The International Journal of Psychoanalysis

ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ripa20

A brief history of the super-ego with an

introduction to three papers

Heinz Weiss

To cite this article: Heinz Weiss (2020) A brief history of the super-ego with an introduction
to three papers, The International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 101:4, 724-734, DOI:
10.1080/00207578.2020.1796073

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00207578.2020.1796073

Published online: 18 Aug 2020.

Submit your article to this journal

Article views: 417

View related articles

View Crossmark data

Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at

https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ripa20
INT J PSYCHOANAL
2020, VOL. 101, NO. 4, 724–734
https://doi.org/10.1080/00207578.2020.1796073

EDUCATION SECTION

A brief history of the super-ego with an introduction to three

papers
Heinz Weiss

ABSTRACT KEY WORDS

The paper gives a survey of the origin of the concept of the super- super-ego; psychoanalytic
ego in Freud’s work and its further elaboration within the different tradition; psychoanalytic
psychoanalytic traditions. It introduces three papers on the social psychology
perverse and psychotic super-ego, the development of the
concept in Bion’s work and its significance for psychoanalytic
social psychology.

Although the term ‘super-ego’ does not appear in Freud’s writings until 1923, the precur-
sors of the concept are clearly already detectable much earlier. Their traces date back to
the function of ‘judgement’ in his ‘Project of a Scientific Psychology’ (Freud 1950a [1895])1,
to the ‘critical instance’ of the preconscious in Freud’s first topography (Freud 1900a,
p. 539-540) and, in particular, to the function of the ego ideal in his paper on narcissism
(Freud 1914c). Here he postulates the formation of a narcissistic structure, the ideal ego
(p. 93), and the existence of a “special psychical agency”, the ego ideal, “which (…) con-
stantly watches the actual ego and measures it by that ideal “(p. 95). He assumed that
the conscience works in this way as a “watchman” (p. 96). The origins of conscience,
which had already been hypothesised two years earlier in ‘Totem and Taboo’, lay in the
incest taboo, castration anxiety and the identification with a powerful paternal authority
as the source of social norms and ethical values (Freud 1912-1913a, p. 141 ff.). Freud
further elaborated the idea of a “separation of the ego from the ego ideal” in Chapter
XI of ‘Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego’ (Freud 1921c).
Clinically, the experiences with obsessional neurosis (Freud 1909d; 1918b) and mel-
ancholia (Freud 1916-1917g) convinced him of the existence of an internal structure
that directs and subjugates the ego to its own demands. The resulting unconscious feel-
ings of guilt are part of a highly organized internal agency, linking the ego ideal with
complex identifications arising from the individual’s ambivalent feelings towards both
parents including elements of remorse and regret. Thus, Freud clearly regarded the
super-ego as the heir of the Oedipus complex (Freud 1933a, p. 70). It is remarkable
however, that he used the term only after the revision of his drive theory and the introduc-
tion of the death instinct (Freud 1920g).
The concept was fully developed three years later in ‘The Ego and the Id’ (Freud 1923b).
Freud describes the super-ego now as one core element of the tripartite psychic structure

CONTACT Heinz Weiss heinz.weiss@rbk.de

1
Already here he attributes the function of judgement to the cathexis of a disparate portion of the ego (Freud 1950a, Ch. 17,
p. 331-332).
© 2020 Institute of Psychoanalysis
 INT J PSYCHOANAL 725

in its relation to the Ego and the Id. He sees its development as arising from a sub-differ-
entiation within the ego2, based on the ego’s earliest identifications, in particular those of
the Oedipus complex. Its function is understood as expressing the individual’s longings,
highest values and role models. But it also has the function of a critical observer, a
source of prohibition and conscience, i.e. as a “representative of the internal world”
(p. 36). The exploration of the conflicts between the ego, the super-ego and the id in
their relation to the demands of external reality provided a new basis for the understand-
ing of neurosis (Freud 1926d), psychosis (Freud 1924b; e) and perversion (Freud 1924c;
1927e). It widened the scope for the examination of defence processes such as negation
(Freud 1925h) and splitting (Freud 1940e), and provided an insight into complex resist-
ances, like the negative therapeutic reaction (Freud 1923b; 1937c).
Perhaps one could say that the super-ego thus became the first internal object to be
explored and studied in detail. Freud mainly understood it in the sense of an introjected
paternal authority that sets boundaries to the ego, directing and criticising it, but also pro-
viding protection and orientation. He describes different pathological configurations of
the super-ego: when there is too much idealisation (narcissism), too much aggression,
as in obsessional neurosis or in melancholia where he says that so much destructivity
has “entrenched itself” in the super-ego that it acts like “a pure culture of the death
instinct” (Freud 1923b, p. 53). Only rarely, however, did Freud return to the loving and pro-
tective aspects of the super-ego. In his paper on humour he reminds us that in humour the
super-ego, whilst often acting as a “severe master”, speaks “such kindly words to the inti-
midated ego” in order to console it and “protect it from suffering”. He adds that this sur-
prising fact “will teach us that we have still to learn a great deal about the super-ego.”
(Freud 1927d, p. 166). Similarly, he had already stated in ‘The Ego and the Id’ that “to
the ego (…) living means to be loved – to be loved by the super-ego” (Freud 1923b, p. 58).
Freud resumes the discussion of the different functions of the super ego in the XXXI of
his ‘New Introductory Lectures on Psychoanalysis’ (Freud 1933a) and in ‘An Outline of Psycho-
Analysis’ (Freud 1940a). Again, he emphasises the role of internalised object relations, but it
is not entirely clear to what extent Freud thought that, apart from introjection, projective
mechanisms might also play a major role in the formation of the super-ego.3 He discusses
in detail the interplay between the life- and death instincts, their fusion, de-fusion and dis-
tribution throughout the super-ego, the ego and the id. Furthermore, he made use of his
new model of the human mind in his cultural analyses (Freud 1921c; 1927c; 1930a). Thus,
the super-ego became not only the first internal object, but also the link between the indi-
vidual psychic structure and the understanding of society and groups.
Freud’s structural model laid the foundations for the understanding of psychopathol-
ogy and the psychoanalytic process (see Jones 1926), thus encouraging further research
and investigation in the following generation of psychoanalysts. Whilst in Ego-Psychology
emphasis was on the strengthening of the ego and its autonomous functions (Hartmann
1939; Rapaport 1951; Joffe, Sandler 1968), the Kleinian tradition examined the early and
primitive manifestations of the super-ego in the analysis of small children as well as in

