A Rorschach Study of Narcissism Defense,and Aggression in Borderline,Narcissistic, and Cluster C Personality Disorders

We examined the differences between narcissism, mode of defense, and level of aggression on the Rorschach. We also investigated differences in borderline, narcissistic, and Cluster C personality disorders by examining responses to Rorschach content variables. The Lerner Defense Scale (P. Lerner & H. Lerner, 1980), the aggressive content section of the Holt (1977) method for assessing primary process manifestations, a modified version of Exner's (1986a) Egocentricity Index, Wagner's (1965) exhibitionistic M score, and grandiosity were scored on the Rorschach protocols of 17 borderline, I7 narcissistic, and 17 Cluster C personality disorders. Borderlines were found to employ primitive defensive structures to a greater degree and severity, show more intense and overall aggression as welt as more responses on the three forms of aggression in the Holt method, and have higher levels of grandiosity. Narcissists evinced significantly higher levels of egocentricity than borderlines and higher levels of idealization than the Cluster C group. Convergent validity was found on the measures of defense and aggression, which showed a strong relationship between primitive aggression and primitive defense.     

The rorschach assessment of borderline defenses: a concurrent validity study

This study assesses the concurrent validity of two Rorschach defense scales designed to identify borderline defensive structure. A Rorschach scale designed by Cooper and his colleagues was systematically compared to a defense scale constructed by Lerner and Lerner. Despite considerable overlap on a conceptual and operational level, the scales are based on divergent theoretical models (developmental arrest and fixation) and Rorschach units of analysis (all responses and human responses). Our results are based on the capacity of each scale to discriminate between independently diagnosed samples (neurotic, outpatient borderline, inpatient borderline, schizophrenic) and the relative discriminatory power of particular defenses within each scale to differentiate between groups.     

Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Society for Projective Techniques

This study assesses the concurrent validity of two Rorschach defense scales designed to identify borderline defensive structure. A Rorschach scale designed by Cooper and his colleagues was systematically compared to a defense scale constructed by Lerner and Lerner. Despite considerable overlap on a conceptual and operational level, the scales are based on divergent theoretical models (developmental arrest and fixation) and Rorschach units of analysis (all responses and human responses). Our results are based on the capacity of each scale to discriminate between independently diagnosed samples (neurotic, outpatient borderline, inpatient borderline, schizophrenic) and the relative discriminatory power of particular defenses within each scale to differentiate between groups.     

An empirical approach to the study of defense mechanisms: I. Reliability and preliminary validity of the Rorschach Defense scales

Despite widespread use of the Rorschach for the study of defense mechanisms, few recent Rorschach scales have been developed for the study of defensive functioning. We critically review previous empirical research and describe the Rorschach Defense scales. These scales provide criteria for rating both lower level defense mechanisms, such as splitting and primitive idealization, as well as higher level defenses, such as intellectualization and isolation. The scales utilize a broad range of content including all Rorschach responses, associative content, and verbalization of the tester-patient relationship. Data on interrater reliability and preliminary validity are presented.     

A preliminary report on defenses and conflicts associated with borderline personality disorder

The authors present preliminary psychodynamic findings from a naturalistic study of borderline personality disorder compared to antisocial personality disorder and bipolar type II (depression with hypomania) affective disorder. An independent psychodynamic interview of each subject was videotaped from which ratings were made of the presence of 22 defense mechanisms and 11 psychodynamic conflicts. A factor analysis of ratings from 81 subjects supported the separation of borderline (splitting, projective identification) from narcissistic defenses (devaluation, omnipotence, idealization, mood-incongruent denial). While certain groups of defenses were associated with each diagnosis, defense ratings did not significantly discriminate the three diagnostic groups, suggesting a limit to their diagnostic value. Among 27 subjects rated, borderline personality was strongly associated with two conflicts: separation-abandonment, and a global conflict over the experience and expression of emotional needs and anger. Antisocial personality was psychodynamically distinct and more heterogeneous. Bipolar type II was associated with two hypothesized depressive conflicts: dominant other and dominant goal. Chronic depression, which was more common in both personality disorder groups than in bipolar type II, was associated with a third depressive conflict, overall gratification inhibition. Overall, conflicts were powerful discriminators of the three diagnostic groups. The heuristic value of these findings is discussed.     

The child's fear of infanticide and the nuclear cause of the neuroses

The concept that the child is predisposed to the fear of infanticide, and that that fear may be the central cause of his psychological problems and the primary motive force of his defense, allows us to view the defensive process from a different perspective than that offered by Freud's nuclear theory. Children's fantasies make it apparent that the idealization of their parents' image, and the devaluation of their own, constitute their basic defense against their fear.     

