Revisiting Freud and Kohut on narcissism

Abstract

Narcissism continues to be an important topic of research, with a great deal of ongoing empirical work in social and personality psychology. But there are theoretical issues that have received less attention recently, including those that relate to the foundational theories of the psychoanalytic tradition. As the first step in a larger project of reevaluation, this article offers a critical review of Freud and Heinz Kohut’s theories of narcissism. Centered on a theoretical reconstruction, it clarifies several significant—and often underspecified—features of each account. I also explore the continuities and discontinuities between these two closely related systems. Most notably both Freud and Kohut lacked fully developed accounts of primary narcissism and the relevant instinctual drives. At the same time, Kohut’s theory expanded upon Freud’s in innovative ways, particularly with its emphasis on a secondary line of narcissistic development that has positive, transformative features. In the final section, however, I introduce a speculative reading that describes theoretical prefigurations of these features in elements of Freud’s structural theory.

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“…He explains that he has taken actions throughout his life with the objects he has made and the images of the objects. Freud points out that recognizable mechanisms are in place to modify narcissistic drives beyond object-love object-cathexis, including repression, sublimation, and idealization (Cratsley, 2016). The better term to describe the instinctive drive is "need" (Freud, 2000: 86).…”

“…In particular, Kohut argued that creativity, empathy, the ability to reflect on human impermanence, humor, and wisdom are linked to the developmental lines of narcissism. Narcissism is the "libidinal fuel" that enables the development of such traits (Cratsley, 2016). Kohut (1966) suggested that narcissism is not necessarily pathological but has an independent developmental sequence from infancy to adulthood.…”

Cultural Social Media Narcissism (Csmn)

“…He explains that he has taken actions throughout his life with the objects he has made and the images of the objects. Freud points out that recognizable mechanisms are in place to modify narcissistic drives beyond object-love object-cathexis, including repression, sublimation, and idealization (Cratsley, 2016). The better term to describe the instinctive drive is "need" (Freud, 2000: 86).…”

“…In particular, Kohut argued that creativity, empathy, the ability to reflect on human impermanence, humor, and wisdom are linked to the developmental lines of narcissism. Narcissism is the "libidinal fuel" that enables the development of such traits (Cratsley, 2016). Kohut (1966) suggested that narcissism is not necessarily pathological but has an independent developmental sequence from infancy to adulthood.…”

Reflections on Kohut’s theory of self psychology and pathological narcissism—Limitations and concerns.

“…Kohut suggested that the narcissistic transferences, or selfobject transferences as he named them later on, testify to the presence of the narcissistic disorder and are, in fact, the key criterion for diagnosing the narcissistic personality disorder. He played down the relevance of theoretical knowledge and research data to the diagnosis of narcissism and likewise underestimated the significance of extratherapeutic symptoms and factors in this context (Basch, 1991;Cratsley, 2016;Galatzer-Levy, 1991;Kohut, 1984Kohut, / 2009b. Instead, Kohut relied essentially on data empathically gleaned from patients' accounts during treatment sessions-a practice consistent with his self psychology and its focus on the notion of empathy in psychoanalytic treatment as the ultimate tool for understanding the patient's inner world.…”