in

of narcissism,

they are
of the withdrawal of the
in

and of

self-

of being in love; in the

only intensified, and as a

solitary

sensual

claims they

supremacy.

This happens especially easily with love that is

unhappy and cannot be satisfied; for in spite of
ever}^thing each sexual satisfaction ahvays involves a
reduction in sexual over-estimation. Contemporaneously
with this 'devotion' of the ego to the object, w^hich

no longer to be distinguished from a sublimated

devotion to an abstract idea, the functions allotted to

is

The criticism
the ego ideal entirely cease to operate.
exercised by that faculty is silent; everything that the
object does and asks for is right and blameless.
Conscience has no application to anything that is done
for the sake of the object; in the blindness of love
remorselessness

is

carried to the pitch of crime.

The

whole situation can be completely summarised in a

formula: The object has taken the place of the ego
ideal,
It

/
J'

is

now easy

to define the distinction

between

identification and such extreme developments of being

in love as may be described as fascination or infatuation.

\i

In the former case

the ego has enriched

itself

Group Psychology and

'j^

the Analysis of the

Ego

'

with the properties of the object, it has introjected

the object into itself, as Ferenczi expresses it. In the
second case it is impoverished, it has surrendered itself
to the object, it has substituted the object for its most
important constituent. Closer consideration soon makes
it

plain,

an

that

however,
of

illusion

this

kind of account creates

existence.

Economically there

erishment

or

is

have

that

contradistinctions

no

real

no question of impovis
even possible to

enrichment; it
describe an extreme case of being

in

love as a state

which the ego has introjected the object into itself.

Another distinction is perhaps better calculated to
in

meet the essence

the

matter.

In

the

case

of

object has been lost or given up;

up again inside the ego, and the ego
a partial alteration in itself after the model of

identification
it

of

the

then set

is

makes

other case the object is

a
retained, and there is
hyper-cathexis of it by the
ego and at the ego's expense. But here again a

the

lost

difficulty

object.

presents

tification

given

up?

In

Is

itself.

presupposes

Can

the

there

that

it

quite certain that iden-

object-cathexis

be no

identification

has been
with the

object retained? And before we embark upon a discussion of this delicate question, the perception may
already be beginning to dawn on us that yet another
alternative

embraces the

real

namely, whether the object

ego or of the ego ideal.

is

essence of the matter,

put

in the place of the

Being in Love a7id Hypnosis

From

being

love

in

to

The

only a short

hypnosis
in

yy
is

evidently

which the two

step.
respects
is the same humble subare
obvious.
There
agree
same
the
compliance, the same absence of
jection,
criticism, towards the hypnotist just as towards the

loved object.

There

is

the

same absorption of one*s

own initiative; no one can doubt that the hypnotist

It is
has stepped into the place of the ego ideal.
only that everything
in hypnosis, so that
to

explain being in
the other way round.

is

even clearer and more intense

would be more to the point

love by means of hypnosis than
it

The

the sole object,

and no attention is paid to any but him. The fact
that the ego experiences in a dream-like way whatever
he may request- or assert reminds us that we omitted
to

hypnotist

is

mention among the functions of the ego ideal the

business of testing the reality of things.^ No wonder

that the ego takes a perception for real if its reality
is vouched for by the mental faculty which ordinarily

discharges the

duty of testing the reality of things.

The complete absence of tendencies which are uninhibited in their sexual aims contributes further towards
the extreme purity of the phenomena.
The hypnotic
relation is the devotion of someone in love to an
unlimited degree but with sexual satisfaction excluded;

*Metapsychologische Erganzung zur Traumlehre.

Kleine Schrifien zur Neurosenlehre, Vierte Folge, 191 8.
Cf.

'

Group Psychology and

78

whereas

case

the

in

the Analysis of the

of being

love

in

Ego
kind of

this

only temporarily kept back, and remains

in the background as a possible aim at some later time.

satisfaction

is

But on the other hand we may

the hypnotic relation is (if the expression

sible) a group formation with two members.

not a good

is

object

formation, because

with

cal

group

comparison

one element
the

of the individual to

for us

leader.

a group
is

it

the

identi-

of the

fabric

behaviour
is

distin-

this limitation

distinguished from being

directly sexual tendencies.

number, just as it
by the absence of
It

permis-

Hypnosis

Hypnosis

guished from a group formation by

respect

is

with

truer to say that

is

Out of the complicated

it.

isolates

it

it

for

say that

also

is

of

in love

In this

occupies a middle position between the two.

interesting to see that it is precisely those

it

is

sexual tendencies that are inhibited in their aims which

achieve such lasting

easily

ties

between men.

be understood from the

fact

But

this

can

that they are not

capable of complete satisfaction, while sexual tendencies which are uninhibited in their aims suffer an
.

through the discharge of

It is
energy every time the sexual aim is attained.

extraordinary

reduction

the fate of sensual love to

it

is

the

satisfied;
first

must

it

to

be able

to last,

it

must from

aims or

be mixed with purely tender components

with such,
it

for

become extinguished when

that

itself

is,

as are inhibited in their

undergo a transformation of

this kind.

Being in Love and Hypnosis

79

Hypnosis would solve the riddle of the

not

that

libidinal

of groups for us straight away, if it were

itself exhibits some features which are

constitution
it

not met by the rational explanation we have hitherto

given of it as a state of being in love with the
There is still a
directly sexual tendencies excluded.
deal

great

in

it

we must

which

recognise as unex-

plained and mystical. It contains an additional element

of paralysis derived from the relation between someone

with

power and someone who

superior

which

powder and helpless

to the hypnosis of terror

The manner

may
which

afford

occurs

without

is

transition

animals.

in

produced and its relationship to sleep are not clear; and the puzzling way in
which some people are subject to it, while others

resist

it

which

in

completely,

known which is
makes possible
libido

when

which

it

is

it

points

realised in

the

it

purity^

exhibits.

It

some

to

factor

still

un-

and which perhaps alone

of the

attitudes

of the

noticeable that, even

is

there

is complete
suggestive compliance in other
the
moral
conscience
of the person hypnotized
respects,

may show
fact

resistance.

that in hypnosis

But
as

it

this
is

may be due

to

usually practised

the

some

knowledge may be retained that what is happening

is
only a game, an untrue reproduction of another
situation of far

But
in

more importance

life.

preceding discussions we are quite

to give the formula for the libidinal

after the

a position

to

8o

Group Psychology and

the Analysis of the

Ego

constitution of groups: or at least of such groups as

we have hitherto considered, namely, those that have

a leader and have not been able by

'

means of too much

'

organisation to acquire secondarily the characteristics

of an individual.
primary group of this kind is

a number of individuals who have substituted 07ie and

the same object for their ego ideal and have consequently identified themselves with one another in their
ego. This condition admits of graphic representation:

Ego

Ideal

Object

Outer
Object

:-x

IX

THE HERD INSTINCT

We

cannot for long enjoy the illusion that we have

solved the riddle of the group with this formula. It

is

impossible to escape the immediate and disturbing

all we have really done has been to

recollection that

the question on to the riddle of hypnosis, about

which so many points have yet to be cleared up. And
shift

now

another objection shows us our further path.

might be said that the intense emotional

It

which

we

observe

in

groups

are

explain one of their characteristics

pendence and
in

initiative in their

the reactions of

all

sufficient

quite
the lack

members, the

ties

to

of indesimilarity

of them, their reduction, so to

speak, to the level of group individuals. But if we

look at it as a whole, a group shows us more than
this.

Some

ability,

for

of

its

features

the weakness of

the lack of emotional restraint,

intellectual

the incapadty

moderation and del ay, the inclination to exceed

every limit

in the

expression of emotion and to work

82
it

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

off completely in the

these and

similar

so impressively described in
Le Bon, show an unmistakable picture of a recession
of mental activity to an earlier jtage such as we are not

which

features^

we

form of action

find

or children.

A regression

surprised to find

among savages

of this sort

particular an essential characteristic of

common
and

is in

groups, while, as

we have

heard, in organized
can to a large extent be checked.

groups it
thus have an impression of a state in which
an individual's separate emotion and personal intelartifiqial

We

act

too

are

weak

to

come

to

anything by
themselves and are absolutely obliged to wait till they
are reinforced through being repeated in a similar
are
way in the other members of the group.
lectucd

We

reminded of how many of these phenomena of dependence are part of the normal constitution of human
society, of how little originality and personal courage
are to

be found

in

it,

of

how much every

individual

which
ruled_ by th ose attitu des of the group mind
exhibit themselves in such forms as racial character-

is

prejudices, public opinion, etc.

ot__suggestion becomes a greater riddle

istics, class

we admit
j

The

influence

for us

when

not exercised only by the leader,

but by every individual upon every other individual;
and we must reproach ourselves with having unfairly
that

it

is

emphasized the relation to the leader and with having

kept the other factor of mutual suggestion too much
in the

background.

The Herd

be

Instinct

83

After this encouragement to modesty, we shall

inclined to listen to another voice, which promises

us an explanation based upon simpler grounds.

a one

to

is

upon the herd

is

that

were

it

be found

in Trotter's

Such
book
thoughtful

concerning which

instinct,

my

only regret

does not entirely escape the antipathies that

set loose by the recent great war.'

Trotter derives the mental phenomena that are

described as occurring

groups from a herd

in

which

human

innate in

is

instinct

beings just
as in other species of animals. Biologically this gregariousness is an analogy to multicellularity and as

{'gregariousness'))

it

were a continuation of

From

the standpoint of
a further manifestation of the
it.

the libido

theory

inclination,

which proceeds from the

it

is

libido,

and which

by all living beings of the same kind, to combine

^
in more and more comprehensive units. The individual
if he is alone.
The dread shown
feels
incomplete
would
seem
small
children
already to be an exby

is

felt

'

pression of this herd instinct. Opposition to the herd

is
as good as separation from it, and is therefore
aii^ously avoided. But the herd turns away from

anything

W.

that

is

Trotter:

new

or unusual.

