Sigmund Freud's Theory Of Narcissism

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Still, some narcissistic people gravitate towards religion in order to be praised by followers, exploit for personal gain, or dominate others (Sandage & Moe, 2012; Kernberg, 2014). In essence, what Sandage and Moe (2012) refer to as exterior religiosity (e.g. structure, benefit, and gain) are what often attracts narcissists to organized religion. For instance, several religious organizations are comprised of layers of hierarchy in which narcissists can entrench themselves, several church leaders have abused their posts for personal gain, and some organizations offer rewards for the faithful–such as the early Mormon Church’s offer of bigamy, worlds like the Earth for the deceased, and to eventually become god-like when one dies (Young, 1852). …show more content…

From the beginning of modern psychological thought, Sigmund Freud’s theory of psychosexual development was heavily influenced by sexist idea of his day (Berzoff, 2011). It is not surprising that the majority of psychological research in the U.S. is conducted on those who have enough wealth and time to partake in said studies (i.e. middle class Caucasians). Likewise, several clinicians in the past few decades have conducted studies on the effects of one’s demographics on possible diagnoses (Adler, Drake, & Teague, 1990; Cale & Lilienfeld, 2002; Samuel & Widiger, 2009; Widiger & Spitzer, 1991). Of those who have sought out inconsistencies in psychological diagnoses, Adler, Drake, and Teague (1990) researched the implications of the diagnosis of Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD), NPD, and a patient’s …show more content…

psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and mental health nurses). The profile only differed in one regard, the sex of the patient may have been either male or female. The researchers asked the 46 professionals to assess the patient as having no personality disorder traits, specific personality disorder traits, or a specific (DSM-III) personality disorder(s) (Adler, Drake, & Teague, 1990). Although the clinical profile fit the criteria for several personality disorders from the then DSM-III, BPD and NPD were the most prevalent diagnoses of the pseudo-patient (roughly half), while one-quarter of the professionals diagnosed the pseudo-patient with HPD (Adler, Drake, & Teague, 1990). More importantly, the majority of the NPD diagnoses were assigned to the male pseudo-patient while the majority of HPD diagnoses were assigned to the female pseudo-patient (Adler, Drake, & Teague, 1990). Although it can be argued that the criteria for personality disorders have changed three times since 1990, a more recent study has shown the existence of sexism in the diagnoses of personality disorders such as BPD and APD (Samuel & Widiger,

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