withdrawal-destructiveness

n. in the psychoanalysis of Erich Fromm, a style of relating based on withdrawal and isolation from others, destructive behavior directed toward others, or a combination of the two. Fromm held that this style of relating was motivated by a need to establish emotional distance arising from a fear of dependency.

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Psychology term of the day

May 9th 2024

nonadditive

adj. describing values or measurements that cannot be meaningfully summarized through addition because the resulting total does not correctly reflect the underlying properties of and associations between the component values. For example, if two variables a and b interact to influence another variable y, the addition of the separate effects of a and b will not equal the total effect since the contribution of the interaction needs to be included. Compare additive.