compersionとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

Coined in the early 1990s by a group of members of the Kerista Commune, a polyamorous group based in San Francisco, California, U.S.A., in existence between 1956 and 1991, apparently randomly using an alphabet board (similar to a Ouija board), with -ion (suffix forming nouns).

The hypothesis that the word is derived from French compère (“partner”) + English -sion (a variant of -tion (suffix forming nouns)), based on an earlier use of French compérage by the French anthropologist and ethnologist Claude Lévi-Strauss (1908–2009) to denote the practice of brothers-in-law sharing wives observed among Tupi people of the Brazilian Amazon, is less plausible: a website run by former members of the community states that neither the word compérage nor Lévi-Strauss’s work was known to them at the time, and the formation of the word in this way does not correspond to any known morphological process.

発音

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /kəmˈpɜːʒn̩/, /-ʃn̩/
• (General American) IPA: /kəmˈpɜɹʒən/, /-ʃən/
• Homophone: compursion
• 韻: -ɜː(ɹ)ʃən
• ハイフネーション: com‧per‧sion

名詞

compersion (uncountable)

1. (originally US, neologism) Vicarious joy associated with seeing one's partner have a joyful romantic or sexual relationship with another person. [from early 1990s]
2. (originally US, neologism) The feeling of joy one has experiencing another's joy, such as in witnessing a toddler's joy and feeling joy in response. [from early 1990s]

   Antonyms: jealousy, possessiveness

   • 1992, Ayala Malach Pines, “Romantic Jealousy in Open Relationships”, in Romantic Jealousy: Causes, Symptoms, Cures, New York, N.Y.; London: Routledge, published 1998, →ISBN, page 140:

     A major component of jealousy, for many people, is the suspicion or resentment of the rival. In Kerista, on the other hand, the relationship that every man had with the other men and that every woman had with the other women elicited what they called "compersion" rather than jealousy. "Compersion is the positive warm feeling you experience when you see two of your partners having fun with each other. It's the antonym of jealousy."

   • 2003, Mystic Life [pseudonym], “Beyond the Dyad”, in Unification: Sexual Wake-up Call, You & Your Tribe, the Words of Mystic Life, and Reflections on Physical Immortality, Lincoln, Neb: Writers Club Press, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 26:

     There is nothing either magical or wrong with sex with more than one person at the same time. […] The beautiful thing about this dynamic is that it offers opportunities for compersion (the opposite of jealousy) and is symbolic of the expansiveness and unity we can feel in our love for each other.

   • 2006, Geri Weitzman, “Therapy with Clients who are Bisexual and Polyamorous”, in Ronald C. Fox, editor, Affirmative Psychotherapy with Bisexual Women and Bisexual Men, New York, N.Y.; Hove, East Sussex: Routledge, published 2013, →ISBN, page 140:

     Some polyamorous people experience compersion, which means feeling joy that one’s partner is sharing closeness with another person […]. [M. C.] Keener's (2004) study participants noted an absence of worry as to whether their partners might be cheating, since the permission to take other lovers was granted freely.

     Also published in the Journal of Bisexuality (2006), volume 6, issues 1–2.

   • 2008, Tristan Taormino, “What Makes an Open Relationship Work?”, in Opening Up: A Guide to Creating and Sustaining Open Relationships, San Francisco, Calif.: Cleis Press, →ISBN, section 1 (Choosing an Open Relationship), page 49:

     One last quality that cannot go unmentioned in any discussion of open relationships is compersion, a concept that may be new to many readers. Compersion is taking joy in your partner's pleasure or happiness with another partner. […] Some practitioners of polyamory think of compersion as the opposite of jealousy, or at least the antidote to jealousy. Given the problems (and drama) ignited by jealousy, you can see how compersion can go a long way toward creating a foundation for pleasure and generosity in any relationship.

使用する際の注意点

Not to be confused with compursion (“a pursing, as of the lips”).

派生語

• compersionism
• compersionist
• compersive (possible back-formation)

参照

Further reading

• polyamory – compersion on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “compersion, n.”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.