Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionII. Psychodynamic
Theories- Sullivan: Interpersonal
Theory
(^226) © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
mischievousness, cruelty, or other kinds of asocial or antisocial behavior. Sullivan
expressed the malevolent attitude with this colorful statement: “Once upon a time
everything was lovely, but that was before I had to deal with people” (p. 216).
Intimacy
Intimacygrows out of the earlier need for tenderness but is more specific and in-
volves a close interpersonal relationship between two people who are more or less
of equal status. Intimacy must not be confused with sexual interest. In fact, it devel-
ops prior to puberty, ideally during preadolescence when it usually exists between
two children, each of whom sees the other as a person of equal value. Because inti-
macy is a dynamism that requires an equal partnership, it does not usually exist in
parent-child relationships unless both are adults and see one another as equals.
Intimacy is an integrating dynamism that tends to draw out loving reactions
from the other person, thereby decreasing anxiety and loneliness, two extremely
painful experiences. Because intimacy helps us avoid anxiety and loneliness, it is a
rewarding experience that most healthy people desire (Sullivan, 1953b).
Lust
On the other hand, lust is an isolating tendency, requiring no other person for its sat-
isfaction. It manifests itself as autoerotic behavior even when another person is the
object of one’s lust. Lust is an especially powerful dynamism during adolescence, at
220 Part II Psychodynamic Theories
Significant intimate relationships prior to puberty are usually boy-boy or girl-girl friendships, according
to Sullivan.