Page:Fielding - Sex and the Love Life.pdf/53

 that there is nothing in the individual that warrants a second thought, and yet we are attracted sometimes in spite of ourselves and quite strongly. This is an expression of the unconscious love impulses in action.

The Parent Image. Practically all our elementary likes and dislikes, loves and hates, are derived from patterns we unconsciously copy in infancy and early childhood. In the course of late childhood and finally adulthood, they are subject to modification and elaboration, but very rarely are they discarded or reversed. It might be safe to say, without wishing to be dogmatic, that almost never are they entirely eliminated—certainly not in the great majority of cases.

Children, of course, unconsciously pattern their emotional responses after those nearest to them—normally their parents, or parent substitutes. The very earliest impression is concerned with the infant's nutrition, and sense of well-being generally—that is, the warmth, caresses and other comforts that are the result of its mother's attentions.

Infants and very young children, before they know anything about relationships, therefore develop a close attachment to the mother as the source of food supply and comfort. She becomes synonymous with these terms in the infant's purely reflex desire to satisfy hunger and to relieve the tension of physical discomforts. The child's affective or emotional life in this way becomes conditioned to associate satisfaction and pleasure with the mother. The mother is identified with the good things and comforts of life.

The influence of this primal feeling upon the child's emotional sphere in all its phases is tremendous. With the evolution of the affections, the sentiments, and the love-life, the