Fascination as a Result of Confluence of Conscious and Unconscious States of the Ego

Abstract

This article considers the psychological mechanism by which some people come to regard sadistic and murderous leaders with fascination. The initial formation of the ego in the species and in the individual is reviewed. Berne (1961, p. xix) reported that ego states of former age levels are maintained in potential existence within the personality. The authors describe how these early, primitive states of the ego reside in an unconscious state within what may be defined as a third dimension of the conscious and observable ego state diagram. A definition of unconscious states of the ego is provided that allows us to account for their influence on observable, conscious states of the ego and how and why this influence may in some people transform realistic fear of sadistic and dangerous individuals into fascination.