Socio-Psychoanalytic Perspectives on the Subordinate

Abstract

This paper integrates psychoanalytic and sociological concepts to examine what persons do with the role of subordinate in the work situation, specifically in relations with immediate superiors. Focusing on the side of the subordinate, the authority relation at work is viewed as a complex emotional attachment and understood as a dynamic process-one which considerably reflects and conforms around the internal needs, dispositions, and conflicts of the individual in the subordinate position. It is argued that patterns of relating to authority crystallize in the earliest years of life in connection with parents and that by way of patterned movements throughout the life-course, persons choose and modify contexts that sustain these patterns. Recurrent themes relating to subordinates' paradoxical needs and ambivalence around dependency and control are discussed. A case study of an attorney's relations with her superiors is presented to illustrate how these emotional dynamics unfold and are expressed. Special attention is paid to the ways in which dealings with superiors are navigated in a manner reminiscent of earlier ways of being and acting with parents.