Narcissism of small differences

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Narcissism of small differences is a term coined by Sigmund Freud in 1917, based on the earlier work of British anthropologist Ernest Crawley^{[citation needed]}. The term describes the manner in which our negative feelings are sometimes directed at people who resemble us, while we take pride from the "small differences" that distinguish us from them.^{[citation needed]}

The term appeared in Civilization and Its Discontents (1929-1930)^[1] in relation to the application of the inborn aggression in man in ethnic conflict.

Glen O. Gabbard, M.D. suggested Freud's "Narcissism of Small Difference" provides a framework within which to understand that in a loving relationship there can be a need to find, and even exaggerate, differences in order to preserve a feeling of separateness and self. ^[2]

A similar concept is the Uncanny Valley created by Masahiro Mori.^{[citation needed]}

This concept is sometimes invoked in the political realm to explain the intensity of disputes between groups of (usually very small and extreme) factions - for example, Maoists and Stalinists - whose actual differences with one another would appear to outsiders to be marginal.

[edit] Further reading

An Interview With Freud Biographer Peter D. Kramer by Paul Comstock, April 3rd, 2007
Group Psychology and Political Theory, By C. Fred. Alford, pages 40-42, Published 1994, Yale University Press, ISBN 0300059582
Michael Ignatieff, "The Narcissism of Minor Difference," in The Warrior's Honor: Ethnic War and the Modern Conscience, pages 34-71 Published 1997, Henry Holt and Co., ISBN 0805055193