Male/Female Manifestations of Narcissistic Personality and Behavioral Disorders.

Specifically, this paper will address the following topics : 1. The history of psychoanalytic thinking onnarcissism will be discussed, leading up to more recent ideas on the narcissistic personality disorder. 2. Drawing on historical and current ideas, an integrated definition of the narcissistic personality disorder will be presented and elaborated upon, including an examination of differing male/female narcissistic compensatory styles. 3. To foster an understanding of the development of narcissistic defenses and of differing gender styles of defense, various theories relating to gender differences in the narcissistic personality disorder will be explored: self/object relations theories, Kohut's theory on narcissism, psychosexual development theories, behavioral manifestation theories, and bodily development theories.4. The role of preoedipal development, as it relates to the formation of the male/female narcissistic personality disorder, will be examined. This section of the paper will propose that, in the narcissistic personality disorder, a pathological arrest occurred during the second or third year of life in response to trauma experienced at that time. The degree and timing of the trauma and the degree of structuralization preceding the trauma all contribute to the rigidity of the narcissistic disorder and the severity of the pathology. 5. The role of oedipal development in the male/female narcissistic personality disorder will be discussed. This discussion will address the intrapsychic configurations which arise during the oedipal period, after narcissistic defenses have solidified during the preoedipal years. While narcissism can be seen as a developmental line, with narcissistic defenses arising at any time during development, this paper will focus primarily on defenses which arise during the separation/individuation phases of development.