Psychological interactions between the members of the family
BALOYANNIS S.J.

In the milieu of the contemporary Western society the human being allegedly faces many challenges that threaten to undermine his spiritual identity as well as the stability of the family life. The overestimation of the value of technology and the socioeconomic factors in addition to the gradual decline of the moral and spiritual values induce to a special atmosphere, which affects the traditional structures of credibility and integrity of interpersonal dynamics in the family. In the place of the interior peace and harmony the man of our technological society has the suppressive experience of the anxiety and depression which is transmitted in the everyday life to the members of the family, affecting dramatically their psychological interactions. The traditional vision of the family life which is the profound love, compassion and understanding among the members of the family is based on the morality, spirituality, psychological stability, solidarity, reciprocal respect, forgiveness and mercy among the parents, important values which are constantly irradiated to the offspring of the family, the children, who are the continuous recipients of the dynamics between the parents. The positive emotional atmosphere of the family, on the other hand, plenty of harmony and respect to the dignity of each one of the members, is essential for the psychological development and maturity of the children, for their interior integrity, authenticity, autonomy and their existential freedom in a technological age, in which human being is often considered and treated mainly as an individual than as a person with his own hypostasis and existential identity. The harmonious personal interactions among the parents, based on high moral and spiritual values is a primary positive experience for the children and the most meaningful kind of learning, that can enable them to immerse later their self into social reality harmoniously. In the contrary, a family milieu characterized by the selfishness, the contradiction, the irony, the aggression and the disapproval among the parents induces the psychological instability and the despair to the children, through the painful and the disappointing experiences of their family life and their problematic interactions with the parents. The tendency on the other hand of each one of the parents to attract the compassion, the sympathy and the psychological support of the children dissociate the siblings and induces a major factor for a further emotional instability in the children, who may adapt later on various sociopathic types of behavior. It is an ultimate reality that the example or the model of the every day life and behavior of the parents is a vital way or a real instrument, for inserting terms of human behavior in the life of the children. The example of the life of the parents should be always positive and beneficial to their children in order to optimally promote their mental capacities and their harmonious interior integration.

Key words: Personality, family psychology, family consultation, moral education, spiritual life.