CriticaLink | Freud: On Narcissism | Terms

As the mind develops and the ego emerges as a negotiator between the instincts of the id and the conditions of the real world, the individual also becomes aware of the standards, values, and prohibitions of his or her social environment. These standards produce an image of a perfect self, which the mind holds up as a goal for the ego: the ideal ego. The superego works to maintain this image in the ego. Achievements that conform to the ideal ego--often attained by means of the repression of conflicting impulses from the id--result in the self-satisfaction of secondary narcissism.

• Adler, Alfred
• Bleuler, Eugen
• Busch, Wilhelm
• Ferenczi, Sándor
• Heine, Heinrich
• Jung, Carl Gustav
• Kraepelin, Emil

• anaclitic object choice
• anxiety neurosis
• cathexis
• Cogito
• dementia praecox
• erotogenicity
• hypochondria
• hysteria
• idealization
• instinct
• introversion
• libido
• narcissism
• narcissistic object choice
• neurasthenia
• neurosis
• Oedipus complex
• paraphrenia
• primary narcissism
• retrogression
• schizophrenia
• sublimation
• superego
• transference neuroses
• Umwelt
• vicissitude