On Narcissism, Evolution and Group Dynamics: A Tribute to Malcolm Pines

Abstract

Malcolm Pines was instrumental to the establishment of group analytic training in Norway. My personal relation to Malcolm was coined by our shared interest in self-psychology and group analysis. In this article I take the opportunity to rethink the foundation of narcissism. Heinz Kohut regarded the ultimate source of narcissism to be an innate striving for perfection, which had to be modified and mourned with the help of reliable and good enough selfobjects. An alternative evolutionary perspective leads us to group dynamics. Alfamale behaviour among primates satisfies all criteria for DSM-IV narcissistic personality disorder, except for the overall requirement of being maladaptive. What we label narcissism seems thus to be behavioural tendencies that are linked to our genetic heritage of being primates. If so, narcissism is not the heir of each individual’s striving for perfection, but predominantly a group phenomenon. The case of narcissism indicates, paradoxically, that we possibly harbour an inborn tendency to take a group perspective with respect to own and other’s strivings.