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In psychoanalysis, cathexis (or emotional investment) is defined as the process of allocation of mental or emotional energy to a person, object, or idea.^[1]^[2]

Origin of term

The Greek term cathexis (κάθεξις) was chosen by James Strachey to render the German term Besetzung in his translation of Sigmund Freud's complete works. Freud himself used the word "interest" in English in an early letter to Ernest Jones.^[3]^[4]

Peter Gay objected that Strachey's use of cathexis was an unnecessarily esoteric replacement for Freud's use of Besetzung – "a word from common German speech rich in suggestive meanings, among them 'occupation' (by troops) and 'charge' (of electricity)",^[4] though Gay is mistaken regarding his latter example.^[A]

Usage

Freud defined cathexis as an allocation of libido, pointing out for example how dream thoughts were charged with different amounts of affect.^[5] A cathexis or allocation of emotional charge might be positive or negative, leading some of his followers to speak of a cathexis of mortido as well.^[6] Freud called a group of cathected ideas a complex.^[7]

Freud frequently described the functioning of psychosexual energies in quasi-physical terms,^[8]^{[need quotation to verify]} representing frustration of libidinal desires, for example, as a blockage of (cathected) energies which would eventually build up and require release in alternative ways. This release could occur, for example, by way of regression and the "re-cathecting" of former positions or fixations,^[9] or the autoerotic enjoyment (in phantasy) of former sexual objects: "object-cathexes".

Freud used the term "anti-cathexis" or counter-charge^[10] to describe how the ego blocks such regressive efforts to discharge one's cathexis: that is, when the ego wishes to repress such desires. Like a steam engine, the libido's cathexis then builds up until it finds alternative outlets, which can lead to sublimation, reaction formation, or the construction of (sometimes disabling) symptoms.^[11]

M. Scott Peck distinguishes between love and cathexis, with cathexis being the initial in-love phase of a relationship, and love being the ongoing commitment of care. Cathexis, to Peck, is distinguished from love by its dynamic element.

Object relations

Freud saw the early cathexis of objects with libidinal energy as a central aspect of human development.^[12] In describing the withdrawal of cathexes which accompanied the mourning process, Freud provided his major contribution to the foundation of object relations theory.^[13]

Thinking

Freud saw thinking as an experimental process involving minimal amounts of cathexis, "in the same way as a general shifts small figures about on a map".^[14]

In delusions, it was the hypercathexis (or over-charging) of ideas previously dismissed as odd or eccentric which he saw as causing the subsequent pathology.^[15]

Art

Eric Berne raised the possibility that child art often represented the intensity of cathexis invested in an object, rather than its objective form.^[16]

Criticism

Critics charge that the term provides a potentially misleading neurophysiological analogy, which might be applicable to the cathexis of ideas but certainly not of objects.^[1] This, however, arises from a misunderstanding of the psychoanalytic definition of objects, which does not refer to physical objects that are seen in the environment, but to the internal images of these physical objects which are created by the psyche.

Further ambiguity in Freud's usage emerges in the contrast between cathexis as a measurable load of (undifferentiated) libido, and as a qualitatively distinct type of affect – as in a "cathexis of longing".^[1]

Explanatory notes

^ Freud uses the expressions "Besetzung mit Energie" and "mit Energie besetzen" (with the noun "Besetzung" and the verb "besetzen") to refer to "allocation of energy" and "to allocate energy".

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Laplanche, Jean; Pontalis, Jean-Bertrand (1988) [1973]. "Cathexis (pp. 62–5)". The Language of Psycho-Analysis (Reprint, revised ed.). London: Karnac Books. ISBN 978-1-781-81026-2.
^ Hall, Calvin S. A Primer of Freudian Psychology. New York: Mentor, 1954.
^ Jones, Ernest (1958). Sigmund Freud, Life and Work. Vol. 2. London: The Hogarth Press. pp. 69f. Quoted in: Nagera, Humberto, ed. (2014) [1970]. "Cathexis (pp. 77–96)". Basic Psychoanalytic Concepts on Metapsychology, Conflicts, Anxiety and Other Subjects. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-31767042-1.
^ ^a ^b Gay, Peter (1989). Freud: A Life for Our Time. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 465n. ISBN 9780393072341.
^ Sigmund Freud, New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (PFL 2) p. 49
^ Eric Berne, A Layman's Guide to Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis (1976) p. 54 and p. 70
^ Sigmund Freud, Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis (1995) p. 44
^ Sigmund Freud, Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (PFL 1) p. 337
^ Freud, New, pp. 123–4
^ Felluga, Dino. "Terms Used by Psychoanalysis." Introductory Guide to Critical Theory. Purdue U. 31 August 2009. (online)
^ Freud, New p. 123
^ Freud, New p. 118 and pp. 151–8
^ Neville Symington, Narcissism: A New Theory (2003) p. x–xi
^ Freud, New p. 122
^ Sigmund Freud, On Psychopathology (PFL 10) p. 203
^ Berne, p. 63

