The Strategy of Moving away from People; A Comparative Study Based on the Views of Jalāl-a-Din Rūmi and Karen Horney

Many of our psychological sufferings are rooted in the way our parents treated us in our childhood. Neo-Freudian psychologist, Karen Horney established the theory of neurosis on the basis of the psychological sufferings and their consequences. Horney believes that a neurotic person resorts to "moving toward people" (compliance), "moving against people" (aggression) and "moving away from people" (withdrawal), but these mechanisms are a temporary relief and may lead to the patient's discomfort. Jalāl-a-Din Rūmi, as a mystic who closely monitored the behavior of different classes of people, relying on Islamic knowledge and teachings, has presented solutions for the treatment of neuroticism, which have similarities with Horney's defense mechanisms. The present article, by using analytical-comparative method, examines the different manifestations of "moving away from people" in Masnavi Manavi. The results show that neurotic withdrawal has more manifestations in the behavior of characters of Masnavi. Also, Rūmi attaches great importance to dialogue in the process of human evolution, and considers "moving away from people" as permissible if there is no possibility of dialogue. He considers several types of withdrawal such as mystical, social and neurotic, and considers neurotic withdrawal as a result of factors such as ignorance, jealousy, hatred, lack of understanding of the causes of human differences and lack of mutual understanding.