242 Part II Psychodynamic Theories
Necrophilia
The term “necrophilia” means love of death and usually refers to a sexual perversion
in which a person desires sexual contact with a corpse. However, Fromm (1964, 1973)
used necrophilia in a more generalized sense to denote any attraction to death. Necro-
philia is an alternative character orientation to biophilia. People naturally love life,
but when social conditions stunt biophilia, they may adopt a necrophilic orientation.
Necrophilic personalities hate humanity; they are racists, warmongers, and
bullies; they love bloodshed, destruction, terror, and torture; and they delight in
destroying life. They are strong advocates of law and order; love to talk about
sickness, death, and burials; and they are fascinated by dirt, decay, corpses, and
feces. They prefer night to day and love to operate in darkness and shadow.
Necrophilous people do not simply behave in a destructive manner; rather,
their destructive behavior is a reflection of their basic character. All people behave
aggressively and destructively at times, but the entire lifestyle of the necrophilous
person revolves around death, destruction, disease, and decay.Malignant Narcissism
Just as all people display some necrophilic behavior, so too do all have some
narcissistic tendencies. Healthy people manifest a benign form of narcissism, that
is, an interest in their own body. However, in its malignant form, narcissism
impedes the perception of reality so that everything belonging to a narcissistic
person is highly valued and everything belonging to another is devalued.
Narcissistic individuals are preoccupied with themselves, but this concern is
not limited to admiring themselves in a mirror. Preoccupation with one’s body
often leads to hypochondriasis, or an obsessive attention to one’s health. Fromm
(1964) also discussed moral hypochondriasis, or a preoccupation with guilt about
previous transgressions. People who are fixated on themselves are likely to inter-
nalize experiences and to dwell on both physical health and moral virtues.
Narcissistic people possess what Horney (see Chapter 6) called “neurotic
claims.” They achieve security by holding on to the distorted belief that their
extraordinary personal qualities give them superiority over everyone else. Because
what they have—looks, physique, wealth—is so wonderful, they believe that they
need not do anything to prove their value. Their sense of worth depends on their
narcissistic self-image and not on their achievements. When their efforts are criti-
cized by others, they react with anger and rage, frequently striking out against their
critics, trying to destroy them. If the criticism is overwhelming, they may be unable
to destroy it, and so they turn their rage inward. The result is depression, a feeling
of worthlessness. Although depression, intense guilt, and hypochondriasis may
appear to be anything but self-glorification, Fromm believed that each of these
could be symptomatic of deep underlying narcissism.Incestuous Symbiosis
A third pathological orientation is incestuous symbiosis, or an extreme dependence
on the mother or mother surrogate. Incestuous symbiosis is an exaggerated form
of the more common and more benign mother fixation. Men with a mother fixation