Conflicts, Defenses and the Stability of Narcissistic Personality Features

Psychiatry ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 310-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan D. C. Perry ◽  
J. Christopher Perry
Keyword(s):  
Narcissistic Personality ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Personality Features

Stability of the MCMI—III in a Substance-Abusing Inpatient Sample

1998 ◽  
Vol 83 (3_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1273-1274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Craig ◽  
Ronald Olson
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Major Depression ◽  
African American Men ◽  
Clinical Syndrome ◽  
Substance Abusing ◽  
Dependent Personality ◽  
Narcissistic Personality ◽  
Personality Pattern ◽  
Pattern Scale ◽  
The Stability

The stability of the MCMI–III personality disorder and clinical syndrome scales was assessed in a substance-abusing inpatient sample of 35 African-American men over an average test-retest interval of 6 mo. Estimates were higher for the personality pattern scales than for the clinical syndrome scales. The Dependent personality pattern scale (.83) and the Narcissistic personality pattern scale (.80) were reliable after about six months, whereas Drug Abuse, Somatoform, and Major Depression showed lower stability. As in previous research using the MCMI-I/II, estimates were lower than those reported in the test manual.

Transmission risk behaviors in a subset of HIV-positive individuals: The role of narcissistic personality features

2013 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 256-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron M. Martin ◽  
Eric G. Benotsch ◽  
Shannon Perschbacher Lance ◽  
Marisa Green
Keyword(s):  
Risk Behaviors ◽  
Transmission Risk ◽  
Hiv Positive ◽  
Narcissistic Personality ◽  
Personality Features

Retreat from the Male: Catullus 62 and Sappho's Erotic Flowers

Ramus ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Stehle Stigers
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Intimacy ◽  
Short Life ◽  
Narcissistic Personality ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The One ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Ideal

Catullus described a full emotional circle in his short life from delight in unconstrained aesthetic sensuality free of socially-defined patterns (cc. 5, 6, 13 for example) to longing for a stable bond in the relationship of man to woman. He pictured such a bond as placed within the traditional Roman frame of marriage and home, but cast in a personal mold; he wanted to preserve his aesthetic and sensual response to a woman while combining it somehow with the stability and intimacy appropriate to friendship (amare and bene velle). Poems 72 and 87, for instance, directly express the ideal in acknowledging its absence from Catullus' relations with Lesbia.Catullus liked to feel that the possibility of complete union was what he offered Lesbia. Perhaps it was his inability to fashion a compelling synthesis of sexual intimacy and friendship with her that led him to write a series of poems exploring attempts, mainly failures, at full reciprocal love. The successful attempts are idyllic or mythic (Septimius and Acme, Peleus and Thetis, neither unambiguously positive). The failures come, in Catullus' portrayal, when union founders on the obstacle of the narcissistic personality, the man or woman unable to forfeit autonomy, desirous of holding others in thrall without being himself held. Catullus' highly developed sensitivity to narcissism must be a reaction to its prominence in the character of a certain kind of sexually attractive individual, the one who is alluring but uncapturable, the kind of woman, like Lesbia, with whom Catullus sought union. Catullus conveys the quality of narcissism in such a character in part through the image of the flower (appropriately, considering the source of the modern name for it).

scholarly journals Joint trajectories for social and physical aggression as predictors of adolescent maladjustment: Internalizing symptoms, rule-breaking behaviors, and borderline and narcissistic personality features

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 659-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion K. Underwood ◽  
Kurt J. Beron ◽  
Lisa H. Rosen
Keyword(s):  
Middle Childhood ◽  
Physical Aggression ◽  
Mexican American ◽  
Internalizing Symptoms ◽  
Developmental Trajectories ◽  
Adolescent Psychopathology ◽  
Adjustment Problems ◽  
Narcissistic Personality ◽  
Rule Breaking ◽  
Personality Features

AbstractThis investigation examined the relation between developmental trajectories jointly estimated for social and physical aggression and adjustment problems at age 14. Teachers provided ratings of children's social and physical aggression in Grades 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 for a sample of 255 children (131 girls, 21% African American, 52% European American, 21% Mexican American). Participants, parents, and teachers completed measures of the adolescent's adjustment to assess internalizing symptoms, rule-breaking behaviors, and borderline and narcissistic personality features. Results showed that membership in a high and rising trajectory group predicted rule-breaking behaviors and borderline personality features. Membership in a high desister group predicted internalizing symptoms, rule-breaking behaviors, and borderline and narcissistic personality features. The findings suggest that although low levels of social and physical aggression may not bode poorly for adjustment, individuals engaging in high levels of social and physical aggression in middle childhood may be at greatest risk for adolescent psychopathology, whether they increase or desist in their aggression through early adolescence.

scholarly journals Narcissism and Exercise Addiction: The Mediating Roles of Exercise-Related Motives

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 4243
Author(s):  
Virgil Zeigler-Hill ◽  
Avi Besser ◽  
Maor Gabay ◽  
Gracynn Young
Keyword(s):  
Community Sample ◽  
Exercise Addiction ◽  
Narcissistic Vulnerability ◽  
Narcissistic Personality ◽  
Personality Features

The present research examined whether the associations that narcissistic personality features had with exercise addiction were mediated by particular motives for engaging in exercise in a large Israeli community sample (N = 2629). The results revealed that each aspect of narcissism was positively associated with exercise addiction. Narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry had similar positive indirect associations with exercise addiction through the interpersonal motive for exercise. However, these aspects of narcissism diverged in their indirect associations with exercise addiction through psychological motives, body-related motives, and fitness motives for exercise such that these indirect associations were positive for narcissistic admiration but negative for narcissistic rivalry. Narcissistic vulnerability had positive indirect associations with exercise addiction through body-related motives and fitness motives that were similar to those observed for narcissistic admiration. These results suggest that exercise-related motives may play important roles in the associations that narcissistic personality features have with exercise addiction. The discussion will focus on the implications of these results for understanding the complex connections between narcissism and exercise addiction.

