The Three Christs of Ypsilanti - Milton Rokeach [151]
We come now to consider another finding of considerable theoretical interest. We have already seen that when positive authority suggests a change in behavior, the recipient will accept it provided he is capable of doing so and provided it does not require drastic modification of belief or frustrate important needs. By carrying out the suggestion, one can simultaneously reduce dissonance and preserve intact one’s relation to positive authority. But what can reasonably be expected when the suggestion to change is beyond the recipient’s capability or frustrates his deep needs or predispositions? In such a situation, a conflict arises between his desire to comply with authority and the abilities or needs which make compliance impossible.
One way to resolve such a conflict situation (or to reduce the dissonance) is to change one’s conception of authority. If a suggestion emanating from positive authority is unacceptable, the conflict may be removed by becoming disaffected with the authority and transforming it either into a negative authority or into a nonexistent one. This is exactly what Leon and Joseph did. Leon gave up his wife, Madame Yeti Woman, and his uncle, George Bernard Brown; Joseph gave up his delusional Dad, Dr. Yoder, and found himself a new Dad, President Kennedy.
Consider next the changes which took place in Leon when, shortly after his refusal to accept any more letters, we replaced the male research assistant with a female. By this time Leon had formed the delusion that God was an hermaphrodite, that the female resident psychiatrist in particular and females in general were G. M.’s—God Morphies. It was at this point that Miss Anderson arrived on the scene. We had had frequent occasion to observe Leon’s behavior with respect to women, prior to Miss Anderson’s arrival—the nurses on the ward, the women research assistants working on other projects, the women visitors during the daily meetings. With none of these women did Leon behave as he did toward Miss Anderson. He did not attempt to approach them, he did not accuse them of trying to commit adultery with him, he did not call them God, or hermaphrodites, or kneel before them. It is clear that Leon’s acting out with respect to Miss Anderson in particular and to other women in general subsequent to her appearence, and the delusions he developed thereafter, were a direct outgrowth of the letters.
It is only natural that with the materialization of a positive referent for Leon in the person of Miss Anderson we should begin to hope that his mental condition might improve. She was, at last, a real positive reference person—not a ghost, as were the others he had previously consorted with. From the beginning, Miss Anderson’s role was primarily oriented toward therapy rather than toward research. To this end, she met with Leon alone for many extra hours after the daily group meetings. When Leon made his exclamation: “So much imposition has been shaken off, I feel like dancing,” we had high hopes for the future.
But Leon was frightened as he reached out to the world beyond.
There! There is no cave.
It is gone.
But where did I go?
I cannot find me.
Where am I?
Lost.
He wavered back and forth as he carried on his lonely duel, and finally his decision was clear.
Yes, I want the cave,
There, I know where I am.
I can grope, in the dark,
and feel the cave walls.
And the people, there, know I’m there,
and they step on me, by mistake,—
I think, I hope.
But, outside—
Where am I?[16]
We were unsuccessful in our efforts to rebuild trust in a person who, in Erikson’s terms, showed a determination to “trust nothing but mistrust.”[17] Or, as Leon