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PubMed1984

Ego ideal and ideal ego.

A genetic and functional differentiation between the ego ideal and the ideal ego is proposed. This differentiation allows for a more precise characterization and interpretation of ego libido in symptoms and transference. These genetic and functional differentiations of ego ideal and ideal ego can be used to clarify the differing severities of the types of narcissistic disorder: psychosis, borderline personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, from normal maturity. It can also be put to work in refining one's formulation of the narcissistic complications of the classical transference neurosis. This usefulness has been demonstrated in relation to clinical material. In neurosis the ideal ego is a source of symptoms and inappropriate transference demands; in culture it finds embodiment in aggrandized concepts of human nature; in mature adults it is the comforting memory of a vanished splendour.

Ego↗
PubMed1990

The ego ideal.

An outline is given of the varied uses and meanings attributed to the term "ego ideal" in the current literature. The concept is clarified and defined, with special attention to its historical origins. The locus of the ego ideal is placed in the superego, and its structure and function are integrated with those of the superego. Criteria for differentiating superego precursors from superego proper are given, and the importance of the distinction is stressed. The clinical usefulness of these issues is illustrated by clinical examples. In addition, "narcissism" as it pertains to the ego ideal is explored, and there is a discussion of the distinctions between shame and guilt.

Ego↗
PubMed1976

Masochism, the ego ideal, and the psychology of women.

Psychoanalytic advances have led to refinement and reformulation of early models of female personality development. Masochism was taken as a point of departure for a study of the psychology of women and earlier hypotheses of a masochistic and inferior female psychic structure. Masochism is a residue of unresolved infantile conflict and is neither essentially feminine nor a valuable component of mature female function and character. Though the female might be more predisposed to masochism, there is no evidence of particular female pleasure in pain. It is important to distinguish between masochistic suffering as a goal in itself, and tolerance for a discomfort or deprivation in the service of the ego or ego ideal. Initial hypotheses of a diminished female libido, ego tendencies toward arrest and rigidity, relative inability to sublimate, and a deficient superego are incomplete and obsolete theoretical propositions. The female ego and superego are different from but not inferior to the male. Female development cannot be described in a simple reductionism and overgeneralization. Femininity cannot be predominantly derived from a primary masculinity, disappointed maleness, masochistic resignation to fantasied inferiority, or compensation for fantasied castration and narcissistic injury. Castration reactions and penis envy contribute to feminine character, but penis envy is not the major determinant of femininity. Penis envy variously impedes and fosters femininity but penis envy is more closely related to the girl's bisexual masculinity. The female Oedipus complex is central to feminine development, but has significant normative roots in primary and positive feminine identifications and individuation. Contemporary contributions to the psychology of women have emphasized concepts of gender and sexual identity, body image and self-representation, psychosexual response and empathic motherliness, etc. The female superego includes an ego ideal with feminine ideals and values and regulates feminine interests. The maternal ego ideal consolidates overdetermined maternal attitudes, guides the formation and integration of maternal attitudes, and directs the developmental achievement of "the ordinary devoted mother." Conflicts between the maternal ego ideal and infanticidal impulses are ubiquitous and clinically significant. Current theoretical amendments conceptualize mature female autonomy, pride, and self-esteem. Female creativity may be exemplified in many and new forms in addition to motherhood. The capacity to sublimate and to foster sublimation in children is a prerequisite for normal motherhood. Femininity evolves under the influence of parents and culture, with unique developmental challenges and transformations, and a universal psychobiological core linked to functions and roles that should be neither idealized nor devalued.

Ego↗
PubMed2003

[Challenges and risks in the development of the ego ideal in adolescence].

The author proposes to speak of representations concerning the ideal self, the ideal relationship, the ideal society instead of ego ideal. An active self develops ideals and uses them as standards for orientation, to regulate the affects, and to fulfill needs. The different ideals often do not fit together and are therefore difficult to realize. Adolescents normally refuse their parents' ideals and create new ones with the help of their peers. This developmental step is full of challenges and risks as will be explained in this article.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Freud's ego ideals: a study of admired modern historical and political personages.

It is appropriate to conclude this study with a statement that characterizes Freud and his search for particular models, and this is: "A genius chooses his family from among heroes." His historical heroes were Cromwell, Napoleon, Masséna, Garibaldi, Bismarck, Adler, Lasalle, Lasker, and Wilson. Of course, toward many of these figures, Freud was also ambivalent. Yet these leaders have certain common denominators. In various degrees, they may be characterized as progressive, secular, and anti-Catholic. Moreover, they all had spectacular careers, stood up against great odds, and in many instances had serious conflicts with their fathers or men in authority. These leaders had a special significance for Freud, and their selection is representative not only of his own personal dynamics, but also of his historical milieu. His ego ideals demonstrate that Freud was ambitious and had partisan political feelings and concerns. In some cases the choice of the ego ideals stemmed from his ambivalent feelings toward his father and his particular resolution of the oedipal situation. Also very significant is the fact of Freud's Jewish heritage and the anti-Semitism he experienced as a citizen of the Hapsburg Empire. Moreover, Freud was always sensitive about the power and the influence of the Catholic church. Still another reason for his selection of widely scattered figures with whom to identify is the broadening influence of his classical education. In addition, being gifted linguistically, he was able to transcend a parochial environment. In general then, Freud's ego ideals reveal that he was informed politically and historically and that he regarded these men as promoting policies that were liberating.