Instincts

of

the

The herd

Herd

in Peace

Fisher Unwin, 1916.

See

my

essay yenseits des Lustprinzipt

instinct

and War.

Group Psychology and

84

the Analysis of the

would appear to be something

Svhich cannot be split up'.
Trotter gives as
considers as primary
nutrition,

the

of instincts

list

those

primary,

of

something

which he

self-preservation,

and of the herd. The

of sex,

Ego

last

of

often

comes into opposition with the others. The feelings of

guilt and of duty are the peculiar possessions of a
gregarious animal. Trotter also derives from the herd
forces which psycho-analysis
instinct the repressive
exist
in
the
has shown to
ego, and from the same

source accordingly the resistances which the physician

comes up against in psycho-analytic treatment.

Speech owes

its

importance to

its

aptitude for mutual

and upon it the identiunderstanding

fication of the individuals with one another largely
in

the herd,

rests.

While Le Bon

is

principally

concerned with typical

group formations, and McDougall with stable

associations, Trotter has chosen as the centre of his

transient

interest

the most generalised

which man, that C^cbov

form of assemblage in
jtoXitikov, passes his life, and he

psychological basis. But Trotter is under

no necessity of tracing back the herd instinct, for he
characterizes it as primary and not further reducible.
gives us

its

Boris Sidis's attempt, to which he refers, at tracing

the herd

instinct

back to

suggestibility

is

fortunately

superfluous as far as he is concerned; it is an explanation of a familiar and unsatisfactory type, and the

The Herd

Instinct

85

converse proposition that suggestibility

of the herd instinct
would seem to
far

more

light

is

a derivative

me

to

throw-

on the subject.

But Trotter's exposition, with even more justice

than the others', is open to the objection that it takes
too little account of the leader's part in a group,
while we incline rather to the opposite judgement,
the leader

impossible to grasp the nature of a group if

is
disregarded. The herd instinct leaves no

room

at

all

along

with

that

is

it

that

too,

need

for

the

no

leader;

herd,

path

a God;

But -besides

is

merely thrown

almost by chance;

leads

the

he

from

herd

is

this

this

it

instinct

in

follows,

to

the

without a herdsman.

Trotter's exposition can

that is to say,
psychologically;

mined

made

the

for

be underit
can be

events probable that the herd instinct is

not irreducible, that it is not primary in the same
at

all

sense as the instinct of self-preservation and the sexual

instinct.

no easy matter to trace the ontoThe dread w^hich is

genesis of the herd instinct.
shown by small children when they are left alone, and
It

is

naturally

which Trotter claims as being akeady a manifestation

of the instinct, nevertheless suggests more readily another interpretation. The dread relates to the child's

mother, and later to other familiar persons, and it is

the expression of an unfulfilled desire, which the child
does not yet know how to deal with in any way

86

Group Psychology and the Analysis of

except by turning

when

it

into dread.^

Nor

is

the

Ego

the child's dread

alone pacified by the sight of any haphazard

member of the herd but on the contrary it is only
brought into existence by the approach of a stranger
is

it

'

of this sort.

Then

for a long time nothing in the nature

of herd instinct or group feeling

children.

'

Something

like

it

is

to

grows up

be observed

first

of

all,

in

in

nursery containing many children, out of the children's

relation to their parents, and it does so as a reaction
to the initial envy with which the elder child receives
the

younger

like

to

The

one.
its

elder

child

would

successor

certainly

to

put
jealously aside,
from
the
away
parents, and to rob it of
privileges; but in face of the fact that this
it

(like

all

just the

that

come

same

w^ay,

and

in

its

child

loved by the parents

is

later)

keep
all

in

consequence of the impos-

of

maintaining its hostile attitude without

damaging itself, it is forced into identifying itself with
the other children. So there grows up in the troop of
sibility

communal or group feeling, which is then

developed at school. The first demand made

children a
further

by

this

reaction-formation

treatment for

all.

We

all

is

for

ably this claim is put forward at

be the favourite oneself, at all

See the

fnhrung

remarks

upon Dread

in die Psychoanalyse.

justice,

for

equal

know how

XXV.

loudly and implacschool. If one cannot

events nobody else

in

Vorlesungen zur Ein-

The Herd
be the

shall

87

favourite. This transformation

of jealousy

by
classroom might

ing

Instinct

group feeling

the replacthe

in

nursery

be considered improbable, if
the same process could not later on be observed
and

We

have only to think

again in other circumstances.

of the troop of women and girls,

all

them

of

love

in

in an enthusiastically sentimental way, who crowd

round a singer or pianist after his performance. It
would certainly be easy for each of them to be jealous

of the rest; but,

in

face

of their numbers and the

consequent impossibility of their reaching the aim of

their love, they renounce it, and, instead of pulling
out one another's hair, they act as a united group,
do homage to the hero of the occasion with their

common

actions,

a share

of his

have

and would probably be glad to have

flowing

succeeded

When,

the instincts

is

as

is

Originally

usual,

they

rivals,

themselves with

identifying

by means of a

another
object.

in

locks.

love

similar

for

the

one

same

a situation in the field of

capable of various outcomes,

we need

not be surprised if the actual outcome is one which

involves the possibility of a certain amount of satisfaction,

obvious,
life

even though in itself more

passed over because the circumstances of

while
is

prevent

its

another,

attaining this aim.

What

of

appears later on in society

group
Gemeingeist^ esprit de corps

does not belie

in the

shape

its

derivation from what

spirit',

was

etc.,

originally

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

88

No one must want to put himself forward,

one
must be the same and have the same.
every
envy.

Social justice
things so that

ask

root of social
reveals

is

them.

for

itself

that

others

what

as well, or,
to

means

may

we deny

may

thing,

demand

This

many

have to do without them

same

the

ourselves

for

not be able

equality

is

the 4

It
conscience and the sense of duty.
unexpectedly in the syphilitic 's dread

of infecting other people,

taught us to understand.

which psycho-analysis has ^

The dread exhibited by

wretches

corresponds to their violent

'
struggles against the unconscious wish to spread their

these

poor

on

infection

other

to

be infected

alone

people; for why -should they

and cut off from so much? why I

not other people as well? And the same germ is to

|
be found in the pretty anecdote of the judgement of

Solomon.
not

shall

woman

is

Thus
what was
tie

one woman's child

If

have

live

one

dead, the other

either.

The bereaved

-I

this wish.

recognized by
social feeling

is

is

based upon the reversal of

a hostile feeling into a positively-toned i

So far as we
of the nature of an identification.
first

have hitherto been able to follow the course of events,

this reversal appears to be effected under the influence
of a

common

group.

We

identification

with a person outside the

do not ourselves regard our analysis of

tender

tie

as exhaustive, but

present purpose

that

we

it

is

enough

for

our

should revert to this one

The Herd
feature

its

demand

that

sistently carried through.

the discussion of the two

Instinct

89

equalization

We

shall

be con-

have already heard in

groups, church and

artificial

army, that their preliminary condition is that all their

members should be loved in the same way by one
person, the leader. Do not let us forget, however, that

demand for equality in a group

members and not to the leader.

the

applies only to its

All the members

must be equal to one another, but they all want to

be ruled by one person.
Many equals, who can
identify themselves with one another, and a single
person superior to them all that is the situation

that

we

find realised in groups

which are capable of

Let us venture, then, to correct Trotter's

pronouncement that man is a herd animal and assert
subsisting.

that he
in

is

rather a horde animal, an individual creature

a horde led by a

chief.

THE GROUP AND THE PRIMAL HORDE

took up a conjecture of Darwin's to the

effect
that the primitive form of human society
was that of a horde ruled over despotically by a
In

19 1 2

powerful male. I attempted to show that the fortunes

of this horde have left indestructible traces upon the
history

of

human

development

descent; and, especially, that the

of totemism, which comprises in itself

the beginnings of religion, morality% and social organisation, is connected with the killing of the chief by

violence and the transformation of the paternal horde

into a community of brothers.^
To be sure, this is

only

like

hypothesis,

so

others

many

with which

archaeologists endeavour to lighten the darkness of

a Just-So Story
as it was amusingly
prehistoric times

'

by a not unkind critic (Kroeger); but I think it

creditable to such a hypothesis if it proves able to

called
is

Totem und Tabu.

The Group and the Primal Horde

and

coherence

bring

more new

into

understanding

91

nk)re

and

regions.

Human

once again the familiar

picture of an individual of superior strength among a
troop of similar companions, a picture which is also
contained

exhibit

groups

our

in

idea

of

the

horde.

primal

The

psychology of such a group, as w^e know it from the

the
descriptions to Vv^hich we have so often referred

dwindling of the conscious individual personality, the

focussing of thoughts and feelings into a common
the

direction,

predominance of the emotions and of

the [unconscious mental life, the tendency to the immediate carrying out of intentions as they emerge

corresponds to a state of regression to a

primitive mental activity, of just such a sort as we
should be inclined to ascribe to the primal horde/
this

all

What we have

just described in our general characterisa-

mankind must apply especially to the primal horde.