2
The term “eine Stufe im Ich” – “a grade within the ego” (Freud 1923b, p.28) occurs already in “Group Psychology and the
Analysis of the Ego” (Freud 1921c, p. 129) and could also be translated more literally as a “step” within the ego.
3
In „Civilization and its discontents“ he mentions “that the severity of the super-ego which a child develops in no way cor-
responds to the severity of treatment which he has himself met with“, referring in a footnote to the work of Melanie Klein
(Freud 1930a, p. 489). He returns to the theme in “An outline of psychoanalysis” (Freud 1940 a, p. 205).
726 H. WEISS

Borderline and psychotic adults. Ronald Fairbairn (1944; 1952; 1963) extended Freud’s
model, integrating it into his own theory of endo-psychic structure, which put more
weight on the object relations and refuted the concept of the death instinct. He intro-
duced the term ‘internal saboteur’ and he describes the super-ego as a complex structure
comprising the ideal object (or ego ideal), the anti-libidinal ego and the rejecting (anti-libi-
dinal) object.
As early as 1926, Hermann Nunberg differentiated between the “sense of guilt” and the
“need for punishment” with the latter representing the (self-) destructive activity of
the death instinct. In a later paper, Nunberg (1931) spoke of the “synthetic capacity of
the ego”, which in his view manifests itself as follows: “it assimilates alien elements
(both from within and from without), and it mediates between opposing elements and
even reconciles opposites and sets mental productivity in train.” (p. 129) His description
comes close to the phenomenon described later on by Melanie Klein (1937) as
“reparation”.
Otto Fenichel (1928) also examined the need for punishment. Furthermore, he explored
the “pregenital antecedents” of the Oedipus complex and their role in the “preliminary
phases of the super-ego” (Fenichel 1931, p. 141). Edoardo Weiss (1932) was one of the
first to discuss the role of projective processes in the creation of the super-ego. He
argued that not only are the parental figures introjected, but there are also magical and
omnipotent forms of thinking that come into play. Similarly, Richard Knight (1941)
made the point that “identification (…) is always based on a subtle interaction of both
introjective and projective mechanisms.” (p. 335). Both ideas seem close to the concepts
that were developed within the Kleinian tradition. Gustav Bychowski (1939) discussed
different forms of pathological relationships between the ego and the super-ego.
Within the tradition of Ego-Psychology there were many authors, who dealt with the
relationship between the ego and the super-ego (Federn 1926; Hartmann, Loewenstein
1962; Rangell 1963; Sandler 1974). They focused on developmental aspects (Jacobson
1946; Spitz 1958; Erikson 1959; Ritvo, Solnit 1960), on the differentiation of ego and
super-ego functions in their defensive and adaptive aspects, as well as on the origins of
anxiety and guilt. In contrast to the mainstream, Roy Schafer (1960) in his paper ‘The
Loving and Beloved Superego in Freud’s Structural Theory’ was evocative of these qualities
of the super-ego, which were often underestimated. Anna Freud (1936) further extended
the analysis of defence mechanisms, to include “altruistic surrender” and the “identifi-
cation with the aggressor” as defensive operations of the ego, which can be linked with
the formation of the super-ego. Most of these developments are comprehensively sum-
marised by Joseph Sandler in his paper ‘On the concept of superego’ (Sandler 1960; see
also Sandler 1974). In child and adolescent analysis, Moses and Eglé Laufer (1964; 1981;
1984) undertook important research on the role of the superego in relation to the body
and in adolescent breakdown.
Amongst the authors who had a special interest in the super-ego, Hans Loewald (1962a;
1962b; 1980) stands out with his research on the relationship between the super-ego and
the experience of time. He distinguishes between the ideal ego, the ego-ideal and the
super-ego. In his view, in the development of the mature super-ego (in contrast to the nar-
cissistic ideal ego) ‘psychological time’ is made accessible, thus enabling forward-looking
development, expectation, creativity and hope. He depicts the vulnerability of this process,
 INT J PSYCHOANAL 727

