“约拿”是圣经里面的一个人物。他本身是一个虔诚的基督徒，并且一直渴望能够得到神的差遣。神终于给了他一个光荣的任务，去宣布赦免一座本来要 被罪行毁灭的城市——尼尼微城。约拿却抗拒这个任务，他逃跑了，不断躲避着他信仰的神。神的力量到处寻找他，唤醒他，惩戒他，甚至让一条大鱼吞了他。最 后，他几经反复和犹疑，终于悔改，完成了他的使命——宣布尼尼微城的人获得赦免。“约拿”是指代那些渴望成长又因为某些内在阻碍而害怕成长的人。对于约拿 来说，他不愿意成就神的旨意是因为仇恨。这座他要布赦免的尼尼微城是毁灭他家族的死敌。
上帝要约拿到尼尼微城去传话，这本是一种崇高的使命和很高的荣誉，也是约拿平素所向往的。但一旦理想成为现实，又感到一种畏惧，感到自己不行，想回避即将到来的成功，想推却突然降临的荣誉。这种在成功面前的畏惧心理，心理学家们称之为“约拿情结”。
约拿情结的基本特征可以分为两个方面，一个表现在对自己，一个表现在对他人。对自己，”约拿情结”的特点是，逃避成长、执迷不悟、拒绝承当伟大的使命； 对他人，约拿情结”的特点是，如果别人表现出优秀之处，他会嫉妒，如果别人受到了祝福，他会心里难受，如果别人倒了霉，他会幸灾乐祸。
简单地说，就是对成长的恐惧。它来源于心理动力学理论上的一个假设：“人不仅害怕失败，也害怕成功。它反映了一种“对自身伟大之处的恐惧”，是一种情绪状态，并导致我们不敢去做自己能做得很好的事，甚至逃避发掘自己的潜力。在日常生活中，约拿情结可能表现为缺少上进心，或称“伪愚”。
马斯洛给他的研究生上课的时候，曾向他们提出如下的问题：“你们班上谁希望写出美国最伟大的小说？”“谁渴望成为一个圣人？”“谁将成为伟大的领导 者？”等等。据马斯洛记录，他的学生们在这种情况下，大家通常的反应都是咯咯地笑、红着脸、不安地蠕动。马斯洛又问：”你们正在悄悄计划写一本什么伟大的 心理学著作吗？”他们通常红着脸、结结巴巴地搪塞过去。马斯洛还问：”你难道不打算成为心理学家吗？”有人回答说，“当然想啦。”马斯洛说：“你是想成为 一位沉默寡言、谨小慎微的心理学家吗？那有什么好处？那并不是一条通向自我实现的理想途径。”
人类中普遍存在某种约拿情结，即：不是追求高级需求，追求卓越、崇高的自我实现，而是相反，逃避高级需求，逃避卓越、崇高的人类品行。人们视天真纯情为幼稚可笑，视诚实为轻信，视坦率为无知，视慷慨为缺乏判断力，视工作中的热情为懦弱，视同情心为廉价和盲目。
约拿情结的问题还在于，自己怕出名，如果别人出了名，他又会嫉妒，心里巴不得别人倒霉。这种情结阻碍生命成长和自我实现，马斯洛给它取名为约拿情结。
仇恨是我们在现实生活中最常发现的阻碍成长的内在原因。我们常常可以观察到这种情况，一个聪明的青年人，他在学校里成绩很好，但在高考前夜突然生病了， 以至于失去了考试的机会。后来他工作了，能力很强，颇得赏识。但是在他马上就要得到一次关键的升迁的时候，他又辞职了……尽管这些事情的发生看似偶然，但 深入接触他的内心世界时我们会发现，他的内心埋藏着对父母未曾宣泄的怨恨。为了潜意识里报复父母的愿望，他下意识地毁掉了自己的前途。其潜在的愿望可以表 述如下：”你们休想得到一个成功的儿子，我就是要让你们失望和痛苦！”
作为女性，对于成长和成功的恐惧背后的无意识信念常常是”如果 我 成为一个特别优秀的人，则将找不到一个合适的男人来配我，我将孤独一生。”对于有着这样信念的女性来讲，”实现自己”也就意味着“失去爱”。爱的需求和实 现自我的需求同样如此重要，以致于任一压抑都会带来个性中的神经症倾向。
这些内在冲突有时候可以被我们意识到，但大多数时候，它被潜抑在无意识里。
人们不仅躲避自己的低谷，也躲避自己的高峰。不仅畏惧自己最低的可能性，也畏惧自己最高的可能性。“ 约拿情结” 发展到极致，就是“ 自毁情结” ，即面对荣誉，成功，幸福等美好的事物时，总是浮现“我不配”，“我受不了“的念头，最终把倒手的机会放弃了。
我们大多数人内心都深藏着“约拿情结” 心理学家们分析，这是因为在我们小时候，由于本身条件的限制和不成熟，心中容易产生“我不行”，“我办不到”等消极的念头，如果周围环境没有提供足够的安全感和机会供自己成长的话，这些念头会一直伴随着我们。尤其是当成功机会降临的时候，这些心理表现得尤为明显。因为要抓住成功的机会，就意味着要付出相当的努力，面对许多无法预料的变化，并承担可能导致失败的风险。
毫无疑问，“约拿情结”是我们平衡自己内心心理压力的一种表现。我们每个人其实都有成功的机会，但是在面临机会的时候，只有少数人敢于打破平衡，认识并 克服了自己的“约拿情结”，勇于承担责任和压力，最终抓住并获得了成功的机会。这也就是为什么只有总是少数人成功，而大多数人却平庸一世的重要原因。
译文:
Overcome the Jonah Complex
Jonah is a character in the Bible. He used to be a pious Christian, yearning for any assignment from God. At last God commissioned him a glorious task to announce the absolution of Nineveh, a city which would have rotten and perished in its sins. Nevertheless Jonah refused the task, ran away and hid from God who he worshipped. The majesty of God searched him, roused him, punished him and even sent a big fish to swallow him. Stuck in caprice and hesitation time and again, he finally repented of his cowardice and fulfilled his assignment, the absolution of Ninevites. “Jonah” is referred to those who long for growth and maturity but fear it because of some inherent obstacles. In the case of Jonah, the reason for his refusing to take the task is enmity. It comes down to this, Nineveh, the city to be absolved was the murderer of his family.