The will of the individual was too weak; he did not venture
upon action. No impulses whatever came into play except collective ones; there was only a common will, there were no single
of

tion

An

ones.
it

idea did not dare to turn itself into a volition unless

itself

felt

reinforced

by a perception of

This weakness of the idea

the

emotional

tie

which

to

is

is

general diffusion.

its

be explained by the strength of

shared by

all

the

members

of the

but the similarity in the circumstances of their life and the

absence of any private property assist in determining the uniformity

horde

of their individual mental acts.

and

soldiers,

common

cremental functions.

activity

The one

As we may observe with children

is

not excluded even in the ex-

great exception

is

provided by the

92

Group Psychology and

the Analysis of the

Thus the group appears

to

Ego

us as a revival of

primal horde. Just as primitive man virtually

survives in every individual, so the primal horde may
arise once more out of any randorn crowd; in so far

the

men are habitually under the sway of group formation we recognise in it the survival of the primal

as

We

horde.

group

is

must conclude that the psychology of the

human psychology; what we have

the oldest
as

isolated

individual

by neglecting
psychology,
group, has only since come into
prominence out of the old group psychology, by a
gradual process which may still, perhaps, be described
as
an
shall
later venture upon
incomplete.
all

traces

of the

We

attempt at specifying the point of departure of

development.
Further reflection
spect

this

will

show

us

in

what

this

re-

statement

psychology must,

group psychology,

requires correction. Individual

on the contrary, be just as old as
for

from the

first

there were two

kinds of psychologies, that of the individual members

of the group and that of the father, chief, or leader.

The members of the group were subject to ties just

as we see them to-day, but the father of the primal
horde was

free.

His intellectual acts were strong and

sexual act, in which a third person is at the best superfluous and

in the extreme case is condemned to a state of painful expectancy.

As

to the

reaction of the sexual need (for genital gratification)

towards gregariousness, see below.

The Group and

Primal Horde

the

93

independent even in isolation, and his will needed no

reinforcement from others. Consistency leads us to

assume that

ego had few

his

libidinal ties;

no one but himself, or other people only

in

he loved
so far as

they served his needs. To objects his ego gave away

no more than was barely necessary.
He, at the very beginning of the history of
mankind, was the Superman whom Nietzsche only

expected from the future. Even to-day the members

of a group stand in need of the illusion that they are
equally and justly loved by their leader; but the leader

may be of a masterly
but self-confident and

himself need love no one else, he

nature,

absolutely

independent.

We

narcissism, and

it

in

by operating

narcissistic,

know

that love puts a check

upon
would be possible to show how,

this

way,

it

became a

factor

of

civilisation.

The primal
immortal,

as

he

horde was not yet

became by deification. If he

father
later

of

the

to be replaced; his place was probably

a
taken by
youngest son, who had up to then been
a member of the group like any other. There must
died, he

therefore

had

be a

possibility of transforming

group psychology into individual psychology; a condition must be

discovered under which such a transformation is easily
accomplished, just as it is possible for bees in case
of necessity to turn a larva into a queen instead of
into a worker.

One can

imagine only one possibility:

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

94

the primal father had prevented Jiis_ sons from satisfying their directly sexual tendencies; he forced them
into
ties

and consequently into the emotional

with him and with one another which could arise
abstinence

out of those of their tendencies that were inhibited

their

in

sexual

aim.

He

forced them,

so to

speak,

group psychology. His sexuaF jealousy and intolerance became in the last resort the causes of group
into

psycholog}^^

Whoever became

his

successor was also given

the possibility of sexual satisfaction, and w^as by that

means offered a way out of the conditions of group

psychology. The fixation of the libido to woman and

the possibility of satisfaction without any need for delay

made an end

or accumulation

of the importance of

those of his sexual tendencies that were inhibited in

their

to

its

this

and allowed

aim,
full

height.

We

his

narcissism always to rise

in a postscript to

shall return

connection between love and character formation.

We

instructive,

further

emphasize, as being specially

the relation that holds between the con-

may

by means of which an artificial group is held

together and the constitution of the primal horde.
We have seen that with an army and a church this
trivance

It may perhaps also be assumed that the sons, when they

were driven out and separated from their father, advanced from
identification with orje another to homosexual object love, and in
this way won freedom to kill their father.

The Group and the Primal Horde

contrivance

is

95

the illusion that the leader loves

all

of

But this is simply

the individuals equally and justly.
an idealistic remodelling of the state of affairs in the
primal horde,

where

all

of the sons

knew

that theyV

persecuted by
primal father, and
This same recasting upon which"
feared him equally.

were
all

the

equally

social

duties

are built up

next form of

by the

The

human

is

already presupposed
society, the totemistic

of the family as a
natural group formation rests upon the fact that this
necessar}^ presupposition of the father's equal love
clan.

indestructible strength

can have a real application in the family.

But we expect even more of this derivation of

group from the primal horde. It ought also to

help us to understand what is still incomprehensible
and mysterious in group formations all that lies
the

hidden behind the enigmatic words hypnosis and suggestion. And I think it can succeed in this too. Let
us recall that hypnosis has something positively uncanny
about it; but the characteristic of uncanniness suggests something old and familiar that has undergone
repression.^ Let us consider how hypnosis is induced.

The

hypnotist

asserts

that

he

is

in

possrjssion

of a

mysterious power which robs the subject of his own

will, or, which is the same thing, the subject believes
it

of him. This mysterious

<

power (which

Das Unheimliche.' Imago, 1919, Bd. V.

is

even now

'

Group Psychology and

g6

the Analysis of the

Ego

described popularly as animal magnetism) must

is looked upon by primitiv^e people

often

be the same that

same that emanates from

kings and chieftains and makes it dangerous to
approach them (mana). The hypnotist, then, is supposed to be in possession of this power; and how
as the source of taboo, the

does he manifest

the subject to look

him in the eyes; his most typical method of hypnotising
is by his look.
But it is precisely the sight of the
chieftain that

is

it?

By

telling

dangerous and unbearable for primitive

people, just as later that of the Godhead is for

mortals.
Even Moses had to act as an intermediary

and Jehovah, since the people

the
support
sight of God; and when he
returned from the presence of God his face shone

betw^een

his

people

could not

some of the mana had been

transferred on to him,

happens with the intermediary among primitive

just as

people.^

true that hypnosis can also be evoked in

other ways, for instance by fixing the 'eyes upon a
bright object or by listening to a monotonous sound.
This is misleading and has given occasion to inad-

Jt

is

equate physiological
these

As

a matter

of fact

merely serve to divert conscious

and to hold it riveted.
The situation is

procedures

attention

the

theories.

same
^

as

if

the hypnotist had said to the subject:

See Totem und Tabu and the sources there quoted.

The Group and

*

the

Primal Horde

97

Now

concern yourself exclusively with my person;

It would
the rest of the world is quite uninteresting.
'

of course be technically inexpedient for a hypnotist

to make such a speech; it would tear the subject
away from his unconscious attitude and stimulate him
to conscious opposition.

The

hypnotist avoids directing

thoughts towards his own

intentions, and makes the person upon whom he is
experimenting sink into an activity in which the
the

world
the

conscious

subject's

bound

is

to

seem

uninteresting to him; but at

same time the subject

is

in reality

unconsciously

whole attention upon the hypnotist,

concentrating
and is getting into an attitude of rapport^ of transThus the indirect methods of
ference on to him.
his

of the technical procedures

have
the effect of checking
making jokes,
distributions of mental energy which would

hypnotising,

used

in

certain

like

many

interfere with the course of events in the unconscious,

and they lead eventually to the same result as the

direct methods of influence by means of staring or
stroking.^
^

This situation, in which the subject's attitude is unconthe hypnotist, while he is consciously

sciously directed towards

occupied with monotonous and uninteresting perceptions, finds a

among the events of psycho-analytic treatment, which

parallel

deserves

to

be mentioned here. At

least

once

in the course of

every analysis a moment comes when the patient obstinately

maintains that just now positively nothing whatever occurs to
his mind. His free associations come to a stop and the usual

98

Group Psychology and the Ayialysis of the Ego

Ferenczi has

made

the true discovery that when

command to sleep, which is

gives the
often done at the beginning of hypnosis, he is putting
He
himself in the place of the subject's parents.

a hypnotist

two sorts of hypnosis are to be distinone coaxing and soothing, which he conmodelled upon the mother, and another

thinks that

guished
siders

is

threatening,

the

which

command

more nor

to

less

derived from the father.^

is

sleep

in

hypnosis

than an order to withdraw

from the world and to concentrate

of the

hypnotist.
for

subject;

in

world

outer

means

And

this

lies

it

is

so

withdrawal

the

nothing

all

interest

upon the person

understood by the
it

of interest from the

psychological

characteristic

and the kinship between sleep and the

hypnosis is based upon it.
sleep,

incentives for putting them in motion

of pressure the patient is at last

Now

fail in

their effect.

of

state of

As a

result

induced to admit that he

is

thinking of the view from the consulting-room window, of the

wall-paper that he sees before him, or of the gas-lamp hanging

from the
into

ceiling.

Then one knows

the transference

and that he

is

once that he has gone off

engaged upon what are still

at

unconscious thoughts relating to the physician; and one sees the

stoppage in the patient's associations disappear, as soon as he has

been given
^

this explanation.

Ferenczi:

Psycho analyse^

Introjektion

1909,

Bd.

I.

Boston, Badger, 1916, Chapter

und Ubertragung.'
[Contridjitions
II.]

to

Jahrbuch der

Psycho- Analysis.

The Group and

the measures that

By
notist

awakens

had

had

which

re-animation in his

individual

the

takes, then,

hyp-

made him compliant

also

parents and

his

he

99

the subject a portion of his archaic

in

inheritance which

wards

Primal Horde

the

experienced

relation

to

his

to-

an

father;

what is thus awakened is the idea of a paramount

and dangerous personality, towards whom only a
'

passive-masochistic attitude
will has to be surrendered,

him, 'to look him

It

enterprise.

is

the

in

in

only

possible, to

is

while

face',

to

whom

be alone with

appears a hazardous

some such way

as this

we

know from
variable

other reactions, individuals have preserved

degree of personal aptitude for reviving

old situations of this kind.

spite of everything hypnosis
tive renewal of these

Some knowledge
is

old impressions,

may however
is

ance

against any too serious consequences

suspension of the will in hypnosis.

