Personality Deficiency in Masnavi Stories with the Theories of Modern Psychologists

Psychology is the science of studying and analyzing human behavior and mental and psychological activities. It deals with people's thoughts, behaviors, reactions and personal experiences. The main goal of psychology is to understand and explain mental and psychological activities, to investigate the reason and motivation behind these activities, as well as to analyze healthy and unhealthy personality traits and disorders. Personality disorders happen when a person's thought pattern, performance and behavior develop into unhealthy patterns. A person with personality disorder has difficulty understanding and identifying with situations and people. Jalal al-Din Mohammad Balkhi, as a spiritual-mystical psychologist, presented some theories and concepts of psychology that are discussed today and incorporated them in his works centuries ago. Rumi's Masnavi, in addition to its high mystical value, also has scientific and psychological importance, so that it can be examined from the psychological aspect.
In this article, we intend to investigate and analyze personality deficiency as one of the new concepts of psychology in the stories of Masnavi, with a descriptive and analytical approach using library sources. This research, while analyzing the most important types of character failure (self-abnegation, moral masochism, moral sadism) from the point of view of psychologists, has extracted and presented examples of each of these theories from Masnavi. By examining the concept of character failure and comparing it with Rumi's opinions and speech in Masnavi stories, it can be said that there are many differences between the theories of psychologists and Rumi's thoughts in the stories of Masnavi.
Introduction
While the study of human psyche and behavior has a long history, its formalization as a science is  relatively recent. This scientific discipline has developed in tandem with the growth and evolution of mankind, as well as the emergence of new challenges in modern life. Throughout its history, the science of psychology has grown with different theories and approaches and has been divided into different branches that can be examined and studied separately.                                                                        From the point of view of negative psychologists, one of the obstacles to self-improvement is self-inhibition, which is also known as personality deficiency in psychology. Personality deficiencies can distance one from his pure self by making him stop believing in his true self. Sadism and masochism are two conditions in which this occurs. There are different opinions about sadism and masochism. Some psychologists and sociologists consider the existence of these two to be instinctive. In other words, they believe that there is an instinct in man that leads to sadism and masochism.                                                                          
Method
This research utilizes documentary method and draws upon various works authored on different theories of modern psychology to define the key concepts which are the focus of the study. The research then proceeds to  discuss examples of these concepts and how they are reflected in the stories of Masnavi. This analysis offers new perspectives for researchers and literature enthusiasts.                                                                                                                
Results
1.Selflessness
One of the personality deficiencies that can be seen to varying degrees in people is the resignation of the power of thinking. This means withdrawing from the most valuable and obvious human trait: independence in decision-making. This in fact involves giving up the only distinguishing feature between man and an animal, which is the power of reasoning. Rumi gives the example of the jackal who could not come to terms with his own identity and wished to be a peacock instead. So he threw himself into a dyeing vat, dyed his body, and started pretending to be a peacock. The jackal in this story symbolizes those who change their appearance and deceive people.
2.Masochism (self-harm)                                                                                                                                     
One reason why one might suffer from moral masochism is the feeling of “innocent guilt.” According to Nathaniel Branden, one of the worst mistakes that a person can make is to attribute guilt to himself when he is in fact innocent; that is, to impose on oneself that they must somehow be able to do or know something, while this “somehow” lacks any cognitive content. Erich Fromm believes that these individuals are prone to belittle and weaken themselves. Moreover, their strong dependence on external powers, other people, social institutions, and nature is one of their characteristic features. 

Sadism (Harassment)

Sadism literally means a form of behavior carried out with the aim of harming or abusing others. Psychologists define this characteristic as a person's interest in hurting others physically, mentally, or psychologically. In fact, those suffering from sadistic behaviors feel pleasure and comfort after humiliating, mocking and harassing others psychologically or physically, often deliberately deceiving those around them. For this, a sadistic person uses fear, emotional blackmail, physical attack, violent threats, and cruel behaviors. Erich Fromm believes that there are three types of characteristics resulting from sadism, and all three are more or less closely related to each other. The first type is where the sadist tries to make other people dependent on them, gaining absolute and unlimited power and dominance over those who they control. The second type encompasses not only absolute domination over others, but also a resulting desire that leads a person to exploit others. The third is the tendency to cause others to suffer or like to see them suffer. This suffering may be physical, but more often it is psychological. Its purpose is to take action in valuing others, to make them depressed and ashamed or to observe that they are in a situation combined with depression and shame.                                                                                                                
Conclusion
In his poems, Rumi has addressed the shortcomings of character such as self-absorption, masochism and moral sadism, all of which are in the field of modern psychological studies. Rumi, in one of the allegorical stories of the Masnavi, tells the story of a jackal that threw itself into a dyeing vat, pretending to be a peacock. Moral masochism is another character deficiency in Masnavi stories. Rumi expresses this concept in the form of the story of Moses and the Shepherd. Another character deficiency in Masnavi stories is sadism, which is one of the themes in the story of a lion hunting with a wolf and a fox.
The results of the research show that there are many similarities between the theories of modern psychologists and the thoughts of Rumi in Masnavi. It can be concluded that the same issues that are relevant for psychologists in psychology are also relevant for Rumi and he has studied various aspect of character failure very delicately.