It was a sublime task to make the announcement in Nineveh as God orders, the glory of which Jonah himself had also yearned for a long time. However, once the dream came true, he felt such dread and helplessness as to evade the oncoming success and glory. In psychology this fear of success is known as “the Jonah Complex”.
The traits of Jonah Complex consisted of two aspects, one for self, one for others. For oneself, the Jonah Complex means shrinking away from maturity, getting obssessed and refusing to take the burden of greatness; For others, the Jonah Complex means envying eminence of others, suffering when others are blessed and sneering at others’ ill fate.
Put it simply, that means fear of growth, which originates from a hypothesis in psychodynamics that people are not only afraid of failure, but also success, revealing a pathetic fear of one's greatness. It is a kind of emotional condition, luring us into fear of doing what we are good at or even evasion of exploiting our potentials. In daily life, Jonah Complex unenterprising, or called “false stupidity”.
Maslow Abraham once put forward these questions to his postgraduate students on a lecture, "Who among you dreams to compose the greatest novel in American history?” “Who is doomed to be the next Saint?” “Who aspires to be a great leader?” and so on. According to his record, most common reactions of his students in this situation are chucking, flushing and quivering. Then Maslow asked another question: “Or are you secretly planning to write some sort of extraordinary book on psychology?” As a response, again they flushed, stammered and equivocated. Still the professor insisted and questioned: “Don’t you even want to be a psychologist?” Someone answered: “Well, of course.” Maslow spoke:"So you want to be a mute, scrupulous psychologist? What good can that do? Now, that is not an ideal way to maximize yourself."
Truely there exists some sort of Jonah Complex within us, namely, the tendency to avoid instead of pursuit nobleness,eminence and lofty virtues.People tend to see purity as naïveness, honesty as credulity, frankness as ignorance, generosity as lack of judgment, passion at work as cowadice and compassion as cheap blindness, etc.
Furthermore the problem of Jonah Complex lies in that "Jonah"s are not only afraid of being famous but also envious when they see others become famous, only too glad to see them out of luck. This kind of mentality, defined by Maslow as Jonah Complex, is an obstacle to one' maturity and fulfillment.
Enmity, or resentment, is a most common inner obstacle in the way of growth. It is frequently observed that some smart boy, graded high in school, somehow fell sick right on the eve of the university entrance examination, and lost the chance to take it. Later on, he got a job and was appreciated for his abilities, whereas he quitted again right before a crucial promotion. Though all this seems to be contingent, but when we enter his internal world, we will discover that buried deep down there is his unrelieved resentment of his parents. Just for this desire of vengeance against his parents, he destroyed himself subconsciously. His latent plan is no more than this: “YOU are definitely not expecting a successful son, because it is I, your son that is gonna let you down!”
As for women, the unconscious conviction behind the terror of growth and success can be translated into words like this: “If I am far too prominent, there will be no proper man for me, and I will end up lonely.” To women with this belief, “self realization” look the same as “losing love”. The need of love and self realization are both so important that depression on either will bring forward a trend of neurosis in personality.
These internal conflicts can sometimes be revealed, yet on most conditons, they are oppressed in subconsciousness.
People feel afraid and unsafe not only at the bottom of life, but also at the top. The extreme form of Jonah Complex is “Self-destruction Complex”. That is, when confronted with glory, success, blessedness and any other similar fair, treasurable things, the thoughts of "I do not deserve this" and "I cannot bear it!"are always the very first that come to mind which diminish the opportunity.
Deep within, most of us have this Jonah Complex. As is analyzed by psychologists, it is because when we are young, thoughts like “I am not able” or “I cannot” can easily creep into our minds due to the restrictions and immaturity of body and mind. And if the surroundings don’t provide us with enough senses of security and opportunities for our growth, these ideas will accompany us all along. These thoughts shall betray themselves sometimes, especially the moment opportunities befall us That’s because grasping opportunities means making considerable efforts, confronting unpredictable variabilities and risking painstaking failures.
Without doubt, Jonah Complex manifests a way to counterbalance the inner pressures. In fact everyone has possible access to success, but few venture to break the inner balance when they come around, recognize and overcome the Jonah Complex within them, take the responsibilities and pressures, and finally seize it. That also accounts for a hard fact, that most of the time only a handful of us can make it to the top while most people remain mediocre.