which is so closely linked with “experiences of separation, of loss and restitution”, which
are “in many ways similar to mourning” (Loewald 1962a, p. 484).
Psychoanalytic self-psychology (Kohut 1971) and the theory of narcissism (Kohut 1966;
Grunberger 1965; 1971) focussed on the examination of the ego-ideal and the role of the
idealised object. From the 1950ies onwards, in addition to anxiety and guilt, the role of
shame became increasingly important (Piers, Singer 1953; Lynd 1958; Lewis 1971; Nathan-
son 1987; Broucek 1982; Lansky 1994; Lansky; Morrison 1997), which contributed to the
understanding of the conflicts between ego, super-ego and the outside world (Rothstein
1984; Schore 1991). One author who dealt extensively with the super-ego was Leon
Wurmser (1981; 1991; 2003), who explored the “dilemma” between shame and guilt.
Like other researchers, he underlined the role of early traumatisation in severe super-
ego pathology. Otto Kernberg, whose main focus was on borderline pathology, described
several pathological super-ego formations, on the basis of which he differentiated
between various types of personality disorders (Kernberg 1975; 1984; 2004).
In France, René Laforgue (1927) described the sadism of the super-ego and the
pressure it exerts in order to subjugate and “transform” the ego. He examined the role
of self-punishment in childhood development (Laforgue 1929b) and described the psy-
chopathological manifestations in neurosis, psychosis and character pathology
(Hesnard, Laforgue 1930-31). He also discussed the resistances arising from the super-
ego during psychoanalytic treatment and the resulting technical problems (Laforgue
1929a). Sascha Nacht and Paul Racamier used the concept in their studies on masochism
(Nacht 1938), depression and delusion (Nacht, Racamier 1958; 1959). In 1951, Angelo
Hesnard, who had published together with Laforgue, gave an overview of the develop-
ment of the concept of the super-ego. Later contributions include the work of Bela Grun-
berger on the “precocious super-ego” (Grunberger, Misès 1973), André Green’s (1969)
study on “moral narcissism”, Janine Chasseguet-Smirgel’s (1973) essay on the “illness
of ideality”, the work of Gilbert Diatkine, Francis Pasche and many others. In his structural
approach to psychoanalysis, Jacques Lacan (1953-1954) took up Freud’s differentiation
between the ego-ideal and the ideal ego (Le Sèminaire, Livre I, Ch. XI). He saw the
latter as representing the imaginary picture that the ego creates of himself in the
‘mirror-stage’ (the ‘moi’; Lacan 1949), whereas the ego-ideal comes to stand for the sym-
bolic structure (the symbolic ‘father’).
Clearly, many of these developments, which took place simultaneously in France, Great
Britain, pre-war Germany and America, overlapped and complemented one another.
Amongst the early emigrants who came to England, Melanie Klein’s work with small
children attracted attention within the British Psychoanalytical Society. On the basis of
her clinical experiences (Klein 1932; Frank 1999) and Karl Abraham’s (1924) theoretical fra-
mework, she developed her own ideas about the development of the super-ego. Like
Freud, she sees it as a subdivision of the ego and as a possible source of destructiveness
as well as of loving impulses. In contrast to Freud, however, she dates the origins of the
super-ego back to the early and primitive stages of the Oedipus conflict (Klein 1926;
1928).4 She also emphasizes the interplay between projective and introjective processes
in the creation of the early idealised and threatening figures. In her paper ‘On the develop-
ment of mental functioning’ (1958), Klein summarizes her ideas about the super-ego:

