Section Headings [ Jealousy and Narcissism] [ Guilt and Pride] [ Love and Hate]

[ Vanity and Self-Pity] [ Envy] [ Anxiety]

The previous articles in the chapter The Nature of Emotion, beginning with Feelings, dealt with general theory about emotion and unconscious ideas. In this chapter, I turn to the characteristics of a few important emotions.

I list characteristics of vanity and self-pity.

Vanity

There are three kinds of vanity : it occurs as a factor or mode of narcissism, as a mode of pride, and just by itself.

In the eyes of vanity, life is matter-of-fact, neither joyful nor dramatic. Therefore I have to give myself importance, either physically by the way that I dress or socially by my status or romantically by my destiny, or by any other way. I desire fame, or to be a leader. I go my own way in life ;  I am not a follower of anyone or any fashion. I prefer new horizons rather than traditional ones. Unfortunately I am sensitive to ridicule.

The three kinds of vanity all centre on the concept of importance.

• Vanity (as a mode of narcissism) implies the quality of life is important.

• Vanity (as a mode of pride) implies my world is important.

• Vanity implies self-importance.

Self-pity

There are three kinds of self-pity : it occurs as a mode of guilt, as a mode of jealousy, and just by itself.

Self-pity itself generates the inability to achieve anything. It differs from the other two modes in that I do not blame myself (as in guilt) nor am I particularly socially-orientated (as in jealousy). Also it differs from guilt in self-pity mode in that it enables me to identify with people who have made heroic efforts in life and yet have failed (for guilt, heroism is meaningless). Self-pity makes me sentimental. When self-pity is dominant I deny responsibility ; one way of achieving this is the desire for endless travel – so long as I travel I have no responsibilities.

In general,
Endless activity is usually a hallmark of the flight from self-pity.
Despite the activity the person is never satisfied.

For example:

• Self-pity leads to travel as the expression of endless activity.

• Self-pity (as a mode of guilt) leads to housework or business as the expressions of endless activity. [ The workaholic person].

• Self-pity (as a mode of jealousy) leads to duty as the expression of endless moral activity. [¹]

This endless activity is the attempt to overcome the sense of failure.
That is:

• Self-pity implies the sense of social failure.

• Self-pity (as a mode of guilt) implies the sense of spiritual failure, or the failure of spiritual or ethical idealism.

• Self-pity (as a mode of jealousy) implies the sense of personal failure, that is, the failure to be an individual.

Footnote

[¹]. Duty, obligation, and morality in general, are the results of sublimating jealousy (self-pity mode). See the article Sublimation, on my websites The Strange World of Emotion and Discover Your Mind. See Links page for their web addresses.

Copyright @2002  Ian Heath
All Rights Reserved

The copyright is mine and the articles are free to use. They can be reproduced anywhere, so long as the source is acknowledged.