object loss

in psychoanalytic theory, the actual loss of a person who has served as a good object, which precedes introjection and is involved in separation anxiety. Anxiety about the possible loss of a good object begins with the infant’s panic when separated from its mother. In this perspective, adult grief and mourning are related to object loss and separation anxiety in infancy and childhood, which often intensifies and complicates the grief reaction.

Browse dictionary by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Psychology term of the day

May 9th 2024

quasirandom

adj. see pseudorandom.