ambitendency

American  

[am-bi-ten-duhn-see] / ˌæm bɪˈtɛn dən si /

noun

Psychology.

PLURAL

ambitendencies

1. ambivalence, especially when acted out; a tendency to contradictory behavior arising from conflicting impulses.

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Etymology

Origin of ambitendency

ambi- + tendency

Example Sentences

We could assume this duality of human will, for which Bleuler from his psychiatric standpoint has coined the word ambitendency, as something everywhere and always existing, and recall that even the most primitive of all motor impulses are already contradictory as where, e.g., in the act of extension, the flexor muscles are innervated.”

From Project Gutenberg