Discuss the Psychoanalytic Concept of Narcissism with Special Reference to Its Applications in Contemporary Consumption.

The article “Freud on Narcissism-1916” summarizes Freud’s concepts of narcissism. The article explains, “Paraphrenia is defined with a) megalomania and b) a disconnect from reality. The libido that is returned to the ego creates a disinterest and indifference in the external world. The introverted libido, (the ego-libido), needs to store all the energy of the once object libido in the ego. The return of the libido causes

Personality disorders are pervasive in nature, and are depicted in various mediums from film to novels. Narcissism will be discussed as it pertains to American Psycho; a film made in the early 2000’s to describe a man who lives a double life as a business man and serial killer. The main character in particular, Patrick Bateman displays with themes of Narcissistic Personality Disorder and his case along with the factors that are congruent with Narcissistic Personality Disorder will be discussed throughout.

Have you ever been around someone who seems arrogant? It may not be just arrogance, that individual may have a Narcissistic Personality Disorder or NPD. Narcissus, a Greek mythological character, fell in love with his reflection in the water and could never pull himself away, so he ended up dying right beside the water after a while (Marcovitz 1). Narcissism became known as being self-centered and was developed after this Greek myth (Marcovitz 1). This disorder affects less than 1% of the American population and it occurs more in men than women (Thomas 1). Later on in life most people with NPD will experience severe symptoms around the ages of forty or fifty years old (Psych 1). Many people who have this disorder either refuse to get help

Narcissism is defined as the love of ones self. Sigmund Freud was the first to use the word to characterize certain character traits. He got the word from the Greek mythological legend Narcissus who saw his reflection in water and fell in love with himself. Freud suggests that all of us have a bit of self love, but when self love goes extreme it can be a problem and is considered a pathological problem. Nora from “The Doll House,” only exuded narcissistic behavior because she was treated like a doll. She was spoiled and only thought that that was how she was supposed to behave in order to get what she wanted or to please the men in her

Narcissism personality disorder according to DSM-V is (and now also in Section II of DSM-5) describe “a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy . . .,” indicated by five or more of the following: (a) a grandiose sense of self-importance; (b) preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love; (c) beliefs of being special and unique; (d) requirements of excessive admiration; (e) a sense of entitlement; (f) interpersonal exploitativeness; (g) lack of empathy; (h) envy of others; and (i) arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes. Narcissism has been around or studied for thirty years. Rosenfeld thought that that his client had invented an alter ego at first. In the article what part do narcissism play in the narcissistic disorder? It talk about narcissistic disorder arise when an ego-destructive super ego has arisen in the course of development. The article talks about that trauma as a child or infant may also play a big part of narcissism. A large part of narcissistic disorder comes from a wide range of symptoms like self-enhancing and self-serving incentives. (Elsa Ronningstam) described a 21 none year old client that she treated, his parents brought him in to see her and they described him as selfish, inconsiderate, demanding, and demeaning, with threatening and verbally aggressive behavior, and involved in poly substance abuse (pp 434-438). Bob his self-admitted that some

In “Paul’s Case”, by Willa Cather, Paul is a very well written character from 1905. He is a narcissistic man written before there was even a diagnosis for that while still remaining isolated at home and elsewhere, and in the end kills himself to avoid short term consequences but realizes too late that what he is doing has long term repercussions. Paul hits eight of the nine criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder listed in the DSM-IV, where five of nine is considered having the disorder. The eight he hits are “1. Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements).

Narcissism can be defined as “ a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of ultra confidence lies a fragile self-esteem that 's vulnerable to the slightest criticism” (Narcissistic personality disorder, n.d.). With this disorder people generally are unhappy and disappointed when they are not privileged to special favors or given admiration they believe they deserve. With narcissistic personality disorder problems in many areas of life can arise such as work, school, financial affairs, and relationships.

Narcissism occurs on a continuum, and everyone thinks narcissistically. The following are examples of some things that may be the result of narcissistic thinking, and can be either spoken or just thought. They may be generated consciously, or subconsciously. If consciously generated, the reason behind them can be found. If generated subconsciously, the reason will be illusive. Subconscious beliefs are responsible for producing the narcissitic idea, and the conscious mind agrees.

According to the American Journal of Psychiatry, the essential feature of narcissistic personality disorder is a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts. (Caligor) The grandmother has a grandiose sense of self-importance, in her eyes she is the pure example of a “true lady” and how one should act. She is preoccupied with fantasies of power, brilliance, beauty and ideal love. She believes that she is special and requires special admiration.