The uncanny and

which

formations,

resist-

of the

coercive characteristics of group

shown

are

therefore

phenomena, may
back to the fact of

The

that in

only a game, a decep-

remain behind and take care that there

horde.

that

member
As we

can picture the relation of the individual

of the primal horde to the primal father.

one's

lea der of

their
t

their

suggestion

justice

be traced

in

with
origin

he group

is

from

the

still J:h_e,

primal

dreaded

primal father; the group still wishes to be governed

force: it has an extreme passion for
by unrestricted
nil

mil ^11

^-_^^^^,^

lOO Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

in

authority;

obedience.

Le Bon's
The primal

which governs the ego

phrase,
father

is

has

the

group

It

seems

conviction

to

me

for

ideal,

place of the ego ideal.

to being described as a

which

as
is

definition

not

perception and reasoning but upon an

*

thirst

in the

Hypnosis has a good claim

group of two; there remains
suggestion

it

based

erotic

for

upon

tie.^

worth emphasizing the fact that the

dis-

cussions in this section have induced us to give up Bernheim's

conception of hypnosis and go back to the ndif earlier one.

According

to

Bernheim

all

to the factor of suggestion,

hypnotic phenomena are to be traced

which is not itself capable of further

We

have come to the conclusion that suggestion is

explanation.
a partial manifestation of the state of hypnosis, and that hypnosis
is solidly founded upon a predisposition which has survived in the
unconscious from the early history of the

human

family.

XI

A DIFFERENTIATING GRADE

If

we

the

survey

life

of

an

IN

THE EGO

individual

man

of

to-day, bearing in mind the mutually complementary

accoimts of group psychology given by the authorities,
we may lose the courage, in face of the complications

are

that

position.

attempt a comprehensive exindividual is a component part of

revealed,

Each

to

numerous groups, he is bound by ties of identification

in many directions, and he has built up his ego ideal

upon the most various models. Each individual therefore

has a share in numerous group minds those of his race,
of his class, of his creed, of his nationality, etc. and
he can also raise himself above them to the extent
of

having

scrap

of independence

and

originality.

and

lasting group formations, with their

uniform and constant effects, are less striking to an

Such

stable

observer than the rapidly formed and transient groups

from which Le Bon has made his brilliant psychomind. And it is
logical character sketch of the group
just in these noisy

ephemeral groups, which are as

it

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

02

were superimposed upon the others, that we are met

by the prodigy of the complete,, even though only
temporary, disappearance of exactly what we have
recognized as individual acquirements.

We

have interpreted

that the individual gives

tutes

for

leader.

/
(

the

it

this

up

his

ideal

ego

meaning
and substi-

ideal

embodied

as

group
we must add by

And

as

prodigy

way

of

in

the

correction

that the prodigy is not equally great in every case.

In many individuals the separation between the ego

not very far advanced; the two

the ego has often preserved its
still coincide readily;
The selection of the leader
earlier self-complacency.

and the ego

is

very

ideal

much

is

facilitated

by

this

circumstance.

He

need only possess the typical qualities of the individuals concerned in a particularly clearly marked and
form, and need only give an impression of
greater force and of more freedom of libido; and in
that case the need for a strong chief will often meet

pure

him half-way and invest him with a predominance to

which he would otherwise perhaps have had no claim.
The other members of the group, whose ego ideal
would not, apart from this, have become embodied
in

his

person

without

some

correction,

away with the rest by ^suggestion',

say, by means of identification.
We are aware that what we have been

carried
to

are

contribute

towards

the

explanation

of

the

then
that

is

able to
libidinal

Differentiating Grade in the

Ego

103

groups leads back to the distinction

between the ego and the ego ideal and to the
double kind of tie which this makes possible identistructure

of

and substitution of the object

fication,
ideal.

The assumption of

grade

\Stufe\

in

the

for

the

ego

kind of differentiating
as a first step in
an

this

ego

analysis of the ego must gradually establish its justification in the most various regions of psychology.
In
my paper Zur Einfiihrung des Narzissmus I have put
*

together

moment

'

the pathological material that could at the

be used in support of this separation. But it
all

that when we penetrate deeper

the psycholog}^ of the psychoses its significance
be discovered to be far greater. Let us reflect

may be expected
into
will

ego now appears in the relation of an object

to the ego ideal which has been developed out of
that the

and that

the interplay between an outer object

and the ego as a whole, with which our study of the
neuroses has made us acquainted, may possibly be
repeated upon this new scene of action inside the ego.
it,

In

this

all

place

shall

consequences which seem

view,

thus

which

resuming

only follow up one of the

possible from this point of

the

discussion

was obliged to leave

of

unsolved

problem

elsewhere.*

Each of the mental differentiations that we have

become acquainted with represents a fresh aggravation
of the
*

difficulties

of mental functioning,

*Trauer und MelanchoUe.*

increases

its

04 Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

instability,

and may become the starting-point

breakdown, that

by being

is,

bom we

for

its

for the onset of a disease.

Thus,
have made the step from an ab-

solutely self-sufficient narcissism to the perception of

a changing outer world and to the beginnings of the

And

discovery of objects.
fact that

we

cannot endure the

we

for long, that

to

sleep,

with this

new

periodically revert

associated the

of things

state

from

it,

in

our

our former condition of absence of stimul-

and avoidance of objects.

ation

is

It

is

true,

however,

we

are following a hint from the outer

world, which, by means of the periodical change of
day and night, temporarily withdraws the greater part
that in

this

The second example,

more important, is not subject

of the stimuli that affect us.

which
to

is

any

pathologically

such

In

qualification.

the

course

of

our

development we have effected a separation of our

mental existence into a coherent ego and into an
unconscious and repressed portion which is left outside
it; and we know that the stability of this new acquisition is

exposed to constant shocks. In dreams and

is thus excluded knocks for admission

/in neuroses what

at the gates,

and

in

artifices

guarded though they are by resistances;

our waking health

for allowing

the resistances

our ego to the

and

what

we make
is

use of special
repressed to circumvent

for

receiving it temporarily into

increase of our pleasure.
Wit and

humour, and to some extent the comic

in

general,

Differentiating

may be regarded
the

with

in

examples of

similar

this light.

of

psychology

to the application

the

in the

Ego

have

105

Everyone acquainted
neuroses

think

will

importance; but

less

Grade

of

hasten on

in view.

quite conceivable that the separation of the

ideal from the ego cannot be borne for long

It

ego

either,

is

and

has

and

renunciations

be temporarily undone.

to

In

all

limitations

imposed upon the ego

a periodical infringement of the prohibition is the rule;
this indeed is shown by the institution of festivals,
nothing more nor less than
excesses provided by law and which owe their cheerful
character to the release which they bring.^
The

which

in

Saturnalia

agree

in

origin

are

of the

Romans and our modern

this

essential

feature

with

the

carnival

festivals

of

people, which usually end in debaucheries

of every kind and the transgression of what are at
other times the most sacred commandments. But the

primitive

ego ideal comprises the sum of all the limitations in

which the ego has to acquiesce, and for that reason
the abrogation of the ideal would necessarily be a
once again
*

the

for

festival

magnificent

feel satisfied

with

ego,

which might then

itself.^

Totem und Tabu.

Trotter traces repression back to the herd instinct. It is

a translation of this into another form of expression rather than

a contradiction
that

when

say in

my

'Einfiihrung des Narzissmus'

ideal is the

on the part of the ego the construction of an

condition of repression.

06 Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

There

is

something

And

sense

the

always
the

in

ego
of

of

feeling

coincides

well

(as

guilt

with

triumph

when

the

ideal.

ego

sense

the

as

ot

can also be understood as an expression

of tension between the ego and the ego ideal.
It is well known that there are people the general

inferiority)

mood

colour of whose

oscillates periodically

from an

excessive depression through some kind of intermediate |

state to an exalted sense of well-being. These oscill-

very different degrees of amplitude,

from what is just noticeable to those extreme instances
which, in the shape of melancholia and mania, make
ations

the

of

most
the

cyclical

to

appear

in

painful

person

or

disturbing
In
concerned.

inroads
t}^pical

upon the
cases

life

of this

depression outer exciting causes do not seem

play any decisive part;

nothing more

as

regards inner motives,

(or nothing different)

is

to

be found

in

these patients than in all others. It has consequently

become the custom to consider these cases as not

We

shall refer later on to those

being psychogenic.
j
other exactly similar cases of cyclical depression which

can

nevertheless

easily

be

traced

back

to

mental

traumata.

Thus the foundation of these spontaneous oscillations of mood is unknown; we are without insight
into the mechanism of the displacement of a melancholia by a mania.
So we are free to suppose that,
these

patients

are

people

in

whom

our

conjecture

Differentiating

Grade

might find an actual application

be temporarily resolved

in the
their

their

into

Ego

ego

ego

107

\
might

ideal

after

having

with especial strictness.

previously ruled
Let us keep to what is clear On the basis of
it

analysis of the

of

mania

the

ego

it

ego

cannot be doubted that

and

the

ideal

ego

in

have

our^

cases

fused

together, so that the person, in a mood of triumph

and self-satisfaction, disturbed by no self-criticism, can
enjoy the abolition of his inhibitions, his feelings of

consideration for

others,

and

his

self-reproaches.

