separate place in a
list of the instincts, seem well enough provided for under the general
head of self-assertion. They belong on the social side of assertive
behavior, i.e., they are responses to other people and aim at the
domination of other {166} people or against being dominated by them.
But the struggle for mastery, in rivalry, does not take the form of a
direct personal encounter. Compare wrestling with a contest in
throwing the hammer. In wrestling the mastery impulse finds a direct
outlet in subduing the opponent, while in throwing the hammer each
contestant tries to beat the other indirectly, by surpassing him in a
certain performance. This you would call rivalry, but wrestling is
scarcely rivalry, because the struggle for mastery is so direct.
Rivalry may seek to demonstrate superiority in some performance, or to
win the favor of some person or social group, as in the case of rivals
in love.

When we speak of "emulation", we have in mind the sort of behavior
observed when one child says, "See what I can do!" and the other
counters with, "Pooh! I can do that, too". Or, the first child wins
applause by some performance, and we then notice the second child
attempting the same. It is a case of resisting the indirect domination
of another, by not letting him surpass us in performance or in social
recognition.

_Thwarted self-assertion_ deserves special mention, as the basis for
quite a number of queer emotional states. Shame, sulkiness,
sullenness, peevishness, stubbornness, defiance, all go with wounded
self-assertion under different conditions. Envy and jealousy belong
here, too. Shyness and embarrassment go with self-assertion that is
doubtful of winning recognition. Opposed to all these are
self-confidence, the cheerful state of mind of one who seeks to master
some person or thing and fully expects to do so, and elation, the
joyful state of one who has mastered.

Submission.

Is there any counter-tendency that limits self-assertion and holds it
in check? Inertia and fear of course have this effect, but is there
any specific instinct precisely opposite to self-assertion? A
difficult question, not {167} yet to be answered with any assurance;
but there is some evidence of a native submissive or yielding
tendency. Two forms may be distinguished: yielding to obstruction, and
yielding to the domination of other persons.

Giving up, in the face of obstacles, is certainly common enough, but
at first thought