ABSTRACT
THE QUEST for affection is one way frequently used in our culture for obtaining reassurance against anxiety. The quest for power, prestige and possession is another.
I should probably explain why I discuss power, prestige and possession as aspects of a single problem. In detail it certainly makes a big difference for a personality whether the prevailing tendency is for one or another of these goals. Which of the goals prevails in the neurotic '8 striving for reassnrance depends on external circumstances as well as on differences in individual gifts and psychic structure. If I deal with them as a unity it is because they all have something in common which distinguishes them from the need for affection. Winning affection means obtaining reassurance through intensified contact with others, while striving for power, prestige and possession means obtaining reassurance through loosening of the contact with others and through fortifying one '8 own position.