It

not so obvious, but nevertheless very probable, that

the misery of the melancholiac is the expression of a

is

sharp conflict between the two faculties of his ego,

a conflict in which the ideal, in an excess of sensitiveness, relentlessly exhibits its

ego

The

condemnation of the

delusions of inferiority and in self-depreciation.

only question is whether we are to look for the

in

causes of these altered relations between the ego and

the ego ideal in the periodic rebellions, which we

have postulated above, against the new institution, or

whether we are to make other circumstances responsible for

them.

change

into

mania

is

not

an

indispensable

feature of the symptomatology of melancholic depresThere are simple melancholias, some in single

sion.

and some

in recurring attacks,

which never show

this

development. On the other hand there are melancholias

in which the exciting cause clearly plays an aetiological

|
^

08 Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

They

part.

are those which occur after the loss of

a loved object, whether by death or as a result of

circumstances which have necessitated the withdrawal

of the libido from the object.

psychogenic melancholia of this sort can end in mania, and this cycle
can be repeated several times, just as easily as in a

be spontaneous. Thus the

state of things is somewhat obscure, especially as only
a few forms and cases of melancholia have been
submitted to psycho-analytical investigation.^ So far
which

case

we
is

appears

to

only understand those cases in which the object

given up because it has shown itself unworthy of

up again inside the ego, by

means of identification, and severely condemned by
the ego ideal.
The reproaches and attacks directed
love.

It

is

then

set

towards the object come to

light

melancholic self-reproaches.^
melancholia of this kind

in

may

the

also

shape of

end

in

change to mania; so that the possibility of this happening represents a feature which is independent of
the other characteristics in the symptomatology.

Cf. Abraham: 'Ansatze zur psychoanalytischen Erforschung

und Behandliing des manisch-depressiven Irreseins', 191 2, in

Klinische Beitrdge zur Psychoanalyse, 192 1.

To speak more accurately, they conceal themselves behind

the reproaches directed towards the person's own ego, and lend
them the fixity, tenacity, and imperativeness which characterize
^

the self-reproaches oi a melancholiac.

Differentiating Grade in the

Nevertheless
the

factor

of

the

see no

difficulty

periodical

Ego

in

rebellion

109

assigning to
of the ego

against the ego ideal a share in both kinds of melancholia, the psychogenic as well as the spontaneous.
In

the

spontaneous

the ego ideal

which

then

is

kind

it

may be supposed

that

inclined to display a peculiar strictness,

results

automatically in its temporary

In
the
suspension.
psychogenic kind the ego would 7
be incited to rebellion by ill-treatment on the part of /
an ill-treatment which it encounters when \
its ideal

there has been identification with a rejected object.

XII

POSTSCRIPT

In

course

the

of the

enquiry

which has just been

brought to a provisional end we came across a number

of side-paths w^hich we avoided pursuing in the first
instance but

in

which there was much that offered

We

us promises of insight.
propose
a few of the points that have been
in this

now
left

to take

up

on one side

way.

A.

The

distinction

between

identification of the

ego with an object and replacement of the ego

ideal

by an object finds an interesting illustration in the

two great artificial groups which we began by studying,
the army and the Christian church.
It

that

is,

is

obvious that a soldier takes

really,

his

superior,

the leader of the army, as his ideal,

while he identifies himself with his equals, and derives

from this community of their egos the obligations for
giving mutual help and for sharing possessions which
comradeship implies. But he becomes ridiculous if

he

tries

to

identify

himself with

the

general.

The

III

Postscript
soldier

Wallensteins Lager laughs at the sergeant

in

for this very reason:

Wie

Das habt
It

und wie

er rauspert
ihr

Christian loves

united with

all

ihm

otherwise

is

gliicklich

abgeguckt

the Catholic Church.

in

Christ

er spuckt,

as

his

other Christians

and

ideal

by the

tie

Every
himself

feels

of identific-

But the Church requires more of him.

has also to identify himself with Christ and love
ation.

other Christians as Christ loved them.

At both

He
all

points,

Church requires that the position of

the libido which is given by a group formation should
be supplemented.
Identification has to be added
where object-choice has taken place, and object love
therefore,

the

where there

is-

identification.

This addition evidently

goes beyond the constitution of the group.

be a good Christian and yet be far from

One can
the idea

of putting oneself in Christ's place and of having like

him an all-embracing love for mankind.
One need

not think oneself capable, weak mortal that one

of

the

Saviour's

But

love.

of libido

this

largeness

further

development

the group
which Christianity bases
in

is

its

is,

and strength of

of soul
in

probably

the distribution

the

factor

upon

claim to have reached a

higher ethical level.

[Literally: *How he clears his throat and how he
you have cleverly copied from him,']
^

that

spits,

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

We

would be possible to
specify the point in the mental development of man
at which the advance from group to individual psychoB.

have said that

logy was also

of the group/

For
the

to

this

scientific

the world,
the sons

myth of the
justice,

who composed
one

each

of

members

return for a

moment

father

on exalted

later

and with

individual

the

we must

purpose

He was

horde.

ideal

achieved by

it

the

of

for
first

primal

he had produced all

He was the
group.
at

them,

of the

into the creator of

once

and

feared

honoured, a fact which led later to the idea of taboo.

These many individuals eventually banded themselves
together, killed him and
of the group of victors
if

one of them

they

father's

heritage.

community
united by

of

the

him

could

in

take

pieces.
his

None

place,

the battles began afresh,

did,

understood

cut

or,
until

they must all renounce their

They then formed the totemistic

that

brothers,

totem

all

with

prohibitions

equal

which

rights

were

and
to

preserve and to expiate the memory of the murder.

But the dissatisfaction with what had been achieved

became the source of new

The persons who were united in this
developments.
group of brothers gradually came towards a revival
still

remained,

and

it

^
What follows at this point was written under the influence
of an exchange of ideas with Otto Rank.

113

Postscript

of

the

old

Man
things at a new level.
the chief of a family, and broke

of

state

became once more

down the prerogatives of the gynaecocracy which had
become established during the fatherless period. As
compensation for this he may at that time have
acknowledged the mother deities, whose priests were
a

castrated for the mother's protection, after the example

that had been given by the father of the primal

And

yet the new family was only a shadow

of the old one; there were numbers of fathers and

horde.

each one was limited by the rights of the others.

It

the
to

was

then,

perhaps,

some

that

individual,

in

exigency of his longing, may have been moved

free himself from the group and take over the

father's

He who

part.

did

was the

this

poet; and the advance was achieved

first

epic

in his

imagination.
This poet disguised the truth with lies in accordance
with his longing. He invented the heroic myth. The
hero was a man who by himself had slain the father

the

totemistic

boy's

who

father

monster.

first

father's
ideal.

still

ideal,

place

The

in

appeared

Just

as the father

who

so in the hero

the

poet

transition

now
to

the

myth as a
had been the

the

aspires

created the

hero

was

to the

first

ego

probably

afforded by the youngest son, the mother's favourite,

whom she had protected from paternal jealousy, and
who, in the era of the primal horde, had been the
father's

successor.

In

the

lying

poetic

fancies

of

114 Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

woman, who had been

and the allurement to murder, was

prehistoric times the

the prize

of battle

probably-

turned into the seducer and instigator to the crime.

The hero claims to have acted alone in accom-

which certainly only the horde as a

whole would have ventured upon. But, as Rank has
observed, fairy tales have preserved clear traces of

plishing the deed,

For we often find

in them that the hero who has to carry out some
difficult task (usually a youngest son, and not in-

the facts which were disavowed.

frequently one who has represented himself to the

father surrogate as being stupid, that is to say,

we often find, then, that this hero can

harmless)
carry out his task only by the help of a crowd of
These would
small animals, such as bees or ants.
the primal horde, just as in the
dream symbolism insects or vermin

be the brothers

same

in

way

signify brothers

as

babies).

myths

and

in

and

Moreover
fairy

(contemptuously, considered
every one of the tasks in

sisters

tales

is

easily

as

recognisable

substitute for the heroic deed.

The
individual

myth was

myth,

then,

is

the

step

by

emerges from group psychology.

which

the

The

first

certainly the psychological, the hero

m)^h;

myth must have followed much

The poet who had taken this step and had

the explanatory nature

later.

in

this

way

imagination,

set
is

himself free

from the group

nevertheless able (as

Rank has

in

his

further

Postscript

115

observed) to find his way back to it in reality. For

he goes and relates to the group his hero's deeds
which he has invented. At bottom this hero is no

one but
of

Thus he lowers himself

himself.

and

reality,

raises

But

imagination.

hearers

his

hearers

his

to

to the level

the

understand

of

level

the

poet,
of their having the same relation of
longing towards the primal father, they can identify
themselves with the hero.^
in

virtue

The

lie

and,

of

deification

have

of the
the

been

may
may have been

heroic

hero.
earlier

myth culminates

Perhaps
than

the

the

in

deified

Father

the

hero

God and

a precursor to the return of the

The series of gods, then,
primal father as a deity.
would run chronologically: Mother Goddess Hero

Father God.
never

But

only with the elevation of the

forgotten primal father that the deity acquires
it

is

we still recognise in him to-day.^

deal
has been said in this paper about
great
directly sexual instincts and those that are inhibited

the features that

C.

Cf

Hanns Sachs: *Gemeinsame Tagtraume*,

summary

made by

the lecturer himself of a paper read at the Sixth PsychoInternationale

in 1920.
analytical Congress, held at the
Zeitschrift fiir Psychoanalyse, 1920, Bd. VI.
['Day-Dreams in

Ha^e

Common'. International Journal of Psycho- Analysis,

^

1 920,

Vol.

I.]

In this brief exposition I have made no attempt to bring

forward any of the material existing in legends, myths, fairy tales,
the history of manners, etc., in support of the construction.

1 1

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

in their
will

aims,

not

and

it

meet with

may be hoped that this distinction

But a
too much resistance.

detailed discussion of the question will not

place,

even

it

if

what has to a great

repeats

only

be out of

extent already been said before.

