Psychology Words: Narcissism
June 16th, 2008[Moderator note: This is the third post for June 2008 from our Director, Dr. Eric Johnson (Southern Seminary)]
The term “narcissism” deserves careful analysis from a Christian standpoint. In popular culture, it means a trait of self-centeredness and has negative connotations. However, contributors to object relations theory and self psychology have suggested that humans are born with narcissism, and if children are properly affirmed and challenged, they will grow up with healthy narcissism, that helps them meet their needs and realize their goals, while relating lovingly to others and respecting their needs and goals as well. Problems arise, they suggest, when children are not properly affirmed and challenged, leading them, in extreme cases, to develop narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), which is characterized by an inappropriate sense of self-importance and superiority over others, yet a strong need to be appreciated by others, and a pronounced sensitivity to criticism, all of which illustrates an ongoing effort to repair oneself from earlier relational deprivation.
The following are a few reasons why I think Christians should avoid using the word narcissism in a positive sense, as in “healthy narcissism.”
1) Narcissism was derived from the myth of Narcissus. He was a good-looking lad who fell in love with his image in a pool, became fixated with it, and fell into the pool and drowned. So the origins of the term suggest something unhealthy.
2) Sin is the biblical word for the native self-centeredness with which all humans are born. So narcissism would seem to be a good psychological word for this aspect of sin.
3) Christians have also historically recognized (e.g., Augustine, Jonathan Edwards) that God loves himself supremely. However, his self-love is Trinitarian, consisting of the mutual love of the trinity, so God’s self-love is intrinsically relational. For these and other reasons, we would never say that God is narcissistic in his self-love. Such Christians also concluded that God designed humans with a legitimate self-regard or self-love, similar to the self-preservation instinct of animals, and considered this to be part of the image of God, picturing the self-love that characterizes God, particularly as it develops into neighbor love. However, humans are to love God supremely (like God loves himself) and themselves and others secondarily (like God loves his creation).
4) Sin, however, has distorted and perversely radicalized our created self-love, resulting in a universal narcissism that promotes self above all else and therefore resists God’s supremacy.
5) Improper parenting can aggravate these conditions, resulting in NPD.
6) But the “healthy narcissism” found in “normal” humans, who live as the center of their universe and neglect their Creator, is ultimately no better, no healthier from a Christian standpoint.
7) Therefore, we ought to clearly distinguish sin’s distorted self-love from God’s design for humans. One way to do so would be to use the term narcissism only for that which is always unhealthy and antithetical to the theocentric orientation for which God designed humans, reserving it for the inappropriate self-centeredness of humans that flows from sin, including its distortions in NPD as well as the motivational orientation of apparently “healthy” humans who seek to live independently of God, using other terms—like self-regard or legitimate self-love—for good, God-created motives.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Attending, as I do, a secular university, posts like this are a breath of fresh air. I am looking forward to reading the other “psychology words” posts.
October 31st, 2008 at 11:14 am
I believe this website would do the public and legitimate Christian Counselors a profound disservice if there were not some commentary on psychopathic personalities misuing the word of God to justify continued sin. In my practice I have only far too often encountered pseudo-Christians who rationalize “bad behavior” (i.e. sin) with Scripture, false confessionals and false repentence, while continuing to engage in the same destructive behavior patterns, despite rationalizing and justifying when it is convenient and self-serving to do so. They are aware of the harm they are creating, yet they promolgate the very evil they so eloquently pontificate. In my opinion, a lack of empathy is the very essence of evil. Listen to the BEHAVIOR of people while honoring the WORD of God. Too many people are misusing this site to further their own skewed agenda while lying to themselves and manipulating a favorable yet false public image. Psychology, when done ethically and properly, honors God and in my opinion, is one of the most spiritual of experiences.