4
A suggestion that had already been made by Ferenczi (1925).
728 H. WEISS

The archaic super-ego originates as a split off part of the ego, which contains the destruc-
tive impulses and thereby protects the integrity of the self. Thus, the primitive super-ego
works in its early stages as a kind of ‘bad bank’. However, as this rudimentary super-ego
structure also takes in elements of the life instincts and loving experiences, it gradually
changes its character. As the process of integration goes on, “the death instinct is
bound, (…) with the result that the action of the super-ego ranges from restraint of
hate and destructive impulses, protection of the good object and self-criticism, to
threats, inhibitory complaints and persecution.” (p. 240).
If the preservative qualities predominate, the sadistic traits of the super-ego fade into
the background. Whilst the archaic super-ego is a threat to the ego, the developing super-
ego increasingly takes on a containment function and transforms persecutory into
depressive guilt. In striving for the preservation of the good object it “comes close to
the actual good mother”, who cares and protects the child from primitive persecutory
anxieties. Although the imposition of privations and prohibitions continues to be part of
its function, the super-ego is now “largely felt as helpful and does not operate as too
harsh a conscience.” (p. 240)
What Klein is describing here is the evolution of the super-ego from a bad bank to a
container and ultimately to an agency that facilitates reparation and thereby contributes
to the development of the ego. This is, in brief, a description of Klein’s basic model of the
super-ego (see Weiss 2020, pp. 47-49). It contains paternal and maternal aspects of the par-
ental couple and gradually replaces paranoid guilt with depressive guilt, which allows for
reparation and psychic development. Klein reminds us however, that the threatening bad
figures always remain alive in the deep unconscious. In her view, there is always and oscil-
lation between the archaic and the mature super-ego as there is an oscillation between
the super-ego and the ego.
Klein’s discoveries were further developed in the following generation, namely by
Hanna Segal, Herbert Rosenfeld and Wilfred Bion. They all worked with Borderline and psy-
chotic adults within the classic psychoanalytic setting. Continuing Klein’s work, Hanna
Segal (1957; 1962; 1964; 1991) examined the transitions between the primitive and the
mature super-ego in relation to reparation and symbol-formation. Herbert Rosenfeld
(1952) gave a detailed account of the super-ego conflict in a schizophrenic patient. He dis-
cussed different constellations of super-ego-pathology in depression, narcissistic and Bor-
derline states, and alongside Donald Meltzer (1967), was one of the first to introduce the
concept of pathological organizations of the personality, when he explored narcissistic
and perverse elements in the formation of the super-ego (Rosenfeld 1959; 1962; 1971;
1978; 1987). Wilfred Bion (1957; 1958; 1959) described a persecutory, “ego-destructive
super-ego”, which denies the use of normal projective identification and attacks linking.
Later on, in ‘Learning from Experience’ (Bion 1962), he took up Klein’s (1957) notion of an
“envious super-ego”5 and introduced –K as a formation which distorts the thirst for knowl-
edge (Klein’s ‘epistemophilic instinct’) into superiority, arrogance and omniscience. He
characterizes –K as a “super” ego, as “an envious assertion of moral superiority without
any morals” (Bion 1962, p. 97).

5
Klein (1957) defines this as follows: „The ‘envious super-ego’ is felt to disturb or annihilate all attempts at reparation and
creativeness. It is also felt to make constant and exorbitant demands on the individual’s gratitude.” (p. 231)
 INT J PSYCHOANAL 729

Later work by Kleinian authors include Ruth Riesenberg-Malcolm’s (1988) paper ‘On the
Constitution and Operation of the Super-Ego’, Edna O’ Shaughnessy’s (1981; 1983; 1999)
exploration of defensive organizations and the “disjunction” of normal and abnormal
super-ego functioning, Ronald Britton’s (2003) reflections on ‘Sex, Death and the Superego’
and Eric Brenman’s (2006) work on the ‘Recovery of the Lost Good Object’.6 In his book
‘Psychic Retreats’, John Steiner (1993) presents a comprehensive theory of pathological
organizations of the personality. His approach contributed to the understanding of the
super-ego as a highly complex organization, which can be conceptualized either as an
interaction of defence mechanisms or as a network of object relations. In a way, this
leads us back to Freud who already in ‘Totem and Taboo’ (1912-13a, p. 89) spoke of a “nar-
cissistic organization”
Amongst the authors who worked with Freud, Jones and Klein from early on, Roger
Money-Kyrle took a special interest in the operation of the super-ego in the individual,
in societies and groups. Already in 1928, he had published his paper ‘Morals and Supermen’
(Money-Kyrle 1928b) and it was in the same year that he presented his first psychoanalytic
book ‘The Meaning of Sacrifice’ (Money-Kyrle 1928a). This publication was followed by his
work on propaganda (Money-Kyrle 1941) and his idea of the harsh super-ego as a “miscon-
ception” under the influence of pathological splitting and projective identification (Money-
Kyrle 1968). In his paper ‘Megalomania’ (Money-Kyrle 1965) he describes the shift from
“intrapsychic paranoia” to “intrapsychic megalomania” which he understands as an usur-
pation of normal super-ego functions by an omnipotent, megalomanic ego.
Similar developments took place within the tradition of the British Independent Group.
Although Michael Balint rarely refers to the term “super-ego”, the theory of the super-ego
seems to stand behind his concept of therapeutic regression (Balint 1959; 1968). Referring
to an expression coined by Ferenczi, he emphasizes that the analyst should not give his
interpretations omnisciently in a style of “super-ego-intropression” (Balint 1968, p. 107).
Donald Winnicott deals with the super-ego in his paper ‘Psychoanalysis and the Sense of
Guilt’ (1958). He suggests that the development of the super-ego is different in girls and
boys. Like Klein, he assumes that a primitive super-ego can already be observed in early
infancy and that the maturational processes involve a transition from anxiety to guilt.
This converges with the emergence of a capacity for ‘concern’ (Winnicott 1963a) and
the development of a more “personal” super-ego (Winnicott 1963b). His paper ‘Ego Distor-
tions in Terms of True and False Self’ (Winnicott 1960) is also closely related to this topic.
Further contributions by analysts of the Independent Group include the work of Ronald
Fairbairn (including his early ideas on the super-ego; see Fairbairn-Birtles, Scharff 1984),
Harry Guntrip (1968) and John Rickman (1957).
In this brief introduction it would be an impossible task to name all those analysts who
have contributed to the theory of the super-ego since the publication of ‘The Ego and the
Id’. It would be similarly impossible to discuss the influence of our understanding of the
super-ego on treatment technique. In his seminal paper ‘The Nature of Therapeutic
Action of Psycho-Analysis’, James Strachey (1934) has linked progress in analysis with
modifications of the archaic super-ego brought about through transference interpret-
ations. In her ‘Lectures on Technique’ Melanie Klein (1936) complained that Freud’s discov-
ery of the super-ego, as well as in particular the knowledge concerning the early

