New Ideas in Psychology

[ Removing Compulsion ] [ Purification ] [ Eliminating Weakness ]

[ Social Abreaction ] [ Examples ]

The effects of social conditioning, together with a naive approach to life, create many immature beliefs in the child. These beliefs create a legacy of resentment and bitterness within the subconscious mind. In order for a person to evolve, these negative aspects of character need to be resolved so that he / she can become detached from them.

Only by working through the resentment and the bitterness is detachment attained. Despite the sorrow that they cause, both resentment and bitterness have a positive function. Resentment and bitterness can eliminate weakness from the mind.

Resentment focuses on removing degeneracy and degradation from one’s character, usually in matters of sexuality and social behaviour. Resentment cleans up social traits and attitudes.

Bitterness focuses on removing dependency from one’s character, usually in matters of authority. It is generated by the loss of romanticism and heroic ideals (both important issues within narcissism).

There is nothing noble in sexual immorality and degradation, so this is why the abreaction of pride usually follows resentment ; there is nothing idealistic about sex. Bitterness strengthens traits and attitudes of individuality.

If resentment and bitterness are not worked through then they lead to the production of long-term effects.

Resentment narrows a person’s views of society.
Resentment facilitates the establishment of morality and a social conscience, plus the desire for a strong political leader. Such a leader may focus on either victimising or getting rid of the ‘weak’ or ‘degenerate’ sectors of society : for example, Hitler focused his resentment on socialists, gypsies, Jews.

Bitterness hardens a person.
Bitterness leads to the denigration of society and the cultivation of a conscience of individual values ; the person avoids helping other people since they are ‘inferior ’. Politically this view leads to the prejudice that other countries are ‘inferior ’ to one’s own (as in Hitler’s view of the Slav countries of eastern Europe).

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Copyright © 2002 Ian Heath
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