Austria↗
PubMed1988

Paranoia and the ego-ideal: death of a salesman's son.

Since Freud's (1911) explication of the nature of paranoia, much has been written concerning the dynamic underpinnings of the illness but less have been detailed regarding its manifestations structurally. This essay, with its case illustration, attempts to detail the relationship between paranoia and the ego-ideal. Both Blos' (1974) ideas on the negative Oedipus complex and Kohut's (1966) ideas on the developmental line of narcissism prove to be useful ways of linking the clinical picture of paranoia to the psychic structure of the ego-ideal. Both technical aspects of treatment as well as theoretical understandings are explored.

Ego↗
PubMed1997

Culture and ego-ideal in suicide: an adult case.

A case is presented in which the patient's self-expectations, arising from his ego ideal, were violated by a conflict with his wife, who came from a different culture and did not share his marital and family values. When she left him he was devastated, not only by the loss of his family, but by the destruction of his ideal vision of himself as a husband and father. A dangerous suicide attempt followed. The psychodynamic formulation of the case and the treatment that followed from it are discussed.

Culture↗
PubMed1993

On ambiguity, confusion and the ego ideal.

This paper discusses the problem of ambiguity as a form of narcissistic resistance that alters the meaning of words and hinders communication and access to the unconscious. The ego uses ambiguity to avoid and project confusion. Pathological ambiguity is differentiated from other forms of ambiguity which do not hinder communication. Though they share a common element--oscillation between two opposites--the mechanism involved in this form of ambiguity differs from the mechanism involved in thought processes, ambivalence and metaphor. Two examples are used to investigate the problem of ideals and ego splitting. Ambiguity corresponds to a disorder whereby two contradictory ideals co-exist within the ego ideal. One ideal fixes the discovery of the unconscious as a goal. The other ideal over-values acting out. The result is that the ego tends to obtain self-esteem through goals that lead to error and it is this quest for error that sustains the feeling of omnipotence.

Communication↗
PubMed1976

Some thoughts on the ego ideal. A contribution to the study of the "illness of ideality".

Man searches continuously for the time when he was his own ideal--a time that is coincident with primary fusion with the mother. The fantasy of this fusion underlies the incest wish. Because of his helplessness, the child must postpone the realization of his incest wish and project it forward into the future. However, if the subject chooses the pathway of the oedipus complex and identification with the father to realize his incestuous fantasy, circumstance may lead him to circumvent the oedipal shpere and, through the mechanisms of regression, return to the mother of primary fusion. As in Aesop's adage, the ego ideal is at the source of the best and the worst of things.

Ego↗
PubMed1986

Female ego ideal conflicts in adulthood.

A woman's early development, including the unique mother-daughter bonding, the development of her body image, her castration and annihilation fears, and the interaction with her father, causes specific conflicts when she comes to make choices about motherhood and career. She struggles with disrupting and changing the early mother-daughter bond, with her belief that she should be able to accomplish what she expects of herself without help, with her priorities of relatedness to others as she deals with a larger number of people. She struggles with assertion and anger in her self-interest and with ego ideal expectations that demand she have infinite patience and caring for others.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

The "incompatible idea" revisited: the oft-invisible ego-ideal and shame dynamics.

The observation that incompatibility with conscience initiates deployment of defense goes back to Freud's conceptualization of the "incompatible idea" put forward in Studies on Hysteria. In this view, consciousness itself, insofar as it gives rise to painful affect resulting from conflict with the conscience, is the cornerstone for dynamic thinking, first as regards repression of traumatic memory and later for dynamic thinking generally. Subsequent discoveries about the conscience tended to give rise to pars pro toto thinking in which the new discovery replaced rather than added to the basic notion of conscience. Such pars pro toto imbalance exists in full force in psychoanalytic thinking today: Modern conflict theory privileges the postoedipal retaliative aspect of the conscience, as Kleinian thinking does for the preoedipal projective aspects of retaliation. Neither conceptualizes shame adequately. Kohut appreciated the role of shame, but discarded the notion of incompatibility with the ego-ideal. The incompatible idea model still provides an all-inclusive model for conceptualizing the conscience in the context of intrapsychic conflict.

Consciousness↗
PubMed1997

Primary femininity, bisexuality, and the female ego ideal: a re-examination of female developmental theory.

While the concept of primary femininity advances our understanding of the girl's developmental experience, a number of contradictions and problematic assumptions are at the present time contained within this concept. I propose that we use the phrase "primary sense of femaleness" to refer to the girl's earliest sense of self deriving from the mental representation of her body. In addition, I argue that the concepts of a primary sense of femaleness and of a bisexual matrix are not mutually exclusive; an early sense of self located in a female body can co-exist with the fantasy of potential unlimited by gender. Finally, I examine the role of the mother as ego ideal for the girl.

Aggression↗