External links

Cathexis at eNotes
Cathexis and Anticathexis (Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine) at Verywell Mind

[5] Freud uses the expressions "Besetzung mit Energie" and "mit Energie besetzen" (with the noun "Besetzung" and the verb "besetzen") to refer to "allocation of energy" and "to allocate energy".

[LP-1] Laplanche, Jean; Pontalis, Jean-Bertrand (1988) [1973]. "Cathexis (pp. 62–5)". The Language of Psycho-Analysis (Reprint, revised ed.). London: Karnac Books. ISBN 978-1-781-81026-2.

[2] Hall, Calvin S. A Primer of Freudian Psychology. New York: Mentor, 1954.

[3] Jones, Ernest (1958). Sigmund Freud, Life and Work. Vol. 2. London: The Hogarth Press. pp. 69f. Quoted in: Nagera, Humberto, ed. (2014) [1970]. "Cathexis (pp. 77–96)". Basic Psychoanalytic Concepts on Metapsychology, Conflicts, Anxiety and Other Subjects. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-31767042-1.

[Gay465n-4] Gay, Peter (1989). Freud: A Life for Our Time. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 465n. ISBN 9780393072341.

[6] Sigmund Freud, New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (PFL 2) p. 49

[7] Eric Berne, A Layman's Guide to Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis (1976) p. 54 and p. 70

[8] Sigmund Freud, Five Lectures on Psycho-Analysis (1995) p. 44

[9] Sigmund Freud, Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis (PFL 1) p. 337

[10] Freud, New, pp. 123–4

[11] Felluga, Dino. "Terms Used by Psychoanalysis." Introductory Guide to Critical Theory. Purdue U. 31 August 2009. (online)

