Arrogance: Developmental, Cultural, and Clinical Realms

205 Pages·2018·3.52 MB·English

by  Salman Akhtar

Arrogance
Arrogance as a specific constellation of affect, fantasy, and behavior has received
little attention in psychoanalysis. This is striking in light of the enormous amount
of literature accumulated on the related phenomenon of narcissism. Rectifying this
omission, the book in your hands addresses arrogance from multiple perspectives.
Among the vantage points employed are psychoanalysis, evolutionary psychology,
cross-cultural anthropology, fiction, as well as clinical work with children and
adults. The result is a harmonious gestalt of insight that is bound to enhance the
clinician’s attunement to the covert anguish of those afflicted with arrogance.
Salman Akhtar, MD, is Professor of Psychiatry at Jefferson Medical College and
a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia.
Ann Smolen, PhD, is a Training and Supervising Analyst at the Psychoanalytic
Center of Philadelphia.

Arrogance
Developmental, Cultural, and
Clinical Realms
Salman Akhtar and Ann Smolen
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2018 selection and editorial matter, Salman Akhtar and Ann
Smolen; individual chapters, the contributors
Chapter 10 has been previously published under the title
“Humility” in the American Journal of Psychoanalysis 78: 1–27, 2018.
It is being reprinted here with the editor’s and the publisher’s
permission.
The right of Salman Akhtar and Ann Smolen to be identified
as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for
their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted
or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1-78220-666-8 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-0-42942-968-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To
Müge Alkan
&
Ted Hicks
Not only because they lack arrogance . . .

Contents
Acknowledgements ix
About the editor and contributors x
Introduction xv
Prologue 1
1 The realm of arrogance 3
SALMAN AKHTAR
PART I
Developmental realm 23
2 An evolutionary hypothesis on arrogance 25
KATHRYN ANN BASELICE AND J. ANDERSON THOMSON, JR.
3 Arrogance of children and adolescents 46
ANN SMOLEN
4 Defensive arrogance in adult philanderers 58
JEROME S. BLACKMAN
PART II
Cultural realm 75
5 Arrogance in text and in context 77
APURVA SHAH
6 Literary portrayals of arrogance 89
NILOFER KAUL
viii Contents
PART III
Clinical realm 101
7 Arrogance and aloneness 103
KATHLEEN ROSS
8 Arrogance in countertransference 115
DHWANI SHAH
9 Managing arrogance in child analysis 130
SUSAN SHERKOW
Epilogue 146
10 The realm of humility 147
SALMAN AKHTAR
References 167
Index 182
Acknowledgements
We are deeply grateful to the distinguished colleagues who contributed to this
volume. We appreciate their effort, their sacrifice of time, and their patience
with our requirements, reminders, and requests for revisions. We are thankful to
Dr. Steven Gordon for some important bibliographic assistance, and to Ms. Jan
Wright for her skillful help in preparing the manuscript of this book, and to Oliver
Rathbone and Kate Pearce for their unerring support of this project throughout
various phases of publication.
Salman Akhtar & Ann Smolen