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Part II    Psychodynamic Theories252
insociety, roles thatprovided security, dependability, andcertainty. Then, asthey
acquired more freedom to move bothsocially andgeographically, theyfound thatthey
werefree from thesecurity ofafixed position intheworld. They werenolonger tiedto
onegeographic region, onesocial order, oroneoccupation. They became separated 
from theirroots andisolated from oneanother.
Aparallel experience exists onapersonal level. Aschildren become more inde-
pendent oftheirmothers, theygainmore freedom to express theirindividuality, to
move around unsupervised, tochoose theirfriends, clothes, andsoon.Atthesame 
time, theyexperience theburden offreedom; thatis,theyarefree from thesecurity of
being onewiththemother. Onbothasocial andanindividual level, thisburden of
freedom results inbasic anxiety, thefeeling ofbeing alone intheworld.
Mechanisms of Escape
Because basic anxiety produces afrightening sense ofisolation andaloneness, peo-
pleattempt tofleefrom freedom through avariety ofescape mechanisms. InEscape 
from Freedom, Fromm (1941) identified three primary mechanisms ofescape— 
authoritarianism, destructiveness, andconformity. Unlike Horney’s neurotic trends 
(seeChapter 6),Fromm’s mechanisms ofescape arethedriving forces innormal 
people, bothindividually andcollectively.
Authoritarianism
Fromm (1941) defined authoritarianism asthe“tendency togiveuptheindependence 
ofone’s ownindividual selfandtofuseone’s selfwithsomebody orsomething out-
sideoneself, inorder toacquire thestrength which theindividual islacking” (p.141). 
Thisneed tounite withapowerful partner cantakeoneoftwoforms— masochism or
sadism. Masochism results from basic feelings ofpowerlessness, weakness, andinfe-
riority andisaimed atjoining theselftoamore powerful person orinstitution. Mas-
ochistic strivings often aredisguised asloveorloyalty, butunlike loveandloyalty, 
theycannever contribute positively toindependence andauthenticity.
Compared withmasochism, sadism ismore neurotic andmore socially harm -
ful.Likemasochism, sadism isaimed atreducing basic anxiety through achieving 
unity withanother person orpersons. Fromm (1941) identified three kinds ofsadistic 
tendencies, allmore orlessclustered together. Thefirstistheneed tomake others 
dependent ononeself andtogainpower overthose whoareweak. Thesecond isthe
compulsion toexploit others, totakeadvantage ofthem, andtousethem forone’s 
benefit orpleasure. Athird sadistic tendency isthedesire toseeothers suffer, either 
physically orpsychologically.
Destructiveness
Likeauthoritarianism, destructiveness isrooted inthefeelings ofaloneness, isolation, 
andpowerlessness. Unlike sadism andmasochism, however, destructiveness doesnot
depend onacontinuous relationship withanother person; rather, itseeks todoaway 
withother people.
Both individuals andnations canemploy destructiveness asamechanism of
escape. Bydestroying people andobjects, aperson oranation attempts torestore Final PDF to printer