ABSTRACT
In a way, it seems that the impetus to seize the manipulative position in interaction is born of a pervasive need to be socially, situationally essential. The TAT suggested the panic and furor that can arise at the prospect of displacement in the most basic group, interpersonal setting. Situational activism and control become the self-tonic for temporarily offsetting a diminished, and potentially even fragmented, sense of self. Grandiosity and insecurity inhabit the same inner emotional space. The psychoanalytic position on the nature of the group as an actor seems characterized by a greater degree of explicit position taking regarding the uniqueness of the group. Arguments for the heuristic value of conceptualizations reflecting such choices are at best self-evident and at worst self-serving. Etheredge also suggested a possible thematic continuity among no less than 13 other independent strands of personality research across the psychological research spectrum, if they are viewed in terms of their potential compatibility with themes of narcissism.
