Toward a Psychoanalytical Psychology of Hierarchical Relationships in Hindu India

Abstract

Contends that the pattern of relationship and the inner self have to be interrelated to understand the psychology of hierarchical relationships in Hindu India. Two types of hierarchy are delineated: (1) structural hierarchy, governed by age and sex, and (2) hierarchy by quality, related to the particular qualities of the person. Inner emotional structures congruent with structural hierarchical relationships are described, including aspects of the self that are involved in strong affective-intimacy needs and narcissistic ones around "self-we" regard, and the Hindu conscience (including the structuring of aggression and sexuality) in its social and mythic orientations. Involving both types of hierarchical relationships is a subtle psychological process wherein a person is accorded a superior status by being asked for something, thus establishing a mutually reciprocal exchange in the hierarchical relationship involving affective-dependency needs and those of self-we regard. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)