ABSTRACT
Academies of higher learning provide many triggers for activating the triangles that are basic to the functioning of any emotional system. The established structure in the university system has been in place over generations, and individuals within the system generally accept and operate within this established structure, regulated by a complex set of traditions and rules that can lead to an intense emotional process. This emotional process in humans is closely aligned with heightened anxiety, and movement within and between triangles is one way to bind that anxiety in the attempt to maintain stability. In the attempt to relieve anxiety and insulate oneself from “threat,” triangles come alive. The academic system is hierarchical, and those who are lower in the hierarchy are particularly vulnerable, but those people at the other end of the continuum are not immune to the process and make a strong contribution to maintaining it. Active triangles flourish in this setting.
