The Lure of the Forbidden

The attraction of the forbidden is a widely-known phenomenon, but its psychological investigation has been limited, as the small amount of literature on the subject seems to prove.

First of all, we shall try to define the situation and its limits. Obviously, we cannot include in a single picture kleptomania and the neurotic impulse to adultery, perverse exhibitionism and systematic delinquency. In all these cases we find, indeed, a subversion of prohibitions; but it is not an a priori established fact that the person involved wishes to act on his or her impulses for the very reason that they are forbidden —even if this sometimes actually happens. The feeling that accompanies action, in the case of the attraction of the forbidden, is also quite specific, and cannot be traced back to the simple and realistic fear of punishment.

The person who most typically experiences the lure of the forbidden is he who does not feel a particular attraction for a certain kind of action so long as this can be considered licit; whereas he is impelled to act when the action appears unlawful. One of my patients in the beginning of his analysis stated that he did not particularly enjoy sexual intercourse whenever it could be performed under circumstances which did not imply a prohibition; and, conversely, that he looked for situations in which he would run the risk of being punished or reproached, either by an impersonal authority or by individuals; or in which, in any case, he would have the feeling that he was doing something wrong.

A young boy quoted by Eidelberg (3) found, similarly, little satisfaction in eating his school snack during break; he ate it, therefore, in class, because the very fact that to do so was forbidden acted as a particular stimulus and gave him more pleasure.

However, if we enquire more closely what kind of pleasure is experienced and sought for by such people, we invariably find that its quality is very peculiar indeed. The 'pleasure' is always accompanied by