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Definition of masochism
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What is the Difference Between the Words masochism & sadism ?
Masochism and sadism are both about the enjoyment of pain. Masochism refers to the enjoyment of experiencing pain while sadism refers to the enjoyment of inflicting pain on someone else.
Interestingly, both masochism and sadism are eponymous words. English has thousands of such words, taken from the names of people both real and fictional. Masochism comes from the name of the 19th century German novelist, Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. It is unusual in that it began to be used during the lifetime of the man from whom it originated (Sacher-Masoch died in 1895, and masochism had been in printed use since 1892). Sadism comes from the name of the French writer, the Marquis de Sade (1740-1814).
The two words are not only often encountered in connection with one another, they have been combined into a single word, sadomasochism.
Examples of masochism in a Sentence
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word ‘masochism.’ Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of masochism
1892, in the meaning defined at sense 1
History and Etymology for masochism
borrowed from German Masochismus, from Leopold von Sacher- Masoch †1895 Austrian fiction writer and journalist + -ismus -ism
Note: The German noun was coined by Richard von krafft-ebing, probably first in Neue Forschungen auf dem Gebiet der Psychopathia sexualis (Stuttgart, 1890), p. 1 ff. Krafft-Ebing describes the coinage as follows: “Diese im folgenden zu besprechenden Perversionen der Vita sexualis mögen Masochismus genannt werden, da der bekannte Romanschriftsteller Sacher Masoch in zahlreichen seiner Romanen, ganz besonders in seiner bekannten “Die Venus im Pelz”, diese eigene Art der sexuellen Perversion zum Lieblingsgegenstand seiner Schriften gemacht hat.” (“The perversions of sexual life to be discussed in what follows may be named masochism, as the well-known novelist Sacher Masoch has made this particular type of sexual perversion a favorite object of his writing in a number of his novels, especially in his well-known Venus in Fur.”) The same passage appears in the article “Ueber Masochismus,” in the Wiener Medizinische Blätter, No. 52 (December 25, 1890), p. 817.
Psychodynamic conceptualizations of masochism explain why people self-sabotage.
Posted Jun 19, 2020
THE BASICS
Why do some people self-sabotage? Psychodynamics can offer an answer.
Some individuals may unwittingly set themselves up for repeated failures in work and love relationships because of an unconscious (or implicit) need to punish oneself. For example, an individual may get themselves very close to a promotion at work but then blow it in a way that looked inevitable and seemingly planned.
The implicit need to punish oneself satisfies pervasive, extreme, oppressive feelings of guilt. Guilt is the predominant feeling among what traditional psychoanalysis labeled “moral masochism” (as opposed to sexual machoism, the fetish). Another way of describing the pattern of unconsciously arranging to get close to success but ultimately not to make it is to say one is engaging in “self-sabotage.”
The self-sabotaging character has been labeled “masochistic” in psychoanalytic theory. Prior to describing the psychodynamic conceptualization of masochism further, it is necessary to point out that psychodynamic theory posits the existence of unconscious processing which can include motivation and emotions that we are unaware of.
The Freudian construct of moral masochism evolved into a conceptualization of a masochistic personality disorder (and its sub-clinical variant, masochistic personality style). The DSM-I and DSM-II included a diagnostic category for the masochistic personality. The DSM-III and DSM-III-R relabeled masochistic personality and included it as a personality disorder under the label “self-defeating personality disorder.”
However, from the DSM-IV to present, it has been omitted—putatively lost to the dustbin of psychiatric nosology, clinical psychology, and psychoanalytic theory. In an effort to save the construct of masochistic psychopathology, a systematic psychodynamic conceptualization is warranted.
A psychodynamic classification model of personality includes the following dimensions: predominant affect, motivation, interpersonal style, behavioral pattern, defense mechanism, and cognitive style.
Interpersonal Masochism: Submissiveness
A masochistic individual often stays in relationships that are “obviously destructive” possibly because of specific psychological dynamics. Specifically, the masochistic individual in an emotionally abusive relationship behaves submissively. Masochistic submissiveness, however, is a defense mechanism; specifically, it is a reaction formation in which submissiveness covers up sadism manifested as a need to control and induce guilt.
The goal of inducing guilt in their romantic partner (often hypothesized to lack the capacity for guilt) motivates masochistic submissiveness. In other words, masochistic individuals behave submissively, often to a humiliating degree, in the hopes of inducing guilt in the other individual. At a more general level of description, masochistic individuals are typically described as having difficulty expressing anger in relationships. Often, their hostility manifests in cutting the other person off completely, ending the relationship—i.e., ghosting the other person.
Masochistic individuals have been described as “nice guys” and display pathological levels of what R.F. Bornstein coined “interpersonal dependency” (i.e. “destructive overdependence”), including indeciveness, passivity, and an excessive need for approval. Countertransference to individuals with masochism is intense. Often a therapist or significant other or caregiver may deny the presence of the hostility underlying overt masochism because they are threatened by their own sadism (Asch, 1988).
Masochistic Self-Functioning
The masochistic individual has extremely high internal standards of success, is perfectionistic, and constantly falls short. Their pattern of underachievement in most significant areas results in severe, constant self-criticism, guilt, and general self-loathing. According to Asch (1988, pp. 100), “it is pride in self-abnegation, in taking the ‘harder’ way, in diminishing material gain that is the hallmark of the moral masochist […] overt submission masks the hostile wish to control as well as the desire to engender guilt.”
