ROLE OF PERSONAL CORRELATES OF

INTRODUCTION 1.1 NARCISSISM In Ovid's tale, Narcissus was a handsome man and he was the son of river God Cephissus and nymph Liriope. The Nymph, echo fell in love with him, but he ruthlessly rejected her feelings. Consequently, she withdrew to a lonely spot and faded away leaving behind only her voice. The Goddess Nemesis heard her cries and prayers for vengeance and cursed Narcissus to fall in love with his own reflection which he could not embrace. This intense love was too overwhelming for him to consummate. He sat by the pool, watching his reflection until he died and turned into a flower named 'narcissus". Currently the term narcissism describes a person infested with egotism, vanity, pride and selfishness. At the same time narcissism should not be confused with egocentrism. Both are distinct traits. Apart from primary narcissism or healthy self-love, narcissism is usually viewed as a problem in a person's relationship with the self and others. DSM-III defines narcissism as indulgence in self-love and selfishness; feelings of superiority, lack of empathy, disregard for others, use of people for one's gain and the illusion of grandiosity are common characteristics of it. (Raskin&Terry, 1988). 1.1.1 DYNAMICS OF NARCISSISM The skeleton that holds together a narcissistic personality is fundamentally made up of very fragile self-esteem whose biggest fear is abandonment and isolation. The narcissist continuously attempts to do away with the painful fear of isolation and shame by building up an idealized image of the self. He is of the firm opinion that he should be admired by all around him and when this unrealistic expectation does not actualize, he treats them with anger and devalues them so as to protect his idealised view of himself,