Narcissistic defences
Encyclopedia
"Narcissistic defences have been defined as those processes whereby the idealized aspects of the self are preserved and the limitations of the self and [of] others denied".
'The "narcissistic defense" can theoretically occur at any stage of self-development...and involves an over-valuation of the self-structure'. Originally however such 'narcissistic defense mechanisms develop as the earliest defense mechanisms': they include 'denial
, distortion
, and delusional projection
'.
Splitting
is a defense mechanism that dominates the function of all narcissists. They see people and situations in black and white terms, either all bad or all good with no shades of grey. Projection
is often used in conjunction with splitting.
, stressed how 'even great criminals and humorists, as they are represented in literature, compel our interest by the narcissistic consistency with which they manage to keep away from their ego anything that would diminish it'; but did not specify the mechanisms that enabled them to do so.
Another of Freud's essays, "Mourning and Melancholia" looked at narcissistic regression
as an answer to object loss: 'the narcissistic identification with the object then becomes a substitute for the erotic cathexis, the result of which is that in spite of the conflict with the loved person the love-relation need not be given up'.
's great summary of the first psychoanalytic half-century, it was clear that of projection that 'this primitive mechanism of defence can be used extensively only if the ego's function of reality testing is severely damaged by a narcissistic regression'. Similarly, introjection
, and 'identification, performed by means of introjection, is the most primitive form of relationship to objects', also reappearing in regression
.
Fenichel also looked at 'eccentrics who have more or less succeeded in regaining the security of primary narcissism and who feel "Nothing can happen to me"...their childhood spared them the everyday conflicts with reality that force other children to give up the archaic stages of repudiating displeasure and to turn toward reality'.
, following that line of Freud's thought which would 'see the ego as the product of...its genesis in identifications', considered the ego itself as a narcissistic defence: driven by 'the "narcissistic passion"...the ego neglects, scotomizes, misconstrues in the sensations that make it react to reality'.
, emphasising projective identification
in narcissism, considered that 'the infant is and becomes what he believes he does and has done to his objects - and how he defends against this awareness (manic defences) '. For Kleinians, there were at the core of 'the manic defences...a triad of feelings - control, triumph and contempt'.
examines the role of omnipotence
, introjective and projective identification, and envy as defences against acknowledging separation between the ego and the object...narcissistic'.
, including particularly 'representatives of the American schools (Otto Kernberg, Heinz Kohut
)...has allowed a better delineation of narcissistic defensive processes, based on an analysis of the mechanisms of denial, separation, projective identification, and pathological idealization'
Kernberg especially emphasised the part of ' Splitting...the active process of keeping apart introjections and identifications of opposite quality...a fundamental cause of ego weakness'. Kohut too stressed the fact in narcissism 'vertical splits are between self-structures (among others) - "I am grand" and "I an wretched" - with very little communication between them'.
Neville Symington
however placed greater weight on the way ' a person dominated by narcissistic currents...survives through being able to sense the emotional tone of the other...wearing the cloaks of others'; while for Spotnitz the key element is that the narcissist 'turns these feelings inward and begins to attack the self. This is called the narcissistic defense '
Others however would maintain that 'it is a mistake to split narcissism into positive and negative'.
'The "narcissistic defense" can theoretically occur at any stage of self-development...and involves an over-valuation of the self-structure'. Originally however such 'narcissistic defense mechanisms develop as the earliest defense mechanisms': they include 'denial
Denial
Denial is a defense mechanism postulated by Sigmund Freud, in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming evidence.The subject may use:* simple denial: deny the reality of the...
, distortion
Cognitive distortion
Cognitive distortions are exaggerated and irrational thoughts identified in cognitive therapy and its variants, which in theory perpetuate certain psychological disorders. The theory of cognitive distortions was first proposed by Aaron T. Beck. Eliminating these distortions and negative thoughts is...
, and delusional projection
Psychological projection
Psychological projection or projection bias is a psychological defense mechanism where a person subconsciously denies his or her own attributes, thoughts, and emotions, which are then ascribed to the outside world, usually to other people...
'.
Splitting
Splitting (psychology)
Splitting may mean two things: splitting of the mind, and splitting of mental concepts . The latter is thinking purely in extremes Splitting (also called all-or-nothing thinking in cognitive distortion) may mean two things: splitting of the mind, and splitting of mental concepts (or black and...
is a defense mechanism that dominates the function of all narcissists. They see people and situations in black and white terms, either all bad or all good with no shades of grey. Projection
Psychological projection
Psychological projection or projection bias is a psychological defense mechanism where a person subconsciously denies his or her own attributes, thoughts, and emotions, which are then ascribed to the outside world, usually to other people...
is often used in conjunction with splitting.