The development of the libido in children has

made us acquainted with the first but also tlie best
example of sexual

which are inhibited

instincts

in their

the feelings which a child has towards its

parents and those who look after it pass by an easy
transition into the wishes which gw^ expression to
All

aims.

The

the child's sexual tendencies.

these

of

objects

which

it

and look

knows
at

its

of;

them;

it

it

love

all

the

child claims

signs

is

curious to see their

and to be with them when they perform

proposes to

itself

from

affection

wants to kiss them, touch them,

excremental functions;
w^hatever it
or nurse

of

it

to bear

genitals,

their intimate

promises to marry its mother

may understand by that; it
its

father a child, etc. Direct

observation, as well as the subsequent analytic investigation of the residue of childhood, leave no doubt

the

as' to

feelings

and

complete

fusion

of sexual

tender

intentions,

what a fundamental way the

it

of

loves into the object of

all

child
its

Cf.

jealous

show us in
makes the person
and

incompletely centred

sexual tendencies.^

and

Drei Abkandlungen zur Sexualtheorie.

1 1

Postscript

configuration of the child's love, which in

typical cases is co-ordinated with the Oedipus complex,
succumbs, as we know, from the beginning of the period

This

first

wave of

of latency onwards to a
as

it

over shows

emotional

Such

repression.

ot

purely tender
which relates to the same people, but

left

is

tie,

itself

as

no longer to be described as ^sexual'. Psychoanalysis, which illuminates the depths of mental life,

is

has no

difficulty

showing that the sexual

in

ties

of

years of childhood also persist, though

It gives us courage to
repressed and unconscious.
assert that wherever we come across a tender feeling
the

it

earliest

the

is

tie

successor to

with the person

in

completely
question

^sensual'

object
or rather with that

It
cannot indeed
prototype (or imago).
disclose to us without a special investigation whether
in a given case this former complete sexual current

person's

still

exists

under repression or whether

been exhausted.
quite

energy

that

certain

possibility,

To
it

put
is

it

still

still

more

there

it

has already

precisely:

as

a form

it

is

and

and can always be charged with cathectic

and

put

into

activity

again

by

means of

regression; the only question is (and it cannot always

be answered) what degree of cathexis and operative
force it still has at the present moment. Equal care

must be taken

in this

connection to avoid two sources

of error the Scylla of under-estimating the importance

of the repressed unconscious, and the Charybdis of

1 1

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

judging the normal entirely by the standards

of the

pathological.

psychology which

what

of

the

depths
emotional ties

not or cannot penetrate

repressed regards tender

will

is

being invariably the expression of

tendencies which have no sexual aim, even though
they are derived from tendencies which have such
an aim.^

We
diverted
is

some

as

are justified in saying that they have been

from these sexual aims, even though there
difficulty

giving

aim

of

diversion

in

of such

a representation

which

will

conform

the

to

Moreover, those
aims always
instincts which are inhibited in their
sexual
few
of
their
some
aims; even
preserve
original
an affectionate devotee, even a friend or an admirer,
of

requirements

desires

the

person

who

If

we

aim

physical
is

choose,
a

instincts,

metapsychology.

proximity and the sight of the

loved only in the ^Pauline' sense.

now
we may

recognise in this diversion of

of the sublimation of the sexual

beginning
or on the other hand

of sublimation

at

some more

we may
distant

fix the limits

point.

Those

sexual instincts which are inhibited in their aims have

a great functional advantage
uninhibited.
Since they are

Hostile feeling^s, which are a

their construction, offer

no exception

over those
not

little

capable

which
of

are

really

more complicated

to this rule.

in

Postscript

1 1

they are especially adapted to

create permanent ties; while those instincts which are
directly sexual incur a loss of energy each time they

complete

are

satisfaction,

satisfied,

and must wait to be

accumulation

fresh

while

the

inhibited

of sexual

libido,

renewed
so

that

by a
mean-

The

may have been changed.

object

are

of

any degree of
admixture with the uninhibited; they can be transformed back into them, just as they arose out of
them.

instincts

It

is

out

develop

capable

known how

well

emotional

of

easily

relations

erotic

of

wishes
friendly

based upon appreciation and admiration,

Moliere's
'Embrassez-moi pour I'amour du
(compare
a
between
master and a pupil, between a
grec'),
character,

performer and a delighted

the case of

women.

listener,

In fact the

and especially

in

growth of emotional

of this kind, with their purposeless beginnings,

provides a much frequented pathway to sexual objectties

choice.

Pfister,

in

his

Frommigkeit des Grafen von

Zinzendorf^ has given an extremely clear and certainly

not an isolated example of how easily even an
intense

tie

religious

excitement.

On

can

revert

the other hand

it

to
is

ardent

sexual

also very usual

for directly sexual tendencies, short-lived in themselves,

to

be transformed
^

into a lasting

and purely tender

[Sckri/ten zur angewandten Seelenkunde. Heft

Deuticke; 1910.]

8.

tie;

Vienna,

20 Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

and the consolidation of a passionate love marriage

rests to a large extent

We

this process.

upon

not be surprised to hear that

the sexual tendencies that are inhibited in their aims
shall naturally

arise out of the

outer

make

obstacles

sexual

directly

sexual

the

The

ones when inner or

of latency

repression during the

inner obstacle of this kind

orperiod
rather

become
the

aims unattainable.

inner.

horde

primal

all

compelled
forced

We

them

into

an

one which has

have assumed that the father of

owing

his

is

sons

to
to

be

that

ties

intolerance

sexual

his

abstinent,

were inhibited

and

thus

in

their

aims, while he reserved for himself freedom of sexual

enjoyment and in this way remained without ties. All

the

ties

upon which a group depends are of the

character of instincts that are inhibited in their aims.

But here we have approached the discussion of a

new subject, which deals with the relation between

and the formation of groups.

two remarks will have prepared us

directly sexual instincts

D.

The

last

for finding that directl y sexual t endencies are unfavour-

able

the
is

to -the^ior^nation jdI _groups.

In the history of
development of the family there have also, it

true,

been group

relations

but

more

marriages);

became

the

for the ego,

of sexual

important

and the more

characteristics of being in love, the

required

to

be

limited

to

two

it

love (group
sexual love

developed the

more urgently it
people una cum

Postscript

uno

as

aim.

is

prescribed by

the

inclinations

Polygamous

nature

had

to

of the

genital

be content to

find satisfaction in a succession of changing objects.

Twe-^eople comi ngtogether

purpose of

ior- the

so fa r as they se ek- for solitii(ie,

sgxuaLaatisfaction,
are^jnakiDg a dernQnstratiQa.,against the herd instinct,,
,

the group feeling.

more co mpletely

in

Xhemore-4hy-~
th ey

suffice

are

in-Joai^^jthe

each

for

other.

The

rejection of the group's influence is manifested in the

shape of a sense of shame. The extremely violent

of jealousy are sutnmoned up in order to

the
sexual object-choice from being encroached
protect
upon by a group tie. It is onlywhea the tender^
feelings

that Js^-thf^ personal, factQr__Qf_a

love

relation

gives
place entirly,tQ.. the sensual QQ^__thaluit-is possible
for two people-JtX have sexual intercourse in the

presence of ^thers o r for there to be simultaneous

sexual acts in a group as occurs at an orgy.
But at
that point a regression has taken place to an early
stage in sexual relations, at which being in love as
yet played no part, and all sexual objects were

judged to be of equal value, somewhat in the sense

of Bernard Shaw's malicious aphorism to the effect
that being in love means greatly exaggerating the

between one woman and another.

There are abundant indications that being

difference

love only

made

relations

between

its

late

on

appearance
and women:

men

in

so

in

the sexual

that

the

122

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

opposition between sexual love and group ties is also

a late development.
Now it may seem as though
this

assumption were incompatible with our myth of

For

the primal family.

for

their

brothers
parricide;

and

mothers
was,

and

we

as
it

is

was

it

after

have

difficult

all

that

sisters

by

the

supposed,

their love

troop
driven

of
to

to imagine this love as

being anything but unbroken and primitive that is,

as an intimate union of the tender and the sensual.

But further consideration resolves

a confirmation.

was

after

all

One
the

objection into
of the reactions to the parricide

institution

of

the

of

sexual

any
prohibition
women of the family who

this

totemistic
relation

exogamy,
with

those

had been tenderly loved

In this way a wedge was driven in
since childhood.
between a man's tender and sensual feelings, one still

As a result ot
this exogamy the sensual needs of men had to be
satisfied with strange and unloved women.
firmly fixed in his erotic

life

to-day.^

In the great artificial groups, the church

army, there is no room for woman as a

and the
sexual

The love relation between men and women

object.
Even where
remains outside these organisations.
groups are formed which are composed of both men
and women the distinction between the sexes plays
no part. There is scarcely any sense in asking whether
*

See *Ober die allgemeinste Erniedri^ng des Liebeslebens.*

123

Postscript

the libido which keeps groups together is of a

sexual or of a heterosexual nature, for it
differentiated according to the sexes,

and

homois

not

particularly

shows a complete disregard for the aims of the genital

organisation of the libido.

Even

a person who has in other respects become

a group the directly sexual tendencies

in

absorbed

in

preserve

become

too

formation.

motives

little

of

individual

his

activity.

strong they disintegrate

Catholic Church had

The

for

falling

in

love has

same way love

breaks through the group

separation,

and

of

the

to

remain

its

priests;

often driven even priests to

In the

leave the church.

they

every group
the best of

recommending its followers

unmarried and for imposing celibacy upon

but

If

of race,

ties

social

class

for

women

of national

system,

and

it

thus produces important effects as a factor in civilization. It seems certain that homosexual love is

more compatible with group

far

ties,

even when

it

tendencies a

shape of uninhibited sexual

remarkable fact, the explanation of which might carry
takes the

us

far.

