Antinarcissism is a specific form of narcissistic character that, rather than aggrandising the ego, restricts its scope without diminishing the amount of self-investment involved.
[1] Antinarcissism was first introduced by Francis Pasche in 1964 within the theoretical debate that initially sought out to define narcissism and describe its role in psychic development.
[2] Pasche described the concept as a centrifugal investment, in which the subject tends to be divested of self, to give up their own substance and reserves of love, independent of any economic factors.
[2] Christopher Bollas introduced the concept of antinarcissism to describe a self-limiting kind of narcissist who refuses to develop themselves or use their talents,[3] so as to maintain their exaggerated sense of self-importance in defeat.
[5] André Green similarly wrote of antinarcissism as a negative narcissism that seeks self-destructively to abolish the ego in its "aspiration for nothingness".