ABSTRACT
Freud’s (1923) introduction to the tripartite (or structural) model did not mark the end of the emphasis placed on instincts in his topographical frame of reference. His sequence of stages of libidinal development remained the cornerstone of his theory until the introduction of ego psychology by Heinz Hartmann (1946), first in Vienna and then in New York. A crucial advance proposed by Hartmann was that of secondary autonomy (1950). He illustrated how behaviors observed in adulthood could not be traced back to childhood in terms of their function. Thus, proximity seeking may be rooted in the mother–infant relationship, but in adulthood it may be put to quite a different purpose than the one for which it was originally established. To assume such equivalence, a common assumption at the time, Hartmann suggested was a genetic fallacy (Hartmann 1955). The autonomous ego was likely to adapt behaviors in the service of optimizing current adjustment.