Freudians
'Precise indications of specifically narcissistic defenses are not to be found in the works of Freud'. One of Freud's essays, On NarcissismOn Narcissism
On Narcissism was a 1914 essay by Sigmund Freud, widely considered an introduction to Freud's theories of narcissism.In this paper, Freud sums up his earlier discussions on the subject of narcissism and considers its place in sexual development...
, stressed how 'even great criminals and humorists, as they are represented in literature, compel our interest by the narcissistic consistency with which they manage to keep away from their ego anything that would diminish it'; but did not specify the mechanisms that enabled them to do so.
Another of Freud's essays, "Mourning and Melancholia" looked at narcissistic regression
Regression (psychology)
Regression, according to psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, is a defense mechanism leading to the temporary or long-term reversion of the ego to an earlier stage of development rather than handling unacceptable impulses in a more adult way...
as an answer to object loss: 'the narcissistic identification with the object then becomes a substitute for the erotic cathexis, the result of which is that in spite of the conflict with the loved person the love-relation need not be given up'.
Fenichel
By the time of Otto FenichelOtto Fenichel
Otto Fenichel was a psychoanalyst of the so-called "second generation".Otto Fenichel started studying medicine in 1915 in Vienna. Already as a very young man, when still in school, he was attracted by the circle of psychoanalysts around Freud...
's great summary of the first psychoanalytic half-century, it was clear that of projection that 'this primitive mechanism of defence can be used extensively only if the ego's function of reality testing is severely damaged by a narcissistic regression'. Similarly, introjection
Introjection
Introjection is a psychoanalytical term with a variety of meanings.Generally, it is regarded as the process where the subject replicates in itself behaviors, attributes or other fragments of the surrounding world, especially of other subjects...
, and 'identification, performed by means of introjection, is the most primitive form of relationship to objects', also reappearing in regression
Regression (psychology)
Regression, according to psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, is a defense mechanism leading to the temporary or long-term reversion of the ego to an earlier stage of development rather than handling unacceptable impulses in a more adult way...
.
Fenichel also looked at 'eccentrics who have more or less succeeded in regaining the security of primary narcissism and who feel "Nothing can happen to me"...their childhood spared them the everyday conflicts with reality that force other children to give up the archaic stages of repudiating displeasure and to turn toward reality'.
Lacan
Jacques LacanJacques Lacan
Jacques Marie Émile Lacan was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who made prominent contributions to psychoanalysis and philosophy, and has been called "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud". Giving yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, Lacan influenced France's...
, following that line of Freud's thought which would 'see the ego as the product of...its genesis in identifications', considered the ego itself as a narcissistic defence: driven by 'the "narcissistic passion"...the ego neglects, scotomizes, misconstrues in the sensations that make it react to reality'.
Kleinians
Melanie KleinMelanie Klein
Melanie Reizes Klein was an Austrian-born British psychoanalyst who devised novel therapeutic techniques for children that had an impact on child psychology and contemporary psychoanalysis...
, emphasising projective identification
Projective identification
Projective Identification is 'a term first used by Melanie Klein to describe a process whereby parts of the ego are thought of as forced into another person who is then expected to become identified with whatever has been projected'....
in narcissism, considered that 'the infant is and becomes what he believes he does and has done to his objects - and how he defends against this awareness (manic defences) '. For Kleinians, there were at the core of 'the manic defences...a triad of feelings - control, triumph and contempt'.
Rosenfeld
Subsequently, exploring what he called "narcissistic omnipotent object relations", 'Herbert RosenfeldHerbert Rosenfeld
Herbert Alexander Rosenfeld was a British psychoanalyst, who was born in Germany in 1910 and died in London in 1986.'British analysts have been deeply influenced by the work and teachings of Rosenfeld who increasingly focused upon the analyst's contribution to what was happening in the analysis -...
examines the role of omnipotence
Omnipotence
Omnipotence is unlimited power. Monotheistic religions generally attribute omnipotence to only the deity of whichever faith is being addressed...
, introjective and projective identification, and envy as defences against acknowledging separation between the ego and the object...narcissistic'.
Object relations theory
In the wake of Klein, object relations theoryObject relations theory
Object relations theory is a psychodynamic theory within psychoanalytic psychology. The theory describes the process of developing a mind as one grows in relation to others in the environment....