Krents begins his essay by pointing out to the reader that he cannot see himself, and thus, often has to depend upon the viewpoints of others. He states: "To date it has not been narcissistic." The average reader may not be aware that the word "narcissistic" means, "Excessively in love with oneself." It is helpful for the reader to keep this first observation in

It is a well-known fact that narcissists are great story tellers, and more often than not they are the center of their tale. According to Sigmund Freud, we are all born with a natural healthy form of narcissism, the notion of self-love and self-care, and a balance between them and the notion of object-love. However, when that balance is broken, it can greatly affect the individual and those around him. In

This paper argues against commodity fetishism in some aspects while bringing on the idea of commodity narcissism. The authors used Freud’s ideas on commodity narcissism to explain that the trait narcissism is generally considered bad in society; however, in terms of the consumer it is seen as a good thing at times. He gives the example of a parent buying their child commodities. The parent does not only fill the childs want but the parent’s wants as well (Cluley and Dunne 259). The authors point out that Freud believes that the parents, “are able to entertain the notion that they are acting out of selfless love, and, therefore, add to their idealized image of themselves” (259). This is significant, because Freud shows that people buy things to satisfy their own needs even if they give it as gifts. One could say that this reflects the idea of the iPhone. Parents may look to purchase their child an iPhone, so they feel better about themselves. If the parent did not get the iPhone for their child they may be considered not as good of a parent by others or to themselves. This is important to my thesis, because this shows that people build up a idealized image of themselves through the purchasing of goods, which leads to a sense of

A ‘commodity sign’ invests symbolic meaning in products or services as a signifier with an image as signified. In recent times, consumer culture is driven by our desire for superfluous wants, causing the production and consumption of commodity signs to become more specialised according to the notion of capital. Capitalism is characterised by economies that are based on open markets and the ethos of individuality over community. French Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu (Distinction 1984) introduced the schema of subcultural capital, which ‘confers status on its owner in the eyes of the relevant beholder’ (Thorton, 2006: 100). Therefore people have the idea that they can buy subcultural capital, as it is seen as self-revealing, in order to impress people or become someone else (Frith, 1996: 5). Thus advertising was developed as a strategy in generating demand in a contemporary consumer culture. Mass marketing has split the unity of signifiers and signified into a language of appearances and images of which we realise as either visible, physical connections or indirect connotations to that which they represent.

Narcissism is a multidimensional construct, according, to Furnham (2008) narcissists are “self-people – self-confident, self-asserting, self-possessing, self-aggrandising, self-preoccupied, self-loving and ultimately self-destructive” (p. 166). They lack empathy, exploit others for personal gain and have an overwhelming sense of entitlement (Miller, Campbell & Pilkonis, 2007). Recent research (Konrath, Corneille, Bushman & Luminet, 2013) suggest that the exploitativeness aspect of narcissism underpins the narcissists propensity to engage in bullying due to emotional recognition, based on their ability to “read people like a book” (pp. 139-140). This potentially contributes to what (Glaso, et al. (2007) consider predatory bullying in the workplace. Further, substantiated by (Jones & Paulhus, 2010; O’Boyle et al. 2012; Jones & Neria, 2015), who posit that narcissists only aggress upon ego threat, because narcissism is a “disorder of self-esteem” (Furnham, 2008, p. 16; Thomaes, Stegge, Bushman, Olthof & Denissen, 2008), aggressive behaviour facilitates the regulation of the narcissists self-image (Martinez, Zeichner, Reidy & Miller, 2008). Research, suggests that the antecedents and consequences of narcissism are similar among youths and adults (Thomaes, Brummelman, Reijintjes & Bushman, 2013). In addition, (Fanti & Kimonis, 2012, 2013) contend that the callous unemotional aspect of narcissism underpins the instigation, perpetration and stable trajectory of bullying among adolescents. Baughman et al. (2012) assert that narcissists demonstrate a propensity to engage in indirect bullying on the basis that they perceive it to be more “socially desirable” (p. 574). The current study contends that narcissism is associated with bulling in the workplace, in addition research suggests that narcissists possess high

You and I consume; we are consumers. The global economy is set up to enable us to do what we innately want to do: buy, use, discard and buy some more. If we do our job well, the economy thrives. If for some reason we fail at our task, the economy suffers. This model of economic existence has been reinforced in the business pages of every newspaper, and in the daily reportage of nearly every broadcast and web-based financial news service. It has a familiar name: consumerism. Therapeutic ethos has created a consumption-oriented ideology that ultimately transformed American culture and life, as we know it. This multi-dimensional approach shifted nineteenth-century American values of frugality, moderation, and self-denial to periodic leisure, compulsive spending, and individual self-fulfillment. There are three main factors that contributed to this transformation: radio and billboards, credit, and mind-cure religion. Consumer culture developed out of the rise of modernity and the historical emergence of capitalism as an economic force throughout the world.