A Discourse Analysis of the Formation of the Superego in Mother-Daughter Relationships in Women with Psychosomatic Disorders
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Objective: To examine how women with psychosomatic disorders narrate mother–daughter relational patterns and how maternal moral authority is discursively internalized as punitive self-regulation consistent with psychoanalytic notions of the superego.
Methods and Materials: This qualitative study used Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis (three-dimensional model) to analyze semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 16 women receiving psychiatric care in Tehran (2024), purposively sampled. Interviews (60–90 minutes) were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded using a hybrid deductive–inductive procedure focusing on moral language, modality, metaphors, guilt/shame expressions, and representations of maternal authority; rigor was supported through triangulation, member checking, and expert review.
Findings: Three themes emerged: (1) Internalized Authority (maternal voice as disciplinary power; internalized surveillance, guilt, and self-reproach); (2) Emotional Regulation and Punishment (ambivalence between care and punishment; emotional deprivation as psychological control); and (3) Gendered Ethics and Silence (imperatives of self-sacrifice and silence; loyalty to mother/family as binding moral obligation). These discursive patterns reflected early relational asymmetries and reinforced punitive self-monitoring.
Conclusion: Psychosomatic symptoms may function as embodied expressions of internalized moral conflict rooted in mother–daughter dynamics. Integrating psychoanalytic interpretation with discourse analysis highlights how harsh superego demands are linguistically constructed and culturally reinforced, underscoring the clinical value of addressing both relational history and moralizing discursive environments.
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