[12] Freud, New p. 123

[13] Freud, New p. 118 and pp. 151–8

[14] Neville Symington, Narcissism: A New Theory (2003) p. x–xi

[15] Freud, New p. 122

[16] Sigmund Freud, On Psychopathology (PFL 10) p. 203

[17] Berne, p. 63

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@@ Line 4: / Line 4: @@
 {{Psychoanalysis |Concepts}}
-In [[psychoanalysis]], '''cathexis''' (or '''emotional investment''') is defined as the process of allocation of [[mental energy|mental or emotional energy]] to a person, object, or idea.<ref name=LP>{{cite book |first1=Jean |last1=Laplanche |first2=Jean-Bertrand |last2=Pontalis |author-link1=Jean Laplanche |author-link2=Jean-Bertrand Pontalis |chapter=Cathexis (pp. 62–5) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PsvZpv0ZRw0C&dq=%22+Cathexis+%3D+D.i+Besetzung%22&pg=PA62 |title=The Language of Psycho-analysis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PsvZpv0ZRw0C |publisher=Karnac Books |location=London |year=1988 |edition=reprint, revised |orig-date=1973 |isbn=978-1-781-81026-2 }}</ref><ref>Hall, Calvin S. ''A Primer of Freudian Psychology''. New York: Mentor, 1954.</ref>
+In [[psychoanalysis]], '''cathexis''' (or '''emotional investment''') is defined as the process of allocation of [[mental energy|mental or emotional energy]] to a person, object, or idea.<ref name=LP>{{Cite book |first1=Jean |last1=Laplanche |first2=Jean-Bertrand |last2=Pontalis |author-link1=Jean Laplanche |author-link2=Jean-Bertrand Pontalis |chapter=Cathexis (pp. 62–5) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PsvZpv0ZRw0C&dq=%22+Cathexis+%3D+D.i+Besetzung%22&pg=PA62 |title=The Language of Psycho-Analysis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PsvZpv0ZRw0C |publisher=Karnac Books |location=London |year=1988 |edition=Reprint, revised |orig-date=1973 |isbn=978-1-781-81026-2 }}</ref><ref>Hall, Calvin S. ''A Primer of Freudian Psychology''. New York: Mentor, 1954.</ref>
 ==Origin of term==
-The [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] term ''cathexis'' (κάθεξις) was chosen by [[James Strachey]] to render the [[German language|German]] term ''Besetzung'' in his translation of [[Sigmund Freud]]'s complete works. Freud himself used the word "interest" in English in an early letter to [[Ernest Jones]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Ernest |author-link=Ernest Jones |title=Sigmund Freud, Life and Work |publisher=[[Hogarth Press|The Hogarth Press]] |location=London |year=1958 |volume=2 |pages=69f}} Quoted in: {{cite book |editor-last=Nagera |editor-first=Humberto |chapter=Cathexis (pp. 77–96) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9xmvAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Cathexis+I.+Definition%22+Besetzung+%223+Jones,+E.,+Sigmund+Freud,+Life+and+Work,+The+Hogarth+Press,+London,+1958,+Vol.+2,p.69f.%22&pg=PA77 |title=Basic Psychoanalytic Concepts on Metapsychology, Conflicts, Anxiety and Other Subjects |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9xmvAwAAQBAJ |year=2014 |orig-date=1970 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=[[Abingdon-on-Thames]] |isbn=978-1-31767042-1 }}</ref><ref name= Gay465n>{{cite book|last=Gay|first=Peter|title=Freud: A Life for Our Time|year=1989|page=465n|isbn=9780393072341 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mZ5eX44E9lYC&dq=%22peter+Gay%22%2C+Freud++%22besetzung%22+cathexis&pg=PA465}}</ref>
+The [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] term ''cathexis'' (κάθεξις) was chosen by [[James Strachey]] to render the [[German language|German]] term ''Besetzung'' in his translation of [[Sigmund Freud]]'s complete works. Freud himself used the word "interest" in English in an early letter to [[Ernest Jones]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Ernest |author-link=Ernest Jones |title=Sigmund Freud, Life and Work |publisher=[[Hogarth Press|The Hogarth Press]] |location=London |year=1958 |volume=2 |pages=69f}} Quoted in: {{Cite book |editor-last=Nagera |editor-first=Humberto |chapter=Cathexis (pp. 77–96) |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9xmvAwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Cathexis+I.+Definition%22+Besetzung+%223+Jones,+E.,+Sigmund+Freud,+Life+and+Work,+The+Hogarth+Press,+London,+1958,+Vol.+2,p.69f.%22&pg=PA77 |title=Basic Psychoanalytic Concepts on Metapsychology, Conflicts, Anxiety and Other Subjects |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9xmvAwAAQBAJ |year=2014 |orig-date=1970 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=[[Abingdon-on-Thames]] |isbn=978-1-31767042-1 }}</ref><ref name= Gay465n>{{Cite book|last=Gay|first=Peter|title=Freud: A Life for Our Time|year=1989|page=465n|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=9780393072341 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mZ5eX44E9lYC&dq=%22peter+Gay%22%2C+Freud++%22besetzung%22+cathexis&pg=PA465}}</ref>
