amˈbivələn(t)s, aam- noun
also am·biv·a·len·cy -nsē, -si
( plural ambivalences also ambivalencies )
Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary ambi- + valence, valency; originally formed as German ambivalenz
1. : contradictory emotional or psychological attitudes especially toward a particular person or object and often with one attitude inhibiting the expression of another
a heightened ambivalence which is expressed in behavior by alternating obedience and rebellion, followed by self-reproach — G.S.Blum
specifically : simultaneous attraction toward and repulsion from an object, person, or action
Apache ambivalence in attitude and behavior toward death — C.K.Kluckhohn
2.
a. : continual oscillation (as between one thing and its opposite) : fluctuation
Thackeray's major novels are vitiated by an ambivalence between satire and sentimentalism — J.L.Davis
b. : uncertainty as to which approach, attitude, or treatment to follow
the English film … because of a nervous ambivalence toward its subject matter … fails to produce the chuckles — John McCarten