ambivalence

n. The experiencing of two strong but conflicting emotions or desires at the same time (for example, feeling both love and hatred for someone or feeling both the desire to do something and the strong desire not to do it as well). In psychoanalytic terms ambivalence refers to a common state of experiencing two conflicting emotions about someone or something but being consciously aware of only one (for example, feeling both love and hatred for an attachment figure, such as one's mother, but only being consciously aware of feelings of love toward her). Usually this conscious awareness of only one side of one's experience results from a fear (also unconscious) of what it would mean to experience the negative side of ambivalence as well.   - DGa