Clinical, cultural and literary elaborations of the negative ego-ideal

Summary We have presented a conceptual approach to a clinical phenomenon characterized by the avoidance of certain types of roles or behavior which are ego alien to the individual. We have called this the negative ego-ideal since it seems to be closely related to but different than the positive ego-ideal which encourages a certain standard of performance from the individual. The negative ego-ideal is a structural concept which belongs to the superego configuration. Transgression of the negative ego-ideal brings forth an affect closely allied to shame but often quantitatively stronger described by terms such as humiliation or mortification.