Authors who have an impact on candidates' training

The authors consider the influence that a sense of geographical and cultural ties of candidates from different regions has on their theoretical interests. They question the way that this is taken into consideration in psychoanalytic training. The function of theory, both in terms of its transmission and the creation of new knowledge, is explored from this perspective. The results of an Internet survey are presented. The candidate sample for this survey (N = 250) was drawn from Europe, Latin America and North America, and candidates were asked to indicate their degree of interest for each of the 55 authors in a given list. The results showed that there were significant differences in the areas of theoretical interest of the candidates depending on the geographical region. Furthermore, what is also significant is how these differences in areas of theoretical interest were linked to those authors who had developed their work in the same geographical region as the candidates. These differences are shown to be connected to the candidates' sense of regional belonging. Data are also presented about which authors have the greatest impact in a given region, along with the influence values of the authors in relation to each one of the regions. Finally, the candidates' interest in each of the authors is specified in terms of a general mean rank and a regional mean rank, thus showing which authors candidates find most interesting in each of the regions. The study concludes by arguing that the results of the investigation enable us to question how psychoanalytic theory is transmitted, and, more specifically, how it is transmitted within institutions at a regional level. It is also suggested that the means be found to uncover the inconsistencies linked to cultural ties. It is proposed that further research be conducted to look more deeply into how cultural differences play a part in the different theoretical languages in the training of psychoanalysts.