How Narcissist Experiences False Self

Narcissist misidentifies False Self as his only and true self. False Self provides all ego functions and sense of continuity.

Ego's synthetic function.

false self

secondary process

Secondary process thinking.

Narcissists have no ego. Ego death means narcissism.

Ego functions include: reality testing, impulse control, emotional regulation, judgment, object relations, cognitive processes, defense mechanisms, and a synthetic function.

False Self: locus of self-concept and target of co-idealization.

The False Self replaces the narcissist’s True Self and is intended to shield him from hurt and narcissistic injury by self-imputing omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence (godlike attributes).

The narcissist pretends that his False Self is real and demands that others affirm this confabulation.

The False Self re-interprets information in a flattering or socially-acceptable light and also imitates and emulates normal emotions and empathy.

The False Self has many functions. The two most important are:

1. It serves as a decoy;

2. The False Self is misrepresented by the narcissist as his True Self.

These roles are crucial to survival and to the proper psychological functioning of the narcissist.

The two Selves are not part of a continuum.

Mask [Goffman], persona [Jung] not False Self, which is mostly subconscious, depends on outside feedback, and is compulsive.

The False Self is an adaptive reaction to pathological circumstances. But its dynamics make it predominate, devour the psyche and prey upon the True Self. Thus, it prevents the efficient, flexible functioning of the personality as a whole.

In a full-fledged narcissist, the False Self imitates the True Self. To do so artfully, it deploys two mechanisms: Re-Interpretation and Emulation.

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