Social complexes

From previous articles, we've become familiar with psychological complexes, however, each was introduced from a personal perspective. Now, let me introduce complexes from a group, collective or social perspective.

Recall that complexes are essentially an accumulation of experiences related to a common theme, such as experiences with one's father. For social complexes the development is similar only now, the experiences are related to a social theme. When we consider the many common social themes we experience in a lifetime, such as attending school, we can see there is a potential for many social complexes.

I want to focus on one particular social complex. One that is common but not often considered. I'll refer to it as the peer complex.

In our lives, our friends influence us in many ways and we adapt to them. This can involve wearing the same clothes, adopting the same idiosyncratic language, learning the same attitudes and behaviors and so on. Often these adaptations are superficial, as indicated when personas develop during the adaptations.

A persona is expressed in an image we present to the world in order to fit within a social context. A complex is more deeply rooted than a persona, becoming a permanent part of our psychologies. It is not changeable like a persona.

So, then, what is a peer complex? Not only is a person influenced by peers as described above but during the development of the complex, a person's personality is taken over by the complex. As a result, the personality differs from its natural tendencies and often functions in ways that seeks approval or desires to be noticed by peers. This can happen when a person's development is blocked due to trauma, with a serious insecurity or in some other developmental way.

Personal complexes become active when a trigger is present, such as our father or someone similar being present. After a while the complex retreats back into the unconscious (hidden) psychology and becomes inactive.

Since a peer complex takes over part of the developing personality, it is active much of the time. As we get older, it continues to be active. When this happens, and as we grow older, we continue to be unaware of our natural selves! At that time, many people realize that something is off or wrong with them and they seek help from a therapist; those who don't reach this realization, never get to know who they truly are.

Unraveling our complexes is not easy and requires a lot of effort. This is true of social complexes as well.