Factor structure of the Friends and Family interview

The aim of this study was to specify the latent construct structure of the Friends and Family Interview (FFI: Steele & Steele, 2005) based on its dimensional scale coding protocol. The FFI is a semi-structured interview measuring attachment in middle childhood. We analyzed data from 341 FFI interviews with children aged 7–12 years, recruited in the Scandinavian Öresund Region. Exploratory Factor Analysis revealed a three-component model as best fitting the data. The first component, denoting attachment security, gathered all dimensional scales for evidence of secure base/safe haven regarding mother/father and coherence in the child’s narrative style, along with scales regarding reflective functioning, self-perception, and social functioning. The second component comprised preoccupying feelings of anger, but also derogation. The third component gathered all scales coding idealization. Inter-relations among the components were consistent with attachment theory, and respondents’ scores for all three components differed significantly across the four categorical attachment classifications. Affect regulation of negative emotion through anger and through derogation co-occurred, and was distinct from regulation through maintaining a belief that things are better than they appear (idealization). These two affect regulation strategies appeared commonly when reflective functioning, and an organized self-perception, and positive peer relations were less in evidence. The multi-dimensional FFI coding system appears to measure successfully these diverse features of the child’s narrative provided in response to the interview. Overall, our findings support the construct validity of the FFI and provide further evidence of its usefulness for assessing attachment in middle childhood and early adolescence.     

The Immigrant, the Exile, and the Experience of Nostalgia

Resulting from a retrospective idealization of lost objects, nostalgia helps the immigrant defend against the aggression resulting from current frustrations. This experience is missing in the exile whose deeply traumatizing departure from his land of origin spoils whatever good memories of that land might exist within him. Retrospective idealization is not possible and the ego is deprived of the nostalgic defense. The psychoanalyst dealing with the immigrant's nostalgia must offer psychic space for its development while keeping an eye upon the hidden transference allusions in the nostalgic pleasure as well as upon its screen functions vis-à-vis aggression in the here and now. Psychoanalytic work with the exile requires a different slant. Empathy with how bad the land of origin was must precede for a long while before defenses against the emergence of nostalgia can be analyzed.     

An empirical study of object relations and defensive operations in antisocial personality disorder

This study assessed the object relations, defensive operations, and level of psychopathy and narcissism in a group of antisocial personality disordered offenders. The Rorschach protocols of 33 subjects who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev. [DSM-III-R], American Psychiatric Association, 1987) criteria for antisocial personality disorder were analyzed utilizing Kwawer's (1980) criteria for borderline object relations categories (borderline phenomena), the Lerner and Lerner (1980) Defense Scale, and a number of experimental criteria including Cooper and Arnow's (1986) defense criteria. Level of narcissism was assessed utilizing Exner's (1973) Self-Focus Sentence Completion Test. Hare's Psychopathy Checklist was used as an independent variable to determine a subject's level of psychopathy. Those subjects scoring 30 or more on the psychopathy checklist were compared to subjects scoring less than 30. The level of narcissism or proportion of defenses did not differ significantly between the severe psychopaths (greater than or equal to 30) and the moderate psychopaths (less than 30). The severe psychopaths produced a significantly greater number of borderline object relations. I conclude that antisocial individuals tend to be highly egocentric, and that narcissism is one component of psychopathy. Severe psychopaths, as a group, tend to be more borderline in their functioning than those exhibiting moderate levels of psychopathic disturbance. I also conclude that individuals who are incarcerated for felony offenses and also meet the DSM-III-R criteria for antisocial personality disorder exhibit degrees of borderline personality organization.     

COCAINE ADDICTS AND THEIR FAMILIES: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE PROCESSES OF IDENTIFICATION

The processes of identification between adolescent cocaine addicts and their parents were studied in 402 subjects, in total 134 familial triads (father"mother"son), subdivided into two groups of 67 triads, one of these groups having as the child an adolescent of masculine sex dependent on cocaine and the other, equal in number, being a control group, duly matched for age and socio-economic status. The instrument employed was the Rorschach test (1922), limited to the application of the Lerner Defense Scale (LDS; Lerner & Lerner, 1980). The findings in the affected triads showed up as consistent statistically for the presence of intense processes of pathological identification, especially between father and son, a sign of the importance of the presence of disturbances of paternal function in the development of this addiction. The utilisation of very regressive defence mechanisms, above all of projective identification, was the predominant mode of procedure in triads with a dependent child. In comparisons between the fathers the odds ratio (OR) for projective identification was 8.66 to 1, which points to the association between cocaine addiction and the primitive mental functioning of the fathers. With empirical methodology these findings serve to corroborate the psychoanalytical conclusions based on studies of single case studies, testifying that the dysfunctions of identificatory phenomena in familial functioning are predominant in the mental organisation of cocaine addicts.     