6
For a comprehensive overview of these developments see Spillius, Milon, Garvey, Couve and Steiner (2011, pp. 147-165).
730 H. WEISS

frightening figures had not been sufficiently assimilated into treatment technique. This has
certainly changed over the ensuing decades, but it would nevertheless be interesting to
explore how the concept of the super-ego relates to different technical approaches con-
cerning the transference-situation.
The following three papers deepen and clarify certain aspects of the super-ego. They
also illustrate how the concept has influenced and promoted research in the social
sciences.
In his paper ‘The Perverse and the Psychotic Super-Ego’ Franco de Masi emphasizes the
necessity to differentiate between the primitive super-ego and pathological structures such
as the perverse and the psychotic super-ego, which supersede the normal super-ego. He
sees them as “neo-creations”, as pathological organizations, which often originate from
early traumatic experiences and which obstruct psychic development. Because of the
complexity of the mechanisms that are involved, they are highly resistant against
change. Whilst the cruelty of the primitive super-ego is accessible to transformation
into a more benevolent structure, the perverse and the psychotic super-ego, in the
author’s view, can be neither integrated nor transformed, but must be “deconstructed”
in order to reduce their power over healthier parts of the personality. De Masi refers
here to the work by Rosenfeld, Meltzer and Bion as well as to his own exploration of
the subject (De Masi 1989; 2002).
João Carlos Braga outlines the development of Bion’s concept of the super-ego. Starting
from the ideas of Freud and Klein as well as from his clinical experiences, Bion sets out to
explore the “unknown”. In his theory of thinking, he describes a structure which is opposed
to the acknowledgement of reality and distorts psychic truth. This “ego-destructive super-
ego” dominates the psychotic part of the personality and spreads a sort of propaganda, a
“morality without morals”, which Bion named ‘-K’. Braga shows that Bion’s ideas expand,
rather than replace the theories of Freud and Klein by introducing new clinical tools. At a
later stage of his thinking, Bion postulated the existence of a primitive, innate conscience
that antedates any form of object relations and symbolic thinking. Braga gives a detailed
account of Bion’s late ideas and discusses their relevance for clinical practice.
One can hardly understand Freud’s conception of the super-ego without taking his
social-anthropological perspective into account, which unfolds throughout his work
from ‘Totem and Taboo’ (1912-1913a), ‘Group Psychology and the analysis of the Ego’
(1921c) to ‘Civilization and its Discontents’ (1930a). Vera King and Gunzelin Schmid Noerr
retrace the influence of Freud’s theories in psychoanalytic social psychology from the
very beginning to the present. One focus of their paper is the Frankfurt School (Adorno,
Fromm, Horkheimer) and their studies on the authoritarian character. Together with the
work of Alexander Mitscherlich, these analyses were crucial in the process of mourning
and working through guilt in postwar Germany. The authors place emphasis on the histori-
city and mutability of the super-ego. They argue that not only have the psychoanalytic
concepts of the super-ego contributed to the understanding of social developments,
but also the reverse can be observed: recent trends in postmodern society such as optim-
isation, digitisation and virtual communication have also had an effect on our internal
world and provide new challenges as well as new models for understanding super-ego
functioning.
 INT J PSYCHOANAL 731

