Situation · Family and friends
“My parents disapprove of my partner”
What could be going on
In-group bias: Fits if your partner is from a different background, faith or group.
Enmeshment: Check whether any outside attachment threatens the family.
Separation-individuation (Mahler): Could be they resist you forming your own adult life.
Identity foreclosure: Check whether they expect you to adopt their values wholesale.
Vulnerability to harm or illness schema: A benign cause: they may sincerely fear you'll be hurt; check for concrete worries.
Questions to carry
- When my parents last showed their disapproval, what did they say, and in front of whom?
- Whose approval do I need more right now, and what does that tell me?
Also said as
- my family doesn't accept my girlfriend
- my parents hate my boyfriend
- they don't approve of who I'm with
- why won't my parents accept my partner
- parents don't like my partner
- my family disapproves of my relationship