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Wishful thinking

Wishful thinking BY BERNARD S. ROBBINS, M. D. ~SKrUL thinking is that type of walking mentation characterized by an active change in and distortion or denial of reality, It ranges from the common-place day dreaming of children to the rich imaginative flights of some adults that are preludes to creative activity. It expresses in the child a displeasure in things as they are, as well as his hopes and ambitions for things as they might or will become. It is provoked in him not only by real dissatis- factions, wbh the subsequent total denial of real limitations (the "I can fly" of a child), but also by the rapidly expanding the differentiatil N inner needs which demand changes in his environment so that he can best and more freely fulfil these needs. In the healthy child, wishful thinking is the necessary pre- lude to progressive and increasing cooperative action with other humans as well as to independent work; in the un'healthy child, it reinforces his with- drawal .and strengthens his defenses erected to obtain'security in a world generally regarded as hostile. To thoughtfully alter reality (wishful. thinking) is universal. Whether or not it is pathological depends not so much on the http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The American Journal of Psychoanalysis Springer Journals

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Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
1943 The Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis
ISSN
0002-9548
eISSN
1573-6741
DOI
10.1007/BF01872961
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

BY BERNARD S. ROBBINS, M. D. ~SKrUL thinking is that type of walking mentation characterized by an active change in and distortion or denial of reality, It ranges from the common-place day dreaming of children to the rich imaginative flights of some adults that are preludes to creative activity. It expresses in the child a displeasure in things as they are, as well as his hopes and ambitions for things as they might or will become. It is provoked in him not only by real dissatis- factions, wbh the subsequent total denial of real limitations (the "I can fly" of a child), but also by the rapidly expanding the differentiatil N inner needs which demand changes in his environment so that he can best and more freely fulfil these needs. In the healthy child, wishful thinking is the necessary pre- lude to progressive and increasing cooperative action with other humans as well as to independent work; in the un'healthy child, it reinforces his with- drawal .and strengthens his defenses erected to obtain'security in a world generally regarded as hostile. To thoughtfully alter reality (wishful. thinking) is universal. Whether or not it is pathological depends not so much on the

Journal

The American Journal of PsychoanalysisSpringer Journals

Published: Dec 1, 1943

Keywords: Clinical Psychology; Psychotherapy; Psychoanalysis

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