The Psychoanalysis of Narcissism and the Inevitability of “Postmodern” Psychoanalysis

In my exploration of postmodern psychoanalysis, I take as my starting point the complex issue of narcissism as developed by Freud. After pointing out some of the theoretical and clinical difficulties and complexities that arise in the analysis of narcissism, I discuss the diversity of the models and interpretations that then become possible; plurality in psychoanalysis is an inevitable consequence of this. The analysis of narcissism thus opens up many questions that lead me to explore some of the answers that both our forebears and present-day psychoanalysts have suggested.     

The Affective Temperaments: Differences between Adolescents in the Big Five Model and Cloninger’s Psychobiological Model of Personality

Positive (PA) and negative affect (NA) are indicators or markers of well-being that also reflect stable emotional- temperamental dispositions. In three different studies, self-reported affect was measured by the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The PANAS measures affect as two separate dimensions and was therefore used to generate four affective temperaments (AFTs): self-actualizing (high PA and Low NA), high affective (high PA and high NA), low affective (low PA and low NA), and self-destructive (low PA and high NA). The present set of studies investigated differences in personality between AFTs in an adolescent sample (N?=?398). Personality was measured by two different models: The Big Five and Cloninger’s psychobiological model. The interaction of PA and NA was expected to reveal differences and similarities in intrapersonal behavior measured by both models of personality. The results show that low NA adolescents reported lower levels of neurotic behavior than high NA adolescents. Nevertheless, despite the experience of high NA respectively, low PA, high and low affective reported higher Self-Directedness than self-destructive adolescents. Implications of the AFTs framework are discussed.     

Argumentative Discussion: The Rationality of What?

Topoi - Most dialectical models view argumentation as a process of critically testing a standpoint. Further, they assume that what we critically test can be analytically reduced to (1) individual...     

The Frame,Within and Without: Discussion of “The Therapeutics of the Fee in Psychoanalysis”

The author picks up and expands on themes of fusion and separation brought up in Pauley’s discussion of the therapeutic uses of the fee in the psychoanalytic encounter. She asserts that the elemental nature of the exchange of goods speaks to us in the language of corporeal experience, making it a powerful disruptive force that can reshuffle defenses at the level of our most primary experiencing selves. This affords the fee the potential to reach us in the registers of sensation and enactment that bypass conscious, verbal communication making our authentic and ongoing attempts to grapple with it vital to the analytic project.     

Narcissism and the non-equivalence of self-esteem measures: A matter of dominance?

Previous research reveals a substantial degree of variability in the extent to which narcissism (as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory or NPI; Emmons, 1987) and self-esteem (measured using a variety of self-report scales) are associated. Data from 329 college students provided support for the hypothesis that the variability in associations between narcissism and different measures of self-esteem may be explained in part by the degree to which a given self-esteem measure is related to dominance. These results have important implications for research on narcissism and self-esteem, as well as the broader issue of how self-esteem is conceptualized and measured in psychological research.     

The Potential of Paradox in States of Exile: Discussion of “States of Exile and Marginalization”

This commentary paper engages with Gillian Straker’s “States of Exile and Marginalization,” (this issue) in which she analyzes Tracey Moffatt’s film Night Cries through a Lacanian register. In addition, it surfaces certain aspects of Moffatt’s interpretation of her social world through the representational medium of her film. Tracing Straker’s themes of marginality and continued trauma as exilic consequences of colonization and coloniality, it also suggests that there are generative possibilities in the multiple states of exile that occur under such conditions, where the unknowability and irresolvability of trauma and its many associated states of exile are precisely what paradoxically allow for the emergence of productive alternatives to trauma repetition.     

Witnessing and Passing. Discussion of Prince's “The Self in Pain: The Paradox of Memory. The Paradox of Testimony”

The author indicates that she has two voices. One voice speaks to the patient's loneliness and detachment and her expectation to not be seen, believed, or acknowledged. This voice, housing the knowledge that events that remain unprocessed continue to have an impact, wants Dr. Prince to risk intrusion and preemption. This voice believes that it is worth it. The author's other voice considers bottomless wounds and speaks to the patient's need to build up healthy aspects of personality that is necessary to do the holocaust work. This voice holds that this is not the time for Dr. Prince to witness what happened to the patient, what the perpetrators of massive crimes did to her or what the onlookers saw and chose not to do. This voice says that the patients lead should be followed. The author elaborates on her two voices and indicates what she would have done had she been working with the patient.     

