Phallic narcissism
Topic: Philosophy
From HandWiki - Reading time: 1 min
Wilhelm Reich first identified the phallic narcissistic personality type, with excessively inflated self-image. The individual is elitist, a "social climber", admiration seeking, self-promoting, bragging and empowered by social success.[1] According to Otto Fenichel, 'Phallic characters are persons whose behavior is reckless, resolute and self-assured - traits, however, that have a reactive character: they reflect a fixation at the phallic level, with overvaluation of the penis and confusion of the penis with the whole body'.[2] Fenichel stressed that 'an intense vanity and sensitiveness reveals that these narcissistic patients still have their narcissistic needs...for which they overcompensate'.[3]
Others would add that 'the phallic character conceives of sexual behaviour as a display of potency, in contrast to the genital character, who conceives of it as participation in a relationship'.[4]
References
- ↑ Reich, Wilhelm (2013), "The Phallic-Narcissistic Character", The Mark of Cain: pp. 219–226, doi:10.4324/9780203779958-21, ISBN 9780203779958, https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203779958-21/phallic-narcissistic-character-1933-wilhelm-reich, retrieved 2022-12-03
- ↑ Otto Fenichel, The Psychoanalytic Theory of Neurosis (London 1944) p. 495
- ↑ Fenichel, p. 495
- ↑ Charles Rycroft, A Critical Dictionary of Psychoanalysis (Penguin 1977) p. 117
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