object relations

In psychoanalysis, the emotional relations between subject and object which, through a process of identification, are believed to constitute the developing ego. In this context, the word ‘object’ refers to any person or thing, or representational aspect of them, with which the subject forms an intense emotional relationship.

Object relations were first described by German psychoanalyst Karl Abraham (1877–1925) in an influential paper, published in 1924, in which he developed Freud's ideas on infantile sexuality and the development of the libido. Object-relations theory has become one of the central themes of post-Freudian psychoanalysis, particularly through the writings of Melanie Klein, Scottish psychoanalyst Ronald Fairbairn (1889–1964), and Donald Winnicott, all deeply influenced by Abraham. They have each developed distinct, though complementary, approaches to analysis, evolving theories of personal development based on early parental attachments.