Ambivalence as a Sociological Explanation: The Case of Cultural Explanations of Alcohol Problems

A presumed high rate of U.S. drinking problems often has been ascribed to ambivalence over alcohol. Ambivalence is argued to be a necessary component of normative explanations which contemplate only constraining norms, as exemplified also in the place of ambivalence in Parsons' theory of deviance. Although ambivalence refers broadly to the individual's experience of conflicting norms, its psychotherapeutic origins in analyzing special kinds of relationship give it connotations of continuity in time and of excitation and potential explosiveness. It is these connotations which give ambivalence the appearance of providing an explanation of the origin and maintenance of deviance. Although sociologists have treated ambivalence as a property of the individual mind, possible meanings of ambivalence seated at aggregate levels are explored. The use of ambivalence as an explanatory concept should be replaced by analysis in terms of the conflicting norms and values the concept purports to cover.