-[[Peter Gay]] objected that Strachey's use of cathexis was an unnecessarily esoteric replacement for Freud's use of ''Besetzung'' – "a word from common German speech rich in suggestive meanings, among them 'occupation' (by troops) and 'charge' (of [[Electric charge|electricity]])",<ref name= Gay465n/> of which the latter is an incorrect claim by Gay (as can be confirmed by looking in any German dictionary).<ref>Freud uses the expressions "Besetzung mit Energie" and "mit Energie besetzen" (with the noun "Besetzung" and the verb "besetzen") to refer to "allocation of energy" and "to allocate energy".</ref> Apparently Gay was confused by the common use of the English noun and verb "charge" to refer to both "allocation/allocating" and the "energy"  allocated in cathexis, e.g. "emotional charge", "counter-charge", "to charge with an affect". In German, the energy allocated in cathexis is never referred to as a "charge", and the noun and verb "Besetzung/besetzen" are rather abstract terms used to refer to "allocation/allocate/assign/appoint" that are specifically not the words used for an electric charge ("Ladung") and for charging with electricity ("aufladen").
+[[Peter Gay]] objected that Strachey's use of cathexis was an unnecessarily esoteric replacement for Freud's use of ''Besetzung'' – "a word from common German speech rich in suggestive meanings, among them 'occupation' (by troops) and 'charge' (of [[Electric charge|electricity]])",<ref name= Gay465n/> though Gay is mistaken regarding his latter example.{{Efn|Freud uses the expressions "Besetzung mit Energie" and "mit Energie besetzen" (with the noun "Besetzung" and the verb "besetzen") to refer to "allocation of energy" and "to allocate energy".|group=upper-alpha}}
 ==Usage==
@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 ==Criticism==
-Critics charge that the term provides a potentially misleading neurophysiological analogy, which might be applicable to the cathexis of ideas but certainly not of objects.<ref name=LP/>
+Critics charge that the term provides a potentially misleading neurophysiological analogy, which might be applicable to the cathexis of ideas but certainly not of objects.<ref name=LP/> This, however, arises from a misunderstanding of the psychoanalytic definition of objects, which does not refer to physical objects that are seen in the environment, but to the internal images of these physical objects which are created by the psyche.
 Further ambiguity in Freud's usage emerges in the contrast between cathexis as a measurable load of (undifferentiated) libido, and as a qualitatively distinct type of affect – as in a "cathexis of longing".<ref name=LP/>
 ==See also==
-{{Columns-list|colwidth=22em|
+{{Columns-list|colwidth=15em|
-*[[Acathexis]]
+* [[Acathexis]]
-*[[Anal fixation]]
+* [[Anal fixation]]
-*[[Body cathexis]]
+* [[Body cathexis]]
-*[[Condensation (psychology)]]
+* [[Condensation (psychology)]]
-*[[Decathexis]]
+* [[Decathexis]]
-*[[Oral stage]]
+* [[Oral stage]]
-*[[Psychological resistance]]
+* [[Psychological resistance]]
 }}
+== Explanatory notes ==
+{{Reflist|group=upper-alpha}}
 == References ==
-{{Reflist|2|}}
+{{Reflist|2}}
+== Further reading ==
+* {{Cite journal |last1=Brull |first1=H. Frank |date=1975 |title=A Reconsideration of Some Translations of Sigmund Freud. |journal=Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=273–279 |doi=10.1037/h0086443 }}
+* {{Cite journal |last1=Hoffer |first1=Peter T. |date=October 2005 |title=Reflections on Cathexis |journal=The Psychoanalytic Quarterly |volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=1127–1135 |doi=10.1002/j.2167-4086.2005.tb00239.x |pmid=16355721 |s2cid=11739132 }}
+* {{Cite journal |last1=McIntosh |first1=Donald |date=August 1993 |title=Cathexes and Their Objects in The Thought of Sigmund Freud |journal=Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=679–709 |doi=10.1177/000306519304100303 |pmid=8354842 |s2cid=9588558 }}
+* {{Cite thesis |last1=Millen |first1=Brian |date=September 2023 |title=Hypo-Cathexis and Impotence in the Facilitating Environment of the Anthropocene: Towards Digital Humanities |url=https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5591/ |type=M.A. |location=New York |publisher=The Graduate Center, City University of New York}}
+* {{Cite journal |last1=Ornston |first1=D |date=1982 |title=Strachey's Influence: A Preliminary Report |journal=The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis |volume=63 |issue=Pt 4 |pages=409–26 |pmid=7152805 }}
+* {{Cite journal |last1=Ornston |first1=Darius |date=1985 |title=The Invention of Cathexis and Strachey's Strategy |url=https://pep-web.org/search/document/IRP.012.0391A |journal=International Review of Psycho-Analysis |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=391–399 |id={{INIST|8827441}} }}
+* {{Cite journal |last1=Poe |first1=Andrew |date=October 2018 |title=Expressions of a Fascist Imaginary |journal=South Atlantic Quarterly |volume=117 |issue=4 |pages=815–832 |doi=10.1215/00382876-7165883 |s2cid=150169236 }}
 == External links ==
 {{Wiktionary}}
-* [http://www.enotes.com/cathexis-reference/cathexis-187347 Cathexis]
+* [http://www.enotes.com/cathexis-reference/cathexis-187347 Cathexis] at [[eNotes]]
-* [http://psychology.about.com/od/sigmundfreud/a/cathexis.htm Cathexis and Anticathexis]
+* [http://psychology.about.com/od/sigmundfreud/a/cathexis.htm Cathexis and Anticathexis] ({{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023203/http://psychology.about.com/od/sigmundfreud/a/cathexis.htm |date=2016-03-04 }}) at [[Verywell Mind]]
-[[Category:Psychoanalytic terminology]]
 [[Category:Freudian psychology]]
+[[Category:Psychoanalytic terminology]]