References
Abraham, K. (1924). A short story of the development of the libido, viewed in the light of mental dis-
orders. Selected Papers of Karl Abraham. London: Hogarth, 418-501.
Balint, M. (1959). Thrills and Regressions. London: Hogarth.
Balint, M. (1968). The Basic Fault. Therapeutic Aspects of Regression. London. Tavistock.
Bion, W.R. (1957). Differentiation of the psychotic from the non-psychotic personalities. Int J
Psychoanal 38: 266-275.
Bion, W.R. (1958). On Arrogance. Int J Psychoanal 39: 144-146.
Bion, W.R. (1959). Attacks on Linking. Int J Psychoanal 40: 308-315.
Bion, W.R. (1962). Learning from Experience. London: Heinemann.
Brenman, E. (2006). Recovery of the Lost Good Object. London, New York: Routledge
Britton, R. (2003). Sex, Death and the Superego. London, New York: Karnac.
Broucek, F.J. (1982). Shame and its relationship to early narcissistic developments. Int J Psychoanal,
63: 369-378.
Bychowski, G. (1939). Les relations entre le moi et le surmoi. Rev. fr. psychanal. 11: 49-59.
Chasseguet-Smirgel, J. (1973). Essai sur l’idéal du moi: Contribution à l’étude de «la maladie
d’idéalité». Rev. fr. psychanal. 37: 735-929.
De Masi, F. (1989). The super-ego. Rivista Psicoanal., 35: 390-430.
De Masi, F. (2002). Quale Super-Io nella clinica analitica?. Rivista Psicoanal., 48: 517-535.
Erikson, E.H. (1959). Identity and the Life Cycle. New York: International Universities Press.
Fairbairn, W.R.D. (1944). Endopsychic structure considered in terms of object-relationships. Int J
Psychoannal, 25: 70-92.
Fairbairn, W.R.D. (1952). Psycho-Analytic Studies of the Personality. London: Tavistock. New York: Basic
Books.
Fairbairn, W.R.D. (1963). Synopsis of an object-relations theory of the personality. Int J Psychoanal., 44:
224-225.
Fairbairn-Birtles, E., Scharff, D.E (1994, Eds.). From Instinct to Self. Selected Papers bei W.R.D. Fairbairn,
vol. 1, 2. Northvale, London: Jason Aronson.
Federn, P. (1926). Some variations in ego-feeling. Int J Psychoanal. 7: 434-444.
Ferenczi, S. (1925). Psychoanalysis of sexual habits (with contributions about therapeutic technique).
Int. J. Psycho-Anal. 6: 372-404.
Frank, C. (1999): Melanie Klein in Berlin. Her First Psychoanalyses of Children. London, New York:
Routledge 2009.
Freud, A. (1936). The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence. London: Hogarth.
Freud. S. (1900a). The interpretation of dreams. S.E. 4-5.
Freud, S. (1905d). Three essays on the theory of sexuality. S.E. 7, 135-243.
Freud, S. (1912-13a). Totem and Taboo. S.E. 13, 1-161.
Freud, S. (1914c). On Narcissism. An Introduction. S.E. 14, 73-102.
Freud, S. (1916-17g). Mourning and melancholia. S.E. 14, 243-258.
Freud, S. (1921c). Group psychology and the analysis of the ego. S.E. 18, 69-143.
Freud, S. (1923b). The ego and the id. S.E. 19, 12-59.
Freud, S. (1924b): Neurosis and psychosis. S.E. 19, 149-153.
Freud, S. (1924c): The economic problem of masochism. S.E. 19, 159-170.
Freud, S. (1924e): The loss of reality in neurosis and psychosis. S.E. 19, 183-187.
Freud, S. (1925h): Negation. S.E. 19, 235-239.
Freud, S. (1926d): Inhibitions, symptoms and anxiety. S.E. 20, 87-172.
Freud, S. (1927e): Fetishism. S.E 21, 152-157.
Freud, S. (1927c): The future of an illusion. S.E. 21, 5-56.
Freud, S. (1930a): Civilization and its discontents. S.E. 21, 64-145.
Freud, S. (1937c): Analysis terminable and interminable. S.E. 23, 216-253.
Freud, S. (1940a). An outline of psychoanalysis. S.E. 23, 144-207.
Freud, S. (1940e). Splitting of the ego in neurosis and psychosis. S.E 23, 275-283.
Freud, S. (1950a [1895]). Project of a scientific psychology. S.E. I, 295-387.
732 H. WEISS

Green, A. (1969). Le narcissisme moral. Rev. fr. psychanal., 33: 341-374.