November 4th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
One of the insane things about this world is that some of its best features are used for the worst of purposes. Religion stands as the supreme example. So you are fundamentally correct. The greatest irony in all human history is that some of most seemingly devout worshipers of God at that time killed his Son when he came to earth. Things have not changed so much since then. The challenge in the face of such perversity is to not become overwhelmed by it, for its tremendous evil has the power to suck us into itself and drive us to fight against it with weapons of enmity and strife ourselves. We do need to address such issues in the Society. Thank you for reminding us of this. But we also want to do so in the way that Christ did, by overcoming it with his courageous, resilient, redemptive love. Ultimately, God’s love that destroys our sin, expressed in the cross, will over time overcome the hypocrisy that corrupts all Christian activity, more or less, through the power of the resurrection, by which God conquered sin and death. We welcome you to help us in this journey.
November 6th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Katherine,
I don’t understand what you are saying. Will you please give me some examples? How have you seen psychopathic personalities justify themselves with Scripture? Are you using the term “psychopathic personality” as a synonym with “personality disorder?” If not,what is your definition? What are the ways you have have seen, or could conceive of people using this site as a prop for self-delusion?
November 7th, 2008 at 9:41 am
Yes, I am happy to clarify. And, yes, unfortunately I have experienced this professionally, personally and now on this site.
The DSM at present does not recognize “psychopathic personalities,” but that is not to say they do not exist. Psychopathic personalities (PERSONALITY DIDORDERED) manifest a specific cluster of traits which allows them to organize their psychological makeup around a plethora of defenses, supporting ongoing grandisIty, omnipotence, entitlement, lack of empathy, glibness, superficial charm, pathological lying, manipulations, etc. (Hmmm…sounds like a personality profile of Satan does it not?) The intent of this behavior is to exploit an opportunity and use an individual and/or cause for narcissistic supply. I am seeing attacks being made on Christian Counselors operating under the “ruse” of a pseudo or false religion. As if a psychopath would have insights into actual spirituality, given that they are morally bankrupt and manifest the very essence of evil.
True Christians attempt to integrate their words with their actions and develop a system of ethics based upon INTEGRITY with the WORD OF GOD. Pseudo-Christians (i.e. psychopaths impersonating true Christians), in contrast, misuse the word of God to justify bad behavior: ie. “I am a sinner; a work in progress.” Let’s take lying as an example: to repeatedly lie to conceal ones’s true intentions, then excuse the lie, while continuing to manipulate with additional lies. In other words, they manipulate the word of God to justify and rationalize pathological behavior which exploits/deceives/cons other people, while attacking and criticizing good people on this site with good intentions. So they lie, hurt with the lie, justify the lie, and continue to lie and then rationalize this with the belief that “we all lie.” There is vitually NO ACCOUNTABILITY NOR RESPOSIBILITY for one’s behavior.
It is a misuse of this site to attack it as being deceptive and manipulatory. Wolves in sheeps clothing or psychopaths impersonating Christians would be well served to look in the mirror and study their projections first. I am weary of having the noble profession of psychology attacked for being a false religion by truly evil individuals who are profoundly delusional in their inability to do a self-study of their own psychology, yet take free license in evaluating the motivations of others.
This site is attempting to educate, challenge and enlighten. Any arrogant psychopath who dares to allege that this site lies about its’ actual intent should look in the mirror at their own false projections. In defense of this site, I believe the intent is to help, not harm. And I will not tolerate the duplicitous attempts to manipulate the audience into believing otherwise. It would serve these folks well to first look in the mirror, take a fearless moral inventory and then genuinely repent before projecting their own inner evil onto the good people affiliated with this site.
November 30th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
I too, echo the thoughts and perplexing questions concerning Katherine’s statements. I’m entirely unclear as to how one might go about “misusing the word of God to justify sin”?. Katherine, I’m presuming you’re a sincere Christian and might provide a Scriptural context or even a prooftext to better support your statements. I’ve never seen such assertions and claims. Where might you have somehow read where a person has seemingly made allegations of the site lying about it’s actual intentions? I’m concerned. Are we seeing some sort of quixotic maneuver?