The term ambivalence loses meaning when applied to every psychopathological bipolarity. In this paper ambivalence (of love and hate) is regarded as a psychic striving with narcissistic and hedonistic aims; its origin and mode of functioning are discussed. It is most intense in the infant who has been subjected to gross oral and anal deprivations, as a result of which he can form relationships only with part-objects. The ambivalent person is so painfully dependent that he cannot express or feel his hatred of frustration; instead he reacts with further helplessness. This behaviour enables him both to externalize his problem and to achieve a magical omnipotence. He therefore lacks a realistic frame of reference for appraising reality. As a result it becomes as though he neither loved nor hated. Whenever the ambivalent person believes himself to be hated he withdraws love as a magical manoeuvre to compel the object to bestow love.