ABSTRACT
This chapter is rooted in a dialogue that I had with Sidney Blatt over 15 years ago, when he read an earlier draft of it that I submitted as part of my application for a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale Medical School. In my interview for the position, Sid told me right off the bat that he liked the paper very much and even wished he had written it himself. He then gave me a paper (Blatt 1983) that he had written, ``Narcissism and Egocentrism as Concepts in Individual and Cultural Development,'' that illuminated some of the problematic areas of my own paper, and that enabled me ®nally to ®nish it. In that ®rst dialogue I was introduced to the spirit of generosity and generativity that characterizes Sid's role as a mentor. The two lines of development, relatedness and self-de®nition, that have been so fundamental to his theoretical and research investigations have also guided his relationships with the many students and colleagues whom he has mentored over the years. It is with gratitude for all the ways in which my relationship with Sid has enhanced my own capacity for relatedness and self-de®nition that I offer this chapter.
