Return to Associated Features
Click on the note number to return to where you were above; click on the author's name to go to the bibliographic entry.1Millon, 1998, pp. 87-88
| Morphologic Organization |
Millon describes narcissists as having, “few conflicts; their past has supplied them with high expectations and encouragement. As a result, they are inclined to trust others and to feel confident that matters will work out well for them. . . . this sanguine outlook on life is founded on an unusual set of parent-child relationships that only rarely is duplicated in later life.“The structural organization of the narcissistic individual’s inner world for dealing with life tends to be quite flimsy and transparent to the discerning observer. From a surface view, one would assume that their personality organization is more substantial and dynamically orchestrated than it is in fact. Because of the misleading nature of their early experiences, that is, that narcissistic individuals really did not have to do much to make the world work for them, this personality has never developed the inner skills necessary to regulate impulses adequately, to channel needs skillfully, or to acquire a strategy in which conflicts are resolved, failures are overcome, and a genuine sense of competence is regained following problematic experiences.
“The routine demands of everyday life are experienced as demeaning, because they intrude on the narcissistic person’s cherished illusion of self as almost godlike. Narcissistic individuals easily muster alibis to avoid ‘pedestrian’ tasks and display considerable talent in rationalizing their social inconsiderateness. However, because these persons reflect minimally on what others think, their defensive maneuvers are transparent, a poor camouflage to a discerning eye. This failure to bother dissembling more thoroughly also contributes to their being seen as cocksure and arrogant.
“Unable to disentangle themselves from lies and inconsistencies and driven by their need to maintain their illusion of superiority, narcissistic persons may begin to turn against others, accusing those others of the deceptions, selfishness, and irrationalities that in fact belong to narcissistic persons. It is at these not very typical times that the fragility and pathology of the narcissistic individual becomes clearly evident. ‘Breakdowns’ in the defensive structure of this personality, however, are not too common. More typically, the exploitive behaviors and intrapsychic maneuvers of narcissistic persons prove highly adaptive and provide them with the means of thwarting serious or prolonged periods of dejection or decompensation.”1
Click on the note number to return to where you were above; click on the author's name to go to the bibliographic entry.1Millon, 1998, pp. 87-88