The

psycho-analytic investigation of the psychoneuroses has taught us that their symptoms are to

be traced back
are repressed but
this

to

sexual tendencies which

directly

still

remain

formula by adding to

it:

active.

or, to

We

can complete

tendencies inhibited

in their aims, whose inhibition has not been entirely

Gronp Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

124

made room

has

or

successful

repressed sexual aim.

that a neurosis should

It

is

in

make

a return to

the

accordance with

this

for

its

victim

asocial

and

should remove him from the usual group formations.

It may be said that a neurosis has the same dis-

On

upon a group

effect

integrating

the other hand

as

appears that

it

being

in

love.

where a powerful

impetus has been given to group formation neuroses

diminish and at

events temporarily disappear.

Justifiable attempts have also been made to turn this
antagonism between neuroses and group formation to

may

all

therapeutic account. EyerLthose who do^ not jcegret the

disappearance of religious illnsionR^fcom the civilized

WQild_ of to-day will ad niil^ that

were in force they offered those
.

by them
danger
all

t];;t-.^_i3qh^t:^j2nwerfnl

of

the

is

prntertion against the

it
hard to discern in

ties with

sects

religious

mystico-religious or philosophicoand communities the manifestation of

distorted cures of
is

Nor

neurosis.

so long as ^ey;
who were bound

bound

with

up

sexual tendencies

All of this

kinds of neuroses.

all

the

and

contrast

between

those which

are

directly

inhibited

in

their aims.
If

replace

group

he

by

is

his

obliged to
formations the great

to himself, a neurotic

left

own symptom

formations

from

which

he

is

is

excluded.

He

own world of imagination for himself, his

own religion, his own system of delusions, and thus
creates his

Postscript

25

recapitulates the institutions of humanity in a distorted

way which is clear evidence of the dominating part

played by the directly sexual tendencies.^

E. In conclusion, we will add a comparative
estimate, from the standpoint of the libido theory,
of the states with which
in

being

we have been
of group

of hypnosis,

love,

concerned, of

and

formation,

of the neurosis.

Being in

love

is

based

upon the simultaneous

presence of directly sexual tendencies and of sexual

tendencies that are inhibited in their aims, so that
the object draws a part of the narcissistic ego-libido
It
a condition in which there is only
to itself.
is

room

for the

ego and the object.

Hypnosis resembles being

to these two persons, but it
sexual

tendencies

that

are

and substitutes the object

The group multiplies

in

love in being limited

is

based

inhibited

for the
this

entirely

upon

their

aims

in

ideal.

ego

process;

it

agrees with

which hold

hypnosis in the nature of the instincts

the
together, and in the replacement of

by the object; but

other individuals,
possible

by

their

to this

it

ego

it

ideal

adds identification with

which was perhaps originally made

having

the

same

relation

to

the

object.

See Totem und Tabu, towards the end of Part

Tabu und die Ambivalenz '.
*

II,

'Das

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

26

Both
an

human
and

libido

the

and group formation, are

hypnosis

states,

inherited

from

deposit
hypnosis

The replacement

in the

besides

group,

the

phylogenesis

of the

form of a predisposition,

this,

as

direct

survival.

of the directly sexual tendencies

by

those that are inhibited in their aims promotes in both

states a separation between the ego and the ego ideal,

a separation with which a beginning has already been

made in the state of being in love.

The neurosis stands outside

is

based upon a peculiarity

the

in

this

the

series.

It

also

development of

twice repeated start made by

the directly sexual function, with an intervening period
of latency.^ To this extent it resembles hypnosis and
the

human

libido

group formation in having the character of a regression,

which is absent from being in love. It makes its
appearance wherever the advance from directly sexual
instincts to those that are inhibited in their aims has
not been completely successful; and it represents a
those instincts which have been
conflict between
received

the

ego after having passed through

this
development and those portions of the same
instincts which, like other instinctive desires that have
into

been completely repressed,

strive,

from the repressed

unconscious, to attain direct satisfaction.

The

See Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie,

1920, S. 96.

4.

neurosis

Auflage,

Postscript
is

which

it

and

itself

ego and

relations

both those
in

for it embraces all

between the ego and the object
which the object is retained and others

extraordinarily rich in content,

possible

its

in

27

is

abandoned or erected

also

ego

inside

the ego

the conflicting relations between the

ideal.

INDEX
Abraham,

62, 108.

Affectivity.

See

Conscience,

<yfr

Emotion.

Altruism, 57.

Contagion,

Ambivalence,

55, 61.

18,

Anaclitic type, 60.

Archaic inheritance, 10, 99.
Army, 42-6, 89, 94, no, 122.
Autistic mental acts, 2.

10, 28, 68-9,75,

79

Social, 88.

Emotional,

10-13,

27, 34-5, 46-7.

Crowd,

I,

3,

26, 92.

Danger, Effect on groups, 46-9.

Darwin,
Delusions

90.
:

of inferiority, 107.
of observation, 69.
Devotion to abstract idea, 17,

Be?'nheim, 35, loo.

Bleuler, 2.
Brothers, 43, 114.
in Christ, 43.

Community

of,

90, 112, 122.

Caesar, 44.
Cathexis, 18, 20, 28, 117.
Object-, 48, 58,60-1,71-2,76.
Catholic Church, 42-3, 1 11, 123.
Celibacy of priests, 123.
Censorship of dreams, 16, 69.
Chieftains,

Mana

in, 96.

Children, 14, 16, 18-19, 30, 67,

in,

83, 85-6.

Parents and, 54, 86, 116.

Sexual object of, 72, 116.

Unconscious

of,

Christ, 42-5, 50,

Equal love

of,

18.

Children's, 83, 85-6.

in a group, 46-8, 50.
in

an individual, 47-8.

Neurotic, 48.
of society, 10.
Panic, 45-9.
20, 69, 104.
Interpretation of doubt and
uncertainty in, 15-16.

symbolism, 114.
Duty, Sense of, 84, 88, 95.

III.

Ego,

50.

Identification with,

in.

Church, 42-3, 89, 94, iio-ii,

122-3.

Commander-in-Chief, 42-5.
Conflict, 18,

Dread

Dream,

82, 91.

Dread

Doubt:
absence

in groups, 15-16.
interpretation in dreams,
15-16.

Brugeilles, 34.

107, 126.

10,

18-19, 62-70, 74, 84,

93, 100-9, 120, 125-7.

Relations between ego ideal

and, 68-70, 103, 105-10.

Relations between object
and, 62-70, 74-6, 108-10.

30 Group Psychology aitd the Analysis of tJie Ego

Ego

ideal, 68-70, 74-7, 80,

100-3, 105-10, 113, 126-7.
Abrogation of the, 105.
Hypnotist in the place of, 77.
Object as substitute for, 74-6,

no.

80, 103,

Relations between ego and,

68-70, 103, 105-10.
Testing reality of things, 77.

The

first,

Egoism,

Emotion

113.

Ambivalent,

18, 55.

28.

of,

of.

1 12-13, 122.
114.
43,
Surrogate,

the, 94,

induction

of,

27,

50.

Folk-lore, 25.

Folk-song, 25.
French Revolution, 26.
Function:
for testing reality, 20, 77.

34, 46-7.

Tender, 72-3, 78, 1 16-17.

Emotional tie, 40, 43, 45, 52-3,
59-60,64-5,81,88,91,94,
100, 117-20.
Cessation of, 46-9.
Empathy, relation to

P.,

Festivals, 105.

See Contagion.

Intensification of, in groups,

16, 23, 27-30, 33, 46, 81.

Primitive

Primal, 92, 94-5, 9Q-100,

112-13, 115, 120. Deification of, 93, 115. Killing

Felszeghy, Beta v., 48.

Ferenczi, 'j6^ 98.

Contagion

God, 115.
Identification with, 60-2.
Object tie with, 62.

Federn,

57.

Charge

Father, 43, 92, 98-9.

Equal love of, 95.

identi-

fication, 66, 70.

Enthusiasm, in groups, 25.

15.

(Instanz),

Gemeingeist, origin of, 87.

Genital organisation, 19.
God, 85, 5^.
Father, 115.
Gregariousness, 83-4, 92.

Group

Artificial, 41-2, 52, 82,

Envy, 87-8.
Equality, demand for, 88, 89.
Eros, 38-40.
Esprit de corps, origin of, 87.
Ethical
conduct of a group, 18.
of Christianity, in.
level
standards of individual, 24-5.
:

no,

Different kinds

Disintegration

Dread

89,94,

122.

in,

Equality

of,

of,

26, 41.

49-5 1

47,

in,

89.

feeling, 86-7, 121.

Heightened affectivity in.

See under Emotion.

Fairy tales, the hero in, 114.
Family, 70, 95, 100, n3, 120.

ideal, 100, 102.

Intellectual capacity

of,

14,

a group formation, 95.

and Christian community, 43.

23, 25, 29, 31, 33, 8iIntensification of emotion in.

and

See 7mder Emotion.

Leaders of. See under

social instinct,

3.

Primal, 122.
Fascination, 11, 13, 21, 75.

18,

Leader.

Index
Group (continued)

Libidinal structure

of, 37,

40,

44-5. 47, 51, 53-4, 70,

79-80, 102-3.
marriages, 120.
Mental change of the indi-

vidual

6-I4j 33-4, 45>

102.

in,

56, 81,

131

Hypnotist, 13, 77, 95-9.

Hysteria, Identification in, 63-5.
Idealisation, 74.

59-70, 75-6, 84,

86-9, 94, 101-3, III, 125.
Ambivalent, 61.
in hysterical symptom, 63-5.