, including particularly 'representatives of the American schools (Otto Kernberg, Heinz Kohut
Heinz Kohut
Heinz Kohut was an Austrian-born American psychoanalyst best known for his development of Self psychology, an influential school of thought within psychodynamic/psychoanalytic theory which helped transform the modern practice of analytic and dynamic treatment approaches.-Early life:Kohut was born...
)...has allowed a better delineation of narcissistic defensive processes, based on an analysis of the mechanisms of denial, separation, projective identification, and pathological idealization'
Kernberg especially emphasised the part of ' Splitting...the active process of keeping apart introjections and identifications of opposite quality...a fundamental cause of ego weakness'. Kohut too stressed the fact in narcissism 'vertical splits are between self-structures (among others) - "I am grand" and "I an wretched" - with very little communication between them'.
Neville Symington
Neville Symington
Neville Symington, a member of the Middle Group of British Psychoanalysts, 'has trodden a long and interesting path...tak[ing] him from his birthplace in Portugal, via England, to Australia, and with membership of the Port Wine Trade, the Catholic Church, the Tavistock Clinic, and the British...
however placed greater weight on the way ' a person dominated by narcissistic currents...survives through being able to sense the emotional tone of the other...wearing the cloaks of others'; while for Spotnitz the key element is that the narcissist 'turns these feelings inward and begins to attack the self. This is called the narcissistic defense '
Positive defenses
Kernberg 'would also interpret and clarify the positive aspects of the narcissistic defenses'. Kohut too stressed that in 'archaic narcissism...these positions constitute necessary and healthy maturational steps'.Others however would maintain that 'it is a mistake to split narcissism into positive and negative'.
21st century
The twenty-first century has seen a distinction drawn between 'cerebral narcissists - people who build up their sense of magnificence out of an innate feeling of intellectual superiority' - and 'somatic narcissists - narcissists who are obsessed with the body'.Defence sequences
The narcissist typically runs through a sequence of defenses to discharge painful feelings until he or she finds one that works:- unconscious repressionPsychological repressionPsychological repression, also psychic repression or simply repression, is the psychological attempt by an individual to repel one's own desires and impulses towards pleasurable instincts by excluding the desire from one's consciousness and holding or subduing it in the unconscious...
- conscious denialDenialDenial is a defense mechanism postulated by Sigmund Freud, in which a person is faced with a fact that is too uncomfortable to accept and rejects it instead, insisting that it is not true despite what may be overwhelming evidence.The subject may use:* simple denial: deny the reality of the...
- distortionCognitive distortionCognitive distortions are exaggerated and irrational thoughts identified in cognitive therapy and its variants, which in theory perpetuate certain psychological disorders. The theory of cognitive distortions was first proposed by Aaron T. Beck. Eliminating these distortions and negative thoughts is...
(including exaggerationExaggerationExaggeration is a representation of something in an excessive manner. The exaggerator has been a familiar figure in Western culture since at least Aristotle's discussion of the alazon: 'the boaster is regarded as one who pretends to have distinguished qualities which he possesses either not at all...
and minimizationMinimisation (psychology)Minimisation is a type of deception involving denial coupled with rationalisation in situations where complete denial is implausible. It is the opposite of exaggeration....
) and lieLieFor other uses, see Lie A lie is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement, especially with the intention to deceive others....
s - projectionPsychological projectionPsychological projection or projection bias is a psychological defense mechanism where a person subconsciously denies his or her own attributes, thoughts, and emotions, which are then ascribed to the outside world, usually to other people...
(blaming somebody else) - enlisting the help of one or more of his or her codependent friends who will support his or her distorted view.
A narcissistic set
To these might be added 'idealization of the love object, paranoid projection, [&] counter investment in the external world'.Literary parallels
- Sir Philip Sidney is said to have seen 'Poetry as narcissistic defense' in itself.
- 'Sartre's "heroes"...detached, coldly aloof,' have been viewed as each representing a figure becoming 'a primitive narcissist who "saves" his self by petrifying it'.
See also
Further reading
- Adamson, J./Clark, H. A., Scenes of Shame (1999)
- Federn, Paul, "Narcissism in the structure of the ego" International Journal of Psychoanalysis (1928) 9, 401-419.
- Green, André, Life narcissism, death narcissism (Andrew Weller, Trans.) London and New York: Free Association Books (1983).
- Grunberger, Béla. (1971) Narcissism: Psychoanalytic essays (Joyce S. Diamanti, Trans., foreword by Marion M. Oliner). New York: International Universities Press.
- Tausk, Viktor. (1933) "On the origin of the "influencing machine" in schizophrenia" In Robert Fliess (Ed.), The psycho-analytic reader. New York: International Universities Press. (Original work published 1919)