Psychodynamic Classification of Masochism
- Behavioral Pattern: Underachiever; fails to live up to intellectual potential; unconsciously sets self up for failure.
- Interpersonal Style: Submissive, passive, needy, indecisive, dependent.
- Affect: Guilt, depression.
- Motivation: To assuage their own guilt or induce guilt in others; need to please an internal object (mental representation of a relationship or significant other person).
- Defense Mechanism: Reaction formation (submissiveness).
- Cognition: Self-criticism; self-attack.
Facebook image: Sam Wordley/Shutterstock
Asch, S. (1988) The analytic concepts of masochism: a reevaluation, in Masochism: Current Psychoanalytic Perspectives, edited by R. Glick and D. Meyers.
. reevaluation analytic concepts.
Will attitudes, instead of concepts, from sensation, emotion and mentation, provide more analytic neutrality in psychology today.
Philosophers want to know. thanks
This is an excellent summary
This is an excellent summary of a complex condition. I applaud how thorough yet concise and readable it is.
good summary
I agree, but in reading some of the ‘reference’, it seemed it could be outdated.
Thanks
This is an excellent summary of a complex condition. I applaud how thorough yet concise and readable it is.
psychodynamic classifications
To this posting’s Cognitive classification. will self-awareness become a primary lead for psychology today.
Philosophy wants to know.
Could there be other motivations?
This description rings very true for me—everything except for the motivation. I don’t believe I have an underlying hostility or hidden desire to make other people feel guilty. Rather, I think my own self-sabotaging / masochistic traits might stem from low self-esteem (for example, feeling unworthy of certain successes, and also lacking the energy to try to attain something that I fear might be out of reach). Would this be a suitable motivation under the current definition? Or is it only true masochism if you’re subconsciously trying to induce guilt?
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — Devin Booker scored 27 points, Deandre Ayton added 24 points and 12 rebounds and the Phoenix Suns beat the Washington Wizards 125-112 on Friday in their first game of the restart.
Booker made all nine of his free throws and Phoenix hit 30 of 32 from the line.
The Suns pulled within five games of eighth-place Memphis in their long-shot bid to make the Western Conference playoffs.
“I liked everything,” Booker said. “We were communicating. We played together . and communicated through tough stretches of the game just as much as when we were rolling. So that’s what I love to see.”
Ayton, a 6-foot-11 center who hadn’t made a 3-pointer in 101 career games, hit two of three from beyond the arc.
“I’ve been working on this thing my whole life though,” he said. “I could have been shooting. It’s just that I’m more comfortable with the system around me.”
Ayton made 11 of 14 shots overall.
Dario Saric added 16 points for the Suns, who shot 52% from the field.
Rui Hachimura had 21 points and eight rebounds and Jerome Robinson added 20 points for the Wizards on coach Scott Brooks’ 55th birthday.
Brooks said Robinson’s performance was a bright spot.
“Offensively, I thought he played a little bit at the right pace,” Brooks said. “He has some good speed. He has some ball-handling ability.”
The Wizards entered the bubble without their top two scorers, Bradley Beal and Davis Bertans. Beal, the league’s No. 2 scorer at 30.5 a game, is out with a shoulder injury. Bertans doesn’t want to risk injuring his surgically repaired knees with free agency upcoming. Also, John Wall has missed the entire season with a torn Achilles tendon.
Still, Washington began the restart just 1 1/2 games out of earning a play-in situation.
Phoenix went on a 16-0 run in the second quarter and led 67-52 at the break. Washington scored the first seven points of the second half, but Phoenix held on and led 89-81 at the end of the third quarter.
Washington made a final push. Shabazz Napier hit a 3-pointer and was fouled with 4:26 remaining. His free throw cut Phoenix’s lead to 111-104. The Suns answered, with back-to-back 3-pointers by Booker and Ricky Rubio pushing the advantage to 15.
Ayton, on the tone set with the win: “It was a great look for us to see what we’ve got, see what we can be. Us trying our best to see where we end up, trying to compete every game. We’re just going to go game by game, not settling for mediocre.”
Robinson fell one point short of his career high for the Wizards. He made 7 of 9 shots, including 4 of 6 3-pointers.
“Shooters shoot,” he said. “I was open, so I shot it.”
The Suns made all 21 of their free throws in the first half. . It was Monty Williams’ 200th head coaching win.
Suns: F Kelly Oubre was out with a right knee injury. . Ayton had 10 rebounds in the first half. . Booker had a +25 plus/minus rating. . Rubio had 15 points, nine assists and three steals.
Wizards: G Garrison Mathews was out for personal reasons. . Robinson scored 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting in 13 minutes in the first half. . Ish Smith hit a deep 3-pointer to beat the first-quarter buzzer. . C Thomas Bryant had 10 points and seven rebounds on his 23rd birthday.
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It was a fearsome sight indeed after the tower fell for the last time, after that, strip jenga was forever banned in the lounge.
My name shall not go down in history as the guy who codified Strip Jenga.
Guess again, Terrson.
1: a sexual perversion characterized by pleasure in being subjected to pain or humiliation especially by a love object — compare this to sadism
2: pleasure in being abused or dominated : a taste for suffering
mas·och·ist – noun
mas·och·is·tic – adjective
mas·och·is·ti·cal·ly – adverb
Origin of MASOCHISM:
International Scientific Vocabulary, from Leopold von Sacher-Masoch †1895 German novelist
First Known Use: 1892
