Top Research Papers on Narcissism

After hiaxwell Gitelson introduced the panel, Ludwig Eidelberg presented a paper “On Narcissistic hlortification.” H e defined normal narcissistic mortification as the emotional esperience of an individual who is suddenly overcome by internal or external aggression. Under normal conditions the individual learns to surrender his infantile omnipotence and to face the more or less frightening limitations of his powers. Under traumatic conditions the narcissistic mortification is repressed, which prevents the individual from disillusioning himself of his omnipotence. Another narcissistic mortifica...

Abstract Twenty-nine newly recovering alcoholic outpatients drawn from a Minnesota-Model type treatment program in the United Kingdom completed the NPI narcissism scale and the “Steps Questionnaire.” Results showed the narcissistic “authority” subscale showed a very strong inverse relationship to level of personal acceptance of Steps 2 and 3 (the so called “God” steps) of the 12-Step program embodied by Alcoholics Anonymous. Also, the narcissistic “superiority” subscale showed a significant inverse association with acceptance of Step 3. The present results suggest that, relative to their more ...

It would be wrong to give the impression that such textual problems take up a disproportionate amount of space. D.'s comments on matters of content are full, informative, and thorough, like those of many editors who contribute to this series. Indeed, sometimes it seems to be a commentary on previous commentaries, and sometimes citations are made so copiously as to submerge the point of a note. His book as a whole is not in the class of Mondin's detailed and astute commentary on the Epistole—that would be high praise—but although he does not contribute any new insights to the question of author...

He heard the tone of scornful clocks that summoned recollection of times when he rebuked the past, and the roughened stream of time that washed away the years has left an aching residue of unacknowledged tears.

Ever since the discovery of the individual, Western intellectuals have been perturbed by a set of binaries: the individual and society, private and public, self and other. The distinction between inner and outer already signifies the roots of estrangement, the reconciliatin of which becomes a Utopian hope to which civilization periodically dedicates itself, but increasingly regards as unreachable. It was the realization that the individual and society were epistemologically opposed that, at first, gave rise to the imputed division of social life into the public and private. In this reprise, th...

This essay briefly reviews the significance of Pleshette DeArmitt's book, The Right to Narcissism.  The essay, originally presented at the 2015 Kristeva Circle, was part of a panel celebrating the work of Pleshette.

This book identifies the behaviors and attitudes reflective of excessive self-interest and self-centered people and provides a framework for reducing the negative effects that these individuals have on their family, friends, and colleagues. This book will guide readers to understand the various indices of observable and destructive narcissistic behaviors and attitudes that are exhibited in everyday interactions with self-inflated people, focusing on the larger societal impacts of those behaviors. Further, the text makes suggestions for effectively managing the negative impact of the Destructi...

The scientific study of narcissism has accelerated in recent years. However, this literature has primarily been cross-sectional and descriptive in nature, making it difficult to integrate with theories of narcissism, which instead emphasize various dynamics. Theoretical work construes narcissism as a complex dynamical system with processes that interact to contribute to narcissism expression and maintenance. We begin by reviewing theoretical accounts of narcissism and what they suggest about dynamic processes. We then review research that examines processes associated with narcissism in natura...

Proceeding from oneness to twoness is a psychological process of relating inter- and intrapersonally. This article links the perspectives of French psychoanalyst André Green's concepts of the dead mother and narcissism with Hester Solomon, British Jungian analyst writing on the 'as-if' personality. These concepts are elucidated with the composite example of a self-described sexually addicted man. His behaviours attempted to mask the shadows of melancholy, a fragile self, and the absence of self-animation from early emotional wounds. He did not know love or the other. André Green, French psycho...

We are all narcissists, and necessarily so, since healthy narcissism is one of the main routes available to us for nourishing and protecting ourselves. Like all personality traits, narcissism is dimensional. For our own good, and for that of those whose lives we touch, it is useful to know what kind of narcissist we are, and to what effect. When my own narcissism was tweaked by an event that left most people relatively nonplussed, I examined the implications of this psychic insult. I looked to the contents of my narcissistic mirror, asking who and what had contributed to that template. After t...

A review of "The Religion of Narcissism," by Ernest J. Zarra III, Rowman & Littlefield, 2021, pp. 218, $37.00 paperback.

Narcissism has been around since the time of Ovid more than 2000 years ago and the concept has long been a source of study, intrigue, fascination and literature both within and beyond the psychoanalytic community. While Narcissistic Personality Disorder remains a severe and fairly rare clinically diagnosed condition, sub-clinical narcissism or narcissistic traits have reached epidemic proportions with serious consequences. Ever increasing levels of greed, self-obsession, superficial relationships, arrogance and vanity are everywhere apparent and not making us any happier, with common mental he...

This revised motivational view proposes that narcissistic dynamics can be preserved and articulated in exclusively motivational terms.

N narcissism as a descriptive term has been both abused and overused, and a more specific redefinition is long overdue, which is surprising that the metapsychology of such an important concept has not been more adequately described.

To pursue the psychological and social relations of narcissism is to enter a swamp. However, that swamp happens to be a real part of the world. Consider some of its dimensions: —Narcissism is an aspect of personal life without which human existence would not be thinkable. One treads softly about the word “normal” but in this case we must assume that narcissism, as the location of desire in the self, is ubiquitous, and indeed transhistorical. Moreover, when we talk of a “healthy narcissism,” we are not positing an idle or meaningless value. —An exaggerated narcissism is an aspect of real, if di...

Some meanings existing in the social science and psychiatric literature are integrated, and some current controversial thinking is clarified

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Kiddo Knows Best," by Andrea Alfano which was published in a previous issue, along with a resposne from the author.

The connection of the concept of narcissism with the idea of the self is re-examined in the light of Hartmann's formulation of Narcissism as cathexis of theself, and the viability of a separate psychology of theSelf in each area is proposed.

: The connection of the concept of narcissism with the concept of the self is re-examined in the light of Hartmann's formulation of narcissism as cathexis of the self. While the formula is valid, its converse remains open to question. Implications for a psychology of the self independent of (but not divorced from) the dynamics of narcissism are suggested in regard to the understanding of perversions, development, narcissistic object relations, and self-esteem. The viability of a separate psychology of the self in each area is proposed.

The present translation is based on the one published in 1925. The title of this paper would have been more literally translated 'On the Introduction of the Concept of Narcissism'. Freud had been using the term for many years previously. We learn from Ernest Jones (1955, 304) that at a meeting of the Vienna Psycho-Analytical Society on November 10, 1909, Freud had declared that narcissism was a necessary intermediate stage between auto-erotism and object-love. At about the same time he was