Rating Scales as Predictors—The Old Question of Scale Level and Some Answers

Rating scales as predictors in regression models are typically treated as metrically scaled variables or, alternatively, are coded in dummy variables. The first approach implies a scale level that is not justified, the latter approach results in a large number of parameters to be estimated. Therefore, when rating scales are dummy-coded, applications are often restricted to the use of a few predictors. The penalization approach advocated here takes the scale level serious by using only the ordering of categories but is shown to work in the high dimensional case. We consider the proper modeling of rating scales as predictors and selection procedures by using penalization methods that are tailored to ordinal predictors. In addition to the selection of predictors, the clustering of categories is investigated. Existing methodology is extended to the wider class of generalized linear models. Moreover, higher order differences that allow shrinkage towards a polynomial as well as monotonicity constraints and alternative penalties are introduced. The proposed penalization approaches are illustrated by use of the Motivational States Questionnaire.     

Narcissism: origin and goal of the ego. Reflections of Lou Andreas-Salomé

The author presents Andreas-Salomé's theoretically relevant, though largely neglected writings. She devoted special interest to narcissism. Her contributions to this topic are discussed in relation to Freud's corresponding texts, with whom she maintained an enduring friendship. General reference is made to the more recent psychoanalytic debate about narcissism.     

Discussion of “Bread and Roses: Empathy and Recognition”

Rachel Kabasakalian McKay’s (this issue) important contribution focuses on a comparison of “empathy” and “recognition.” In her paper, McKay compares the sensibility of responsive attunement that she associates with empathy to the sensibility of distinctiveness that she connects to recognition. This discussion takes up this comparison of empathy and recognition associated with their embeddedness in self-psychology in contrast to relational and intersubjectivity theories. In the author’s view, the essential tension between autonomy and at-one-ness is necessary to both empathy and recognition and should not be split between them. Because recognition is Benjamin’s fundamental idea, the foundation of intersubjective recognition theory, it is incumbent on us to develop and elaborate the precise technical meanings, denotations, and connotations of this term, along with its clinical and social implications. The author believes that the key to this project is to see that, for Benjamin, recognition occurs throughout life across developmental levels and thus actually refers to quite different, although deeply related, phenomena.     

Discussion of Otto F. Kernberg's Paper: “The Nature of Interpretation: Intersubjectivity and the Third Position”

The American Journal of Psychoanalysis -     

The “Once and Future” Focus of a Relational Psychoanalysis: Discussion of “Vitalizing Enactment”

In this discussion of Amy Schwartz Cooney’s paper (this issue) I focus on the current interest in relational theorizing on the analyst’s proactive role vis-à-vis her patient, that is, what she actually does for or gives to her patient. I consider the role of the analyst’s own internal “bad” objects in facilitating or inhibiting the therapeutic process. I end with a set of theoretical propositions about the ways in which an intense and deadening shame can lead to dissociation and/or repression of hopeful fantasies about the future.     

Narcissism,Mania, and Analysts’ Envy of Patients

It is not uncommon for analysts to feel envy toward patients who have achieved significant rewards or acclaim for their work. Highly successful individuals in all fields often display both narcissistic and manic qualities. Analysts all too often destructively exaggerate these qualities into the realm of the diagnosed pathological as one way of dealing with this envy.     

Optimising self-regulated study: The benefits—and costs—of dropping flashcards

Self-regulation of study activities is a constant in the lives of students—who must decide what to study, when to study, how long to study, and by what method to study. We investigated self-regulation in the context of a common study method: flashcards. In four experiments we examined the basis and effectiveness of a metacognitive strategy adopted almost universally by students: setting aside (dropping) items they think they know. Dropping has a compelling logic—it creates additional opportunities to study undropped items—but it rests on two shaky foundations: students’ metacognitive monitoring and the value they assign to further study. In fact, being allowed to drop flashcards had small but consistently negative effects on learning. The results suggest that the effectiveness of self-regulated study depends on both the accuracy of metacognitive monitoring and the learner's understanding, or lack thereof, of how people learn.     

Gender Differences in Condom Use Behavior? The Role of Power and Partner-Type

The primary goal of this study was to experimentally investigate the theory of gender and power (Wingood and DiClemente, Health Education and Behavior 27:539–565, 2000) in order to better understand gender differences in condom use behavior. The influence of relationship power (equal or low), partner-type (serious or casual), and gender on difficulty implementing condom use was explored using experimental vignettes. Heterosexual, sexually active, undergraduate students from a private university in the United States (N?=?203) indicated how “difficult” it would be to implement condom use in a variety of situations. Results revealed a significant main effect for power and partner-type, qualified by a significant three-way interaction. The consistency of these findings with the predictions of the theory and methodological limitations are discussed.