Considering Development in Developmental Disorders

Various theorists have argued for the importance of a developmental approach to studying typical development (Karmiloff-Smith, 1998; Lerner, 1996; Lerner & Hood, 1986; Masten & Cicchetti, 2010; Overton, 2014; Overton & Lerner, 2012, 2014), and there are reasons to believe that this issue is even more critical to the study of atypical development (Thomas, 2016; Thomas et al., 2009). In this article, we bring together perspectives from a variety of theorists to outline the importance of conceptualizing both typical and atypical development as a not-necessarily-linear, interconnected, and multifaceted set of individual trajectories embedded in real-world contexts (Karmiloff-Smith, 1998; Masten & Cicchetti, 2010; Overton & Lerner, 2012). Using examples from studies of atypical brain and behavior, we describe 6 lenses that can be applied to developmental research.     

Trust and understanding in the attorney-juvenile relationship

This study investigated whether court-experienced juveniles differ from court-experienced adults in their understanding of the defense counsel role and their trust in attorneys. Court-experienced juveniles and young adults, ages 12 to 20, were compared on measures of trust, attitudes toward authority, understanding about the role of defense counsel, trial-related knowledge, and the Trust in My Lawyer Scale. The findings showed that court-related knowledge is associated with both level of intellectual functioning and age and that court-related misunderstandings are associated with mistrust in attorneys. The findings did not support the assertion that there are significant differences between juveniles and young adults in their trust of their attorneys. Results regarding parental involvement, attorney characteristics, and interaction effects of race and intellectual functioning in relation to trust are also discussed.     

An Empirical Study of Object Relations and Defensive Operations in Antisocial Personality Disorder

This study assessed the object relations, defensive operations, and level of psychopathy and narcissism in a group of antisocial personality disordered offenders. The Rorschach protocols of 33 subjects who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed., rev. [DSM-111-R], American Psychiatric Association, 1987) criteria for antisocial personality disorder were analyzed utilizing Kwawer's (1980) criteria for borderline object relations categories (borderline phenomena), the Lerner and Lerner (1980) Defense Scale, and a number of experimental criteria including Cooper and Arnow's (1986) defense criteria. Level of narcissism was assessed utilizing Exner's (1973) Self-Focus Sentence Completion Test. Hare's Psychopathy Checklist was used as an independent variable to determine a subject's level of psychopathy. Those subjects scoring 30 or more on the psychopathy checklist were compared to subjects scoring less than 30. The level of narcissism or proportion of defenses did not differ significantly between the severe psychopaths (230) and the moderate psychopaths (< 30). The severe psychopaths produced a significantly greater number of borderline object relations. I conclude that antisocial individuals tend to be highly egocentric, and that narcissism is one component of psychopathy. Severe psychopaths, as a group, tend to be more borderline in their functioning than those exhibiting moderate levels of psychopathic disturbance. I also conclude that individuals who are incarcerated for felony offenses and also meet the DSM-111-R criteria for antisocial personality disorder exhibit degrees of borderline personality organization.     

Approximations, Idealizations, and Models in Statistical Mechanics

In this paper, a criticism of the traditional theories of approximation and idealization is given as a summary of previous works. After identifying the real purpose and measure of idealization in the practice of science, it is argued that the best way to characterize idealization is not to formulate a logical model – something analogous to Hempel's D-N model for explanation – but to study its different guises in the praxis of science. A case study of it is then made in thermostatistical physics. After a brief sketch of the theories for phase transitions and critical phenomena, I examine the various idealizations that go into the making of models at three difference levels. The intended result is to induce a deeper appreciation of the complexity and fruitfulness of idealization in the praxis of model-building, not to give an abstract theory of it.     

PERCEPTIONS OF WIFE ABUSE

The effects of 157 university students'gender, attitudes toward women (Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1973), and just-world beliefs (Lerner, 1980) on their perceptions and attributions regarding the perpetrator and victim of an instance of wife abuse were examined. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed two patterns of results, each differentially associated with participants'gender. Consistent with Heider's (1958) balance theory, males blamed and derogated the wife/victim more as their attitudes toward women became less favorable. Among females, in contrast, those with positive attitudes toward women blamed, but did not derogate, the wife/victim more as their just-world beliefs became stronger. The latter finding is interpreted in view of research which suggests that women may blame a victim of violence toward women in an effort to gain perceived control over the possibility of their own potential victimization. The implications of these findings for understanding and changing people's perceptions of the victims of wife abuse are discussed.     