Grunberger, B. (1965). Étude sur le narcissisme. Rev. fr. psychanal., 29: 573-588.
Grunberger, B. (1971). Le Narcissisme. Essais de Psychanalyse. Paris: Payot.
Grunberger, B. Misès, R. (1973). Idéal du Moi et surmoi précoce. Rev. fr. psychanal., 37: 959-972.
Guntrip, H. (1968). Schizoid Phenomena, Object-Relations and the Self. London: Hogarth.
Hartmann, H. (1939). Ego Psychology and the Problem of Adaption. New York: International
Universities Press.
Hartmann, H., Loewenstein, M.R. (1962). Notes on the superego. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child 17:
42-81.
Hesnard, A. (1951). Evolution de la notion de surmoi dans la théorie de la psychanalyse. Rev. fr. psy-
choanal. 15: 185-196.
Hesnard, A. Laforgue, R. (1930-1931). Les processus d’auto-punition en psychologie des névroses et
des psychoses, en psychologie criminelle et en pathologie générale. Rev. fr. psychanal., 4: 2-84.
Jacobson, E. (1946). The effect of disappointment on ego and super-ego formation in normal and
depressive development. Psychoanal. Rev. 33: 129-147.
Joffe, W.G., Sandler, J. (1968). Comments on the psychology of adaptation, with special reference to
the role of affects and the representational world. Int J Psychoanal 49: 445-454.
Jones, E. (1926). The origine and structure of the super-ego. Int J Psychoanal 7, 303-311.
Kernberg, O.F. (1975). Borderline Conditions and Patological Narcissism. New York: Jason Aronson.
Kernberg, O.F. (1984). Severe Personality Disorders. New Haven, London: Yale University Press.
Kernberg, O.F. (2004). Aggressivity, Narcissism, and Self-Destructiveness in the Psychotherapeutic
Relationship. New Developments in the Psychopathology and Psychotherapy of Severe Personality
Disorders. New Haven, London: Yale University Press.
Klein, M. (1926). The psychological principles of early analysis. The Collected Writings of Melanie Klein,
vol. 1., 128-138.
Klein, M. (1928). Early stages of the Oedipus conflict. The Collected Writings of Melnie Klein, vol. 1., 186-
198.
Klein, M. (1932). The psycho-analysis of children. The Collected Writings of Melanie Klein, vol. 2.
Klein, M. (1936). Lectures on Technique (ed. Steiner, J.). London, New York: Routledge.
Klein, M. (1937). Love, guilt and reparation. The Collected Writings of Melanie Klein, vol. 1, 306-343.
Klein, M. (1958): On the development of mental functioning. The Collected Writings of Melanie Klein,
vol. 3, 236-246.
Knight, R.P. (1940). Introjection, projection and identification. Psychoanal. Q., 9: 334-341.
Kohut, H. (1966). Forms and transformations of narcissism. J. Amer. Psychoanal. Ass.,14: 242-272.
Kohut, H. (1968). The Analysis of the Self. New York: International Universities Press.
Lacan, J. (1949): The mirror stage as formative of the function of the I as revealed in psychoanalytic
experience. In: Lacan, J.: Ècrits. New York (W.W. Norton) 2006, 75-81.
Lacan, J. (1953-54). Le Séminaire. Livre I. Les Écrits techniques de Freud. Paris: du Seuil 1975.
Laforgue, R. (1927). A propos du surmoi. Rev. fr. psychanal., 1: 76-81.
Laforgue, R. (1929a). Les mécanismes d’autopunition et leur influence sur le caractère de l’enfant. Rev.
fr. psychanal., 3: 735-749.
Laforgue, R. (1929b). Technique psychanalytique active et volonté de guérir. Rev. fr. psychanal., 3:
464-477.
Lansky, M.R. (1994). Shame: contemporary psychoanalytic perspectives. J. Amer. Acad. Psychoanal. 22:
433-441.
Lansky, M.R., Morrison, A.P. (eds.) (1997). The Widening Scope of Shame. Hilsdale, NJ: The Analytic
Press.
Laufer, M. (1964). Ego ideal and pseudo ideal in adolescence. Psychoanal. St. Child 19: 196-221.
Laufer, M.E. (1981). The Adolescent’s use of the body in object relationships and in the transference –
a comparison of borderline and narcissistic modes of functioning. Psychoanal. St. Child, 36: 163-
180.
Laufer, M, Laufer M.E. (1984). Adolescence and Developmental Breakdown. A Psychoanalytic View. New
Haven, London: Yale University Press.
 INT J PSYCHOANAL 733

Loewald, H. W. (1962a). Internalization, Separation, Mourning, and the Superego. Psychoanalytic