Identification,

mind, 3, 5-27, 40, 49, 82.

Organisation in, 26, 30-1, 33,

Regression of object-choice

41-2, 80, 82, 90.

Primitive, 31, 33, 41, 80.

with a lost or rejected object,

psychological

character

of,

6-32.

psychology,

1-4, 6, 25-6, 33-4,

37, 45, 53, 59, 92-4,

112, 114.
Revolutionary, 26.

loi,

Sexual instincts and, 120.

spirit, 87.
Stable, 26, 41, 84, 10 1.

84,

loi.

Guilt,Senseof,20,63,65,84, 106.

56.

Herd, 83-5,

89.

instinct,

Imitation, 34-5, 65, 70.

Individual:
a member of many groups,
lOI.
in,

114.

Inferiority,

3,

83-6, 105, 121.

Delusions

of, 57,

106-7.
Inheritance, archaic, 10, 99.
Inhibition
Collective, of intellectual
:

functioning, 23, 33.

123.

Horde Primal, 89-95, 99,

1 1

3-14,

Removal

of,

17, 28,

33.

Instinct:

120.

of
Father.

47-8.

Mental change in a group.

6-14, 33-4,45, 56,81, 102,
Psychology, 1-2, 92-3, 112,

46-7.
Infection, mental, 64-65.

Hero, 17, 113-15Homosexuality, 57, 66-7, 94,

Father

the father, 60-2.

the hero, 115.
the leader, iio-ii.

Induction of emotion, 27, 34,

Gynaecocracy, 113.
Hatred, 53,
Hebbel, 49.

67-8, 108-9.
Christ, iii.

with
with
with
with

Dread

11, 13, 35,

Suggestibility
84-5.
Transient, 25, 41,
of,

to, 64.

the.

See

under

Hypnosis, 10-13, 20-1, 77-9, 81,

Herd,

3,

inhibited
1 1

83-6, 105, 121.

in aim, 72-3, 78,

5-26.

95-100, 125-6,
a group of two, 78, 100.

Life and death, 56.

and

Nutrition, 85.
Primary, 84-5.

sleep, 79, 98.

of terror, 79.

Love,

37, 39,

58.

Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

32

Instinct (continued)

Libido,

vSelf-preservative, 34, 85.

Sexual,

19,

vSocial,

56,

39,

71-8,

115-26.

85-5, 94,
3.

unhibited in aim, 73, 77-8,

94, 115-26.

Unconscious,

33-40, 44, 57, 79, 83,

102, III, 116, 119, 123, 126.
Narcissistic, 58, 74, 93, 104,
125.
Oral phase of, 61.

theory, 57, 83, 125.

Unification of, 19.

Withdrawal

10.

Intellectual ability," lowering of,

in groups, 14, 18, 23, 25,
29. 31. 33. 81.

of,

108.

Love, 37-40, 42, 73, 87, 108,

122.

Introjection, of object into ego,

65, 67-8, ^6.

a factor of civilisation, 57, 93.

and character formation, 94,
118-20.

Jealousy, 121.

Being

and hatred,
Kings, Mana in, 96.
Kraskovic, B. jnr., 23.
Kroeger^ 90.

56.

58,

in,

71-9,

120-1,

124-6.
Child's,

16-17.

Christ's, 43.

Equal, 42, 50, 89, 93.

Language,

25,

Latency, period

Pauline,

71.

i'^,

of,

72, 117,^ 120.

126.

Leader, 20-2, 41, 44-5, 78, 82,

85, 89, 92, 99, no.
as substitutes

Abstractions

Equal love

of,

Identification

93, 95.
with, iio-ii.

of,

the group ideal, 100, 102,

Tie with, 49, 52, 66.
5-25,

10.

29, 34, 82, 84,

100- 1.
Libidinal
structure of the group, 37,
40, 44-5,47, 53, 7o, 79-8o,
:

102-3.

The word,
ties,

in

44,

Sublimated homosexual,
37-9, 71.
75.

Unsensual, 73.

Magnetic influence, 11.

Magnetism, animal, 96.
Mana, 96.
Mania, 106-9.
Marcuszezciez, 68.
Marriage, 54, 120.
Melancholia, 68, 106-9.
Metapsychology, 63, 118.
Moede, Walter, 24.
Moliere,

44.

56-8,

57.

The word,

I, 26-31, 34-6,
46-7, 49, 84.
Magical power of words, 19.

49.

Negative, 53.
Prestige of, 21-2.

Le Bon,

Sensual, 71-3, 78, 117.

Sexual, 37-8, 57, 120-2.

McDougali,

Killing the, 90.

Loss

118.

See under Narcissism.

Unhappy,

53.

for,

Self-.

65,

93,

100.

the group, 45, 51, 54.

119.

IMorality,
of,

Totemism

90.

the origin

Index
Mother

deities,

^^llticellularit^',

Myth,

1 1

113,
7,

133

Panic, 45-9.

115.

Pan-sexualism, 39.
Paul, Saint, 39, 118.

32, 83.

3-1 5.'

PJister,

Nacluiiansohn, 39.
Names, Taboo upon, 19.
Napoleon, 44.
Narcissism, 2, 38, 54-8, 69, 74-5,
93, 94,

104.

Nestroy, 49.
Neurosis, 18, 20, 37, 44,
63, 103-4,123-26.
Nietzsche, 93.
Nutrition, Instinct of, 84.

Object,

57-8,

58,

62,

68, 74, 87,

93, 104, 125, 127.
cathexis, 48, 58, 60-1, 71-2,
76.
Change of, 18, 119, 121.

Child's, 72.
-choice, 54, 62^ 64, 74, III,
119, 121.
Eating the, 61-62.

39, 119.
Plato, 38.
Poet, the first epic,

Power,

15,

9,

113-114.

28.

of leaders, 21.
of words, 19.
Prestige, 21-2, 34.
Primitive peoples, 14, 18-19,
24, 92, 96, 105.
Psycho-Analysis, 4, 7 14, 18,
36, 38-9. 59-60, 84, 97.

Psychology:
Group, i-4,

6, 25-6, 33-4, 37
45. 53. 59. 92, 94, loi.
Group and individual, 1-2,

92-93, 112, 114.

Psychoses, ^^, 103.

Puberti% ^^, 72-73-

Races, repugnance between

'

Hyper-cathexis

of,

Identification with ego, 108.

Less or Renunciation of, 68,
108.
-love, 56, 63, 74, III.

Relations with the ego, 65,

67-8, 70, 76.
Sexual, ^^, 72-3, 116.
Substituted for ego ideal, 74,
80,

of,

Oedipus complex, 60-61,

69.
63,

66,

the libido, 61.

Organisation in groups, 26j

41-2,

Function for testing, 20, i'].

Contrast between Objective

and Psychological, 20.

Regression, 82, 91, 117, 121,
126.

Religion, 51, 90.

of,

51.

Repressed
Sexual tendencies,
:

74,

117,

117-18, 126.
64-5, 69,
72, 84, 95, 105, 117, 120,
Resistance, 84, 104.

The,

Oral phase of organisation of

33,

Reality:

123-4.

117.
Inverted, 62.

30-1,

114.

Rapport, 97.

Wars

103, 125.

Observation, delusions

Orgy, 121.

related, S5.
Otto, 112,

Rank,

76.

80,

82,

90.

10,

Repression,

104,
9,

54,

Responsibility, Sense
29-30.

of,

9-10,

34 Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego

Rickter,

Konrad,

Suggestibility, u, 13, 35, 84-5.

Suggestion, 12-13, 17, 29, 34-7,
40, 82, 95, 99, 102.

36.

Sachs, HannSy 16, 115.

Schopenhauer, 54.

Counter-, 35.

Self-

Definition for, 100.

Mutual, 12, 27, 34, 82.

consciousness, 30-1,
depreciation, 107.
love. See under Narcissism.
observation, 69.

Taboo,

preservation,

Tarde, 34.

11,

sacrifice,

15,

34,

84-5.

38, 75.

121.

58,

72.

Diversion of

instinct from, 58. Infantile,

72. Obstacles to, 120.
life,

Totemism, 90,

112.
1

12-13.

clan, 95.

act, 92,

aims,

19, 96,

Totemistic

Sex, 39.

Sexual

Superman, 93.

19, 72.

over-estimation, 53-5.
Tendencies, Inhibited and
unhibited. 72-3, 77-8, 94,
1 1 5-16, 125-26.
union, 37-8.

Shaw, Bernard,

121.

Sidis, Boris, 84.

Sighele, 24-5.
Simmel, E., 44.
Sleep, 98, 104.

community of brothers,
exogamy, 122.
Tradition, 17, 21.
of the group, 31.
of the individual, 32.
Transference, 97-8.
Trotter,

32, 83-5, 89,

15-16.
interpretation in dreams,
15-16.
Unconscious, 8, 10, 12, 14-16,
18, 23-4, 64, 67, 72,97.

Groups led by,

Social:

instincts,

duties, 88, 95.

relations, 2-3, 57.
Socialistic tie, 51.

Le

Dread

of,

100,

104.
14.

10.

Bon's, 10, 14, 24.

of children, 18, 117.
of neurotics, 18.
Racial, 9.

10.

Sociolo^. See under Group

Wallenstein, 44.

Psychology.
Speech, 84.
Sublimated:

Wcir neuroses, 44.

War, The, 44.

devotion, 17, 75.

homosexual
Sublimation,

105.

Uncanniness, 95, 99,

Uncertainty, absence in groups,

and hypnosis, 98.

Smith, Robertson, 70.

Society, 24, 26, 28, 90.

112.

love, 57.
118.

Wilson, President, 44.

Wishes, Affective cathexis

of,

20.

Words, magical power

of,

19.

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