ambivalence
n. uncountablen. the feeling of having two opposite thoughts or emotions about the same thing. You might feel this way when you are excited about a new job but also sad to leave your friends.
n. the state of having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something. Often describes a psychological conflict between two opposing desires or values.
She felt ambivalence about moving to a new city.
The public's ambivalence toward the new law was clear, as many supported the goals but feared the cost.
The protagonist's ambivalence toward his family's legacy drives the narrative, as he is torn between a desire for independence and a deep-seated need for their approval.
Borrowed from German Ambivalenz (“simultaneous conflicting feelings”), from Latin ambi- (“both”) and valentia (“strength”), from the verb valere (“to be strong”) (see valiant); spelled on the model of French-origin words ending in -ence. The German term was coined by Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler in 1910; by 1929, it had taken on a broader literary and general sense. Equivalent to ambi- + valence.