Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 

About: Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association is an academic journal published by SAGE Publishing. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Psychoanalytic theory & Countertransference. It has an ISSN identifier of 0003-0651. Over the lifetime, 4381 publications have been published receiving 69271 citations. The journal is also known as: American Psychoanalytic Association. Journal.

Forms and Transformations of Narcissism

Abstract: LTHOUGH in theoretical discussions it will usually not be disputed that narcissism, the libidinal investment of the self? is A per se neither pathological nor obnoxious, there exists an understandable tendency to look at i t with a negatively toned evaluation as soon as the field of theory is left. Where such a prejudice exists it is undoubtedly based on a comparison between narcissism and object love, and is justified by the assertion that it is the more primitive and the less adaptive of the ttvo forms oE libido distribution. I believe, however, that these views do not stem primarily from an objective assessment either of the developmental position or of the adaptive value of narcissism, but that they are due to the improper intrusion of the altruistic value sys-

Introspection, Empathy, and Psychoanalysis An Examination of the Relationship between Mode of Observation and Theory:

Abstract: Man and animals investigate their surroundings with the aid of the sensory organs; they listen, smell, watch, and touch; they form cohesive impressions of their surroundings, remember these impressions, compare them, and develop expectations on the basis of past impressions. Man's investigations become ever more consistent and systematic, the scope of the sensory organs is increased through instrumentation (telescope, microscope), the observed facts are integrated into larger units (theories) with the aid of conceptual thought bridges (which, themselves, cannot be observed), and thus evolves gradually, by imperceptible steps, the scientific investigation of the external world.