ambivalence

シカゴ市民を対象に行った世論調査では、人種やコミュニティなどによる差別が深刻化しているそうです。

In Deeply Divided Chicago, Most Agree: City Is Off Course

CHICAGO — The people of Chicago are deeply riven by race, class and neighborhood, distrustful of the police, fearful of the growing rate of violent crime and united chiefly in their disapproval of the mayor’s performance and their conviction that the city is headed down the wrong track.

These are among findings of a new survey by The New York Times and the Kaiser Family Foundation, which polled residents of a city that has been upended in recent months by revelations of questionable actions by the police, threats of a teachers’ strike, a school funding crisis and an uptick in violence.

The poll finds broad discontent with the police and those charged with overseeing them, particularly among African-Americans. Residents expressed concerns about racial bias in shootings by officers and many show ambivalence about whether calling the police will ease situations or not make a difference.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/05/07/us/chicago-racial-divisions-survey.html?referer

今回取り上げるのは、“ambivalence”という表現です。この単語は形容詞“ambivalent”の名詞形で、LDOCEでは“not sure whether you want or like something or not”と定義されていました。また『ジーニアス英和辞典』(大修館書店)でも確認すると、「相反(矛盾)する感情」や心理学の用語で「両面価値」といった意味が記載されていました。単語の構成を見てみると、“ambi-”「両方に」“-valent”「力を持つ、価値がある」となっていることから上記の意味を表していると分かります。(ninetails)