Collective Narcissism and Intergroup Hostility: The Dark Side of ‘In‐Group Love’

This paper reviews current research on intergroup consequences of collective narcissism – an emotional investment in an unrealistic belief in exaggerated greatness of an in‐group. Integrating findings of the psychology of intergroup relations with findings regarding psychological outcomes of individual narcissism, the collective narcissism construct addresses the relationship between ‘in‐group love’ and ‘out‐group hate’. Differentiating between narcissistic and genuine positive group regard uncovers the potential of genuine ‘in‐group’ love to motivate positive out‐group attitudes and intergroup tolerance. Collective narcissism is also shown to be the aspects of positive group attachment that inspires defensive and retaliatory intergroup hostility under perceived threat. Narcissistic idealization of an in‐group is contingent on external validation and underlain by internal doubts. Collective narcissists are never fully satisfied with external acknowledgement of the in‐group and they are sensitive to anything that may undermine the in‐group’s exaggerated image.     

Plea bargaining recommendations by criminal defense attorneys: evidence strength, potential sentence, and defendant preference

Although most criminal cases are disposed of through the process of plea bargaining, little research has focused on this process, and that research has focused on two variables: probability of conviction and potential sentence. This study examined the plea bargaining process from the perspective of the criminal defense attorney and expands prior research by including a third variable: defendant preference regarding plea. Attorney participants (N = 186) responded to a survey containing a vignette presented in a 2 x 2 x 2 between-subjects design, in which there was systematic manipulation of the following three variables in the context of criminal litigation: likelihood of conviction based on the strength of evidence, defendant preference regarding plea, and potential sentence if convicted. All of these variables were considered important to criminal defense attorneys, and how these variables significantly interacted with each other is explained. We discuss these findings in light of past research and theory that suggested attorneys make plea recommendations according only to probability of conviction and potential sentence, and we discuss implications and directions for future research.     

Idealization in unitarian metaphysics

The aim of the paper is to propose an understanding of idealization in terms of Nowak’s unitarian metaphysics. Two natural interpretations of the procedure are critically discussed and rejected as inadequate. The first account of idealization is unable to explain why idealized factors cease to exert influence on the investigated magnitude. The second account of idealization solves this problem but does so at the cost of blurring the distinction between idealization and abstruction. Moreover, it faces the consequence that the process of idealization instead of leading to a sharper understanding of phenomena will normally result in making the picture more and more probabilistic. I propose a third account of idealization in unitarian terms that solves all three problems.     

Cocreated Idealization in the Winnicott/Khan Analysis: Commentary on Paper by Joyce Slochower

Joyce Slochower's paper applies relational thinking in a new conceptualization of idealization and denigration, which she sees as cocreated. Building on a thorough review of the analytic literature on the clinical experience of idealization, she suggests that idealization, helpful at first, often leads to therapeutic failure. She utilizes historical material about Donald Winnicott and his analyses of Masud Khan and Harry Guntrip to open a space for discussion of a previously unexplored topic, the idealization of the patient by the analyst. Slochower suggests that Winnicott's personal vulnerability to experiences of idealization contributed to failure in his analysis of Khan and to less severe problems in the Guntrip analysis. I focus on the Khan analysis and suggest that the problem was not the idealization, which may have been inevitable, but Winnicott's apparent failure to understand and make use of it. I also suggest that, with the very same understanding, the analytic community in general would benefit from thinking about the community's idealization of Winnicott.     

The association of idealization and intimacy factors with condom use in gay male couples

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship of idealization and three specific intimacy factors (relationship satisfaction, excitement, and closeness) to reported condom use in gay male couples. It was expected that there would be negative associations of idealization and the intimacy factors with condom use. Both members of 45 gay male couples completed a questionnaire that assessed these factors. This study found (a) idealization to have a significant negative correlation with condom use, suggesting that the more the individuals idealized each other, the less likely that condoms were used during sex; (b) a significant negative association between relationship satisfaction and condom use, implying that as the couples experienced more satisfaction within their relationships, condom use decreased; (c) a significant negative correlation between excitement and condom use, suggesting that as excitement increased, condom use decreased; and (d) no significant association between closeness and condom use.