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Moving Away from People

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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

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Synonyms

Detached type; Moving away from people; Resignation solutions

Definition

Karen Horney described a detached type as people who actively seek to distance themselves from the company and influence of other people. They have a strong desire to be self-sufficient, and their inner stability and peace come only by avoiding others and maintaining their self-sufficiency and social isolation.

Introduction

In Horney’s (1945) book, Our Inner Conflicts, she described a detached type as “estrangement from the self, that is, a numbness to emotional experience, an uncertainty as to what one is, what one loves, hates, desires, hopes, fears, resents, believes” (p. 74).

What is crucial is their inner need to put emotional distance between themselves and others. More accurately, it is their conscious and unconscious determination not to get emotionally involved with others in any way, whether in love, fight, co-operation, or competition. (p. 75)

Horney thought that detached types observe...

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References

  • Coolidge, F. L. (2012). Horney-Coolidge tridimensional inventory: Manual. Author: Colorado Springs.

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  • Horney, K. (1945). Our inner conflicts. New York: W. W. Norton.

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  • Horney, K. (1950). Neurosis and human growth. New York: W. W. Norton.

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  • Paris, B. J. (1994). Karen Horney: A psychoanalyst’s search for self-understanding. New Haven: Yale University Press.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Colorado – Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO, USA

    Frederick L. Coolidge & Shannon E. Matlock

Authors
  1. Frederick L. Coolidge
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  2. Shannon E. Matlock
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Frederick L. Coolidge .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia

    Simon Boag

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© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

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Coolidge, F.L., Matlock, S.E. (2018). Moving Away from People. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1397-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1397-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

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