father hunger

father hunger (uncountable)

1. (psychology) The longing felt by (especially young) men for approbation from a father, or father figure. [from 20th c.]
   • 1990, Reuben Fine, The History of Psychoanalysis, expanded edition, page 630:

     Father hunger appears to be a crucial motivational variable in matters as diverse as caretaking, sexual orientation, moral development, and achievement level.

   • 2006, Christopher P. Mason, Crossing into Manhood, page 118:

     Father hunger is the deep, but often unconscious, longing young men, and even older men, have for affirmation from male authority figures.

   • 2017, David Friend, The Naughty Nineties, Twelve Books:

     Bill Clinton, like many presidents, may have had what men's movement activist Robert Bly has called “father hunger.”