Grandiosity and its Discontents

Exploring entitlement as a moderator and mediator of the relationship between masculine gender role conflict and men's body esteem.

“…Men who adhere to rigid and restrictive gender role behavior with respect to success/power/competition, restricted affection between men, and work-family conflict, and have narcissistic entitlement may hold favorable body attitudes to be consistent with their ideological view of themselves as men. This may be a self-protective mechanism, as narcissistic traits have been conceptualized to serve as a defense against underlying feelings of inadequacy and shame (Tenzer, 1987). Because previous research has linked success/power/competition and restricted affection between men to interpersonal difficulties (Rando et al, 1998; Schwartz et al, 2005), it may be that those with narcissistic entitlement externalize their gender role conflict in these areas toward trying to convince others of their worth and attractiveness.…”

Narcissism and Coparticipant Inquiry

“…Conversely, narcissistic countertransference may express itself in therapeutic inaction or in an analytic approach that is overly comforting. Analysts may defensively deal with their inability to accept their imperfections by denying them and unconsciously insisting on playing out the role of the "good" or "sensitive" analyst who can fulfill what, in actuality, are impossible demands (Tenzer, 1987). These countertransferential extremes of being too confronting or too comforting are, to some extent, institutionalized in the contrasting technical approaches offered by Kernberg and Kohut. Though analytic confrontation, if excessive, can be disjunctive in its impact, I believe that active engagement with the patient is therapeutically essential and that an active and judicious confrontation of patients' narcissistic defenses facilitates analytic progress.…”

A sense of entitlement: vicissitudes of working with “special” patients

“…In other words they would largely, though not solely, advocate the accommodative, gratifying approach. Tenzer (1987) writes of the necessity for a working alliance ('a bedrock of understanding' (p. 268)) to be established before the patient's illusions can be confronted. I have found Rosenfeld's (1987) thinking about thin-and thick-skinned narcissistic patients to be very helpful in this area.…”