Quarterly 31, 483-504.
Loewald, H. W. (1962b). The superego and the ego-ideal. Int J Psychoanal. 43: 264-268.
Loewald, H. W. (1980). Papers on Psychoanalysis. New Haven, London (Yale Universities Press) 1989.
Lynd, H.M. (1958). On Shame and the Search for Identity. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Malcolm-Riesenberg, R. (1988). The Constitution and Operation of the Super Ego. Psychoanal.
Psychother., 3:149-159.
Meltzer, D. (1967): Terror, persecution, dread – a dissection of paranoid anxieties. Int J Psychoanal 48:
396-400.
Miller, S. (1985). The Shame Experience. Hilsday, New Jersey: The Analytic Press.
Money-Kyrle, R. (1928a). The Meaning of Sacrifice. London: Hogarth.
Money-Kyrle, R. (1928b). Morals and super-men. In: Meltzer, D., O’Shaughnessy, E. (eds.). The Collected
Papers of Roger Money-Kyrle. Strath Tay, Perthshire: Clunie Press, 28-37.
Money-Kyrle, R. (1941).The psychology of propaganda. In: Meltzer, D., O’Shaughnessy, E. (eds.). The
Collected Papers of Roger Money-Kyrle. Strath Tay, Perthshire: Clunie Press, 160-175.
Money-Kyrle, R. (1965). Megalomania. In: Meltzer, D., O’Shaughnessy, E. (eds.). The Collected Papers of
Roger Money-Kyrle. Strath Tay, Perthshire: Clunie Press, 376-388.
Money-Kyrle, R. (1968). Cognitive development. In: Meltzer, D., O’Shaughnessy, E. (eds.). The Collected
Papers of Roger Money-Kyrle. Strath Tay, Perthshire: Clunie Press, 416-433.
Morrison, A.P. (1983). Shame, the ideal self, and narcissism. Psychoanal Q. 55, 295-318.
Morrison, A.P. (1989). Shame. The Underside of Narsissism. New York, London: The Analytic Press.
Nacht, S. (1938). Le masochisme: etude historique, clinique, psychogénétique, prophylactique et
thérapeutique. Rev. fr. psychanal. 10: 171-291.
Nacht, S. Racamier, P.C. (1958). Premier rapport: La théorie psychanalytique du délire. Rev. fr. psycha-
nal., 22: 417-574.
Nacht, S. Racamier, P. (1959). Les états dépressifs: étude psychanalytique. Rev. fr. psychanal., 23: 567-
605.
Nathanson, D.L. (ed.) (1987). The Many faces of Shame. New York: Guilford Press.
O’Shaughnessy, E. (1981). A Clinical Study of a Defensive Organization. Int J Psychoanal 62: 359-369.
O’Shaughnessy, E. (1983). Words and Working Through. Int J Psychoanal 64:281-289.
O’Shaughnessy, E. (1999). Relating to the Superego. Int J Psychoanal 80:861-870.
Piers, G., Singer, M.B. (1953). Shame and Guilt. A Psychoanalytic and a Cultural Study. Springfield,
Illinois: Charles C. Thomas.
Rangell, L. (1963) Structural problems in intrapsychic conflict. Psychoanal. Study Child 18, 103-138.
Rapaport, D. (1951). The autonomy of the ego. Bull. Menninger Clin. 15.
Rickman, J. (1957). Selected Contributions to Psychoanalysis. London: Hogarth.
Ritvo, S., Solnit, A.J. (1960). The relationship of early identifications to superego formation. Int. J
Psychoanal 41: 295-300.
Rosenfeld, H.A. (1952). Notes on the psychoanalysis of the super-ego conflict of an acute schizo-
phrenic patient. Int J Psychoanal 33:111-131.
Rosenfeld, H.A. (1959). An investigation into the psychoanalytic theory of depression. Int J Psychoanal
40:105-129.
Rosenfeld, H.A. (1962). The superego and the ego-ideal. Int J Psychoanal 43:258-263.
Rosenfeld, H.A. (1971). A clinical approach to the psychoanalytic theory of the life and death instincts:
an investigation into the aggressive aspects of narcissism. Int J Psychoanal 52:169-178.
Rosenfeld, H.A. (1978). Notes on the psychopathology and psychoanalytic treatment of some border-
line patients. Int J Psychoanal 59:215-221.
Rosenfeld, H.A. (1987). Impasse and Interpretation. Theraputic and Anti-Therapeutic Factors in the
Psychoanalytical Treatment of Psychotic, Borderline and Neurotic Patients. London: Tavistock.
Rothstein, A.M. (1994). Shame and the superego: clinical and theoretical considerations. Psychoanal.
St. Child 49: 263-277.
Sandler, J. (1960). On the concept of the superego. Psychoanal. Study Child 13: 375-404.
Sandler, J. (1974). Psychological conflict and the structural model: some clinical ad theoretical impli-
cations. Int J Psychoanal 55: 53-62.
734 H. WEISS

Schafer, R. (1960). The Loving and Beloved Superego in Freud’s Structural Theory. Psychoanal.
St. Child 15:163-188.
Schore, A.N. (1991). Early superego development: the emergence of shame and narcissistic affect
regulation in the practicing period. Psychoanal. Contemp. Thought, 14: 187-250.
Segal, H. (1957).: Notes on symbol formation. Int J Psychoanal 38: 391-397.
Segal, H. (1962). The Curative Factors in Psychoanalysis. Int J Psychoanal 43: 212-217.
Segal, H. (1964). Melanie Klein: An Introduction to her Work. London: Hogarth Press.
Segal, H. (1991). Dream Phantasy and Art. London. New York: Routledge.
Spillius, E.B., Milton, J., Garvey, P., Couve, C., Steiner, D. (2011). The New Dictionary of Kleinian Thought.
London, New York: Routledge.
Spitz, R.A. (1958). On the genesis of the superego. Psychoanal. Study Child 13: 375-404.
Steiner, J. (1993). Psychic Retreats. Pathological Organisations in Psychotic, Neurotic and Borderline
Patients. London, New York: Routledge.
Strachey, J. (1934). The nature of therapeutic action of psycho-analysis. Int J Psychoanal. 15: 127-159.
Weiss, E. (1932). Regression and projection in the super-ego. Int J Psychoanal 13: 449-478.
Weiss, H. (2020). Trauma, Guilt and Reparation. The Path from Impasse to Development. London,
New York: Routledge.
Winnicott, D.W. (1958). Psychoanalysis and the sense of guilt. In: Winnicott, D. W. (1965). The
Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment: Studies in the Theory of Emotional
Development. London: Hogarth, 15-28.
Winnicott, D.W. (1960). Ego distortions in terms of true and false self. In: Winnicott, D. W. (1965). The
Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment: Studies in the Theory of Emotional
Development. London: Hogarth, 140-152
Winnicott, D.W. (1963a). The development of the capacity for concern. In: Winnicott, D. W. (1965). The
Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment: Studies in the Theory of Emotional
Development. London: Hogarth, 73-82.
Winnicott, D.W. (1963b). Morals and Education. In: Winnicott, D. W. (1965). The Maturational Processes
and the Facilitating Environment: Studies in the Theory of Emotional Development. London: Hogarth,
93-105.
Wurmser, L. (1991). Scham und der böse Blick: Verstehen der negativen therapeutischen Reaktion.
Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
Wurmser, L. (2003). The annihilating power of absoluteness: superego analysis in the severe neu-
roses, especially in character perversion. Psychoanal. Psychol. 20: 214-235.