Oppositional Differentiation

There's this process I've observed, which I'm tentatively naming 'oppositional differentiation'. It's a crucial player in the psychology of toddlers & adolescents. It is the act of defining differences between self & others by opposing the other. A constitutional commitment to being in opposition, most especially to authority figures. It is most evoked when authority figures attempt to impose upon the oppositional differentiator, & the very act of imposing may indeed be the evocateur of this personality mechanism. Certainly it seems that in escalating the imposition, escalation of the oppositional differentiation occurs.

This behavior is not the exclusive province of teens & toddlers, rather that is where it initially exhibits in the individual. I would suggest many of us have experience with individuals whose commitment to being argumentative exceeds the norm, most especially we notice those in whom the debating instinct has run amok. I would say that such individuals have gotten stuck in those phases of childhood where such argument skills were necessary to survive the muddled impingings of authority figures.

& of course, we see this tendency whenever we read thru the postings of commentary, whether email discussion groups, or the sections following most articles, blogs, news reports, & other media content online. Frequently the expression of oppositional difference is connected to anger & fear, just as often masking the motive provided by the anger & fear in the guise of 'rational argumentation'.