scholarly journals Narcissism and Risk-Taking

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 615-633
Author(s):  
Ali Mohammad Beigi ◽  
Virgil Zeigler-Hill
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Life Domains ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Narcissistic Personality ◽  
The Social ◽  
Personality Features

Previous research has shown that narcissism is associated with risk-taking. However, little is known about the factors that may contribute to narcissistic individuals being more likely to engage in risk-taking behaviour. The present research examined whether social worldviews would mediate the associations that specific narcissistic personality features had with risk-taking across life domains in a sample of Iranian community members (N = 489). Our results revealed that the extraverted, antagonistic, and neurotic aspects of narcissism had positive indirect associations with risk-taking in certain life domains through the competitive social worldview. These results suggest that the tendency to view the social environment as intensely competitive may play an important role in the associations that narcissistic personality features have with risk-taking in certain life domains.

The narcissistic experience of friendship: The roles of agentic and communal orientations toward friendship

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 2693-2713
Author(s):  
Destaney Sauls ◽  
Virgil Zeigler-Hill
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Problems ◽  
Self Defense ◽  
Narcissistic Personality ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Personality Features ◽  
Self Protection

Narcissism is associated with a wide array of interpersonal problems. The present studies examined the connections between narcissistic personality features and the experience of friendship. We were interested in the possibility that narcissistic admiration (an agentic form of narcissism characterized by assertive self-enhancement and self-promotion) and narcissistic rivalry (an antagonistic form of narcissism characterized by self-protection and self-defense) may have divergent associations with various aspects of friendship. Study 1 found that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry had divergent associations with maximizing selectivity and negative friendship attributions that were mediated by the agentic and communal orientations toward friendship. Study 2 found that narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry had divergent associations with friendship commitment that were again mediated by agentic and communal orientations toward friendship. These results demonstrate the similarities and differences between narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry in the context of friendship as well as the important roles that agentic and communal orientations toward friendship play in the connections that narcissistic personality features have with outcomes concerning friendship.

scholarly journals Narcissism and Subjective Arousal in Response to Sexual Aggression: The Mediating Role of Perceived Power

Sexes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-201
Author(s):  
Virgil Zeigler-Hill ◽  
David Andrews
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Aggression ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Aggressive Behaviors ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Sexually Aggressive ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Narcissistic Personality ◽  
Personality Features ◽  
Subjective Arousal ◽  
Perceived Power

The present research examined the associations that narcissistic personality features had with subjective arousal in response to sexually aggressive behaviors, as well as whether these associations were mediated by the power that was believed to accompany these behaviors. Participants were 221 community members (115 women, 106 men) who completed a self-report instrument that captured narcissistic admiration (an agentic form of narcissism) and narcissistic rivalry (an antagonistic form of narcissism). In addition, participants were asked to rate how powerful they would expect to feel if they actually engaged in an array of sexually aggressive behaviors (e.g., “Tying up a person during sexual intercourse against her/his will”) as well as how sexually aroused they would be by each behavior. A multilevel mediation analysis revealed that both narcissistic admiration and narcissistic rivalry were positively associated with subjective arousal in response to sexual aggression and that these associations were mediated by the perceived power that was believed to accompany these sexually aggressive behaviors. These results suggest that perceptions of power may play an important role in the connections that narcissistic personality features have with subjective arousal in response to sexually aggressive behavior for both men and women. This discussion will focus on the implications of these results for understanding the connections between narcissism and sexual aggression in both men and women.

The birth of Athena – Psychodynamic formulation and case report

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (S1) ◽  
pp. S562-S562
Author(s):  
M. Skokou ◽  
K. Assimakopoulos ◽  
P. Gourzis
Keyword(s):  
Case Report ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy ◽  
Patient Experiences ◽  
Maternal Role ◽  
Narcissistic Personality ◽  
Intrapsychic Conflict ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
Personality Features ◽  
The Relationship

IntroductionAthena possesses a special place among the Greek Gods, as she was born from her father, according to an extreme patriarchal model with a marked depreciation of the maternal role. Zeus had swallowed and absorbed the mother of Athena, Mites, because of an oracle that if Mites gave birth to a boy, the boy would take his throne. When the time comes, Zeus commands Hephaestus to cleave his forehead with an axe, and then Athena leaps fully armed and shouting her cry of war, in front of the astonished Gods. The next moment she puts her weapons down, as a token of obedience and devotion. The exceptionally close bond between father and daughter is evident through their uniquely confidential relationship. The ancient myth is paralleled, from a psychodynamic aspect, with the case of a narcissistic patient receiving psychodynamic psychotherapy.MethodsCase report.ResultsA case of a woman with narcissistic personality features and depressive symptoms is described, presenting with the complaints of withdrawal, self-depreciation, passivity, and agoraphobia. Psychodynamic factors defining her pathology are her narcissistic and sexualized relationship with her father, whereas the relationship with her mother has been depreciated. The patient experiences an intrapsychic conflict of reciprocal idealization, against her anger and fear for her father, resulting in the symptoms of agoraphobia and passivity.ConclusionLike Athena, who puts her weapons down, the patient resigns from her will for autonomy and moves to a passive position, as a result of her entrapment in her idealized relationship with the father.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

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