Analyzing Horney's Theory Of Tolerety

I have a friend who’s experiences would fit in with Horney’s theory on basic evil, hostility and anxiety. Her parents were divorced so she spends most of her time with her mother which can only be described as evil. She is often verbally abused by her mom and her mom doesn’t really care about her. She isn’t really loved by her mom and doesn’t really feel safe around her. This causes her to exhibit basic hostility as Horney’s theory predicts. She tries to escape her mom but cannot since she’s just a child in high school and can’t live on her own so she has to turn to others. This causes her to move away from others and act anti-socially for the most part. She has people who care about her and understand her situation but it’s no doubt that her
These defense strategies are responses to a child’s environment and include a narcissistic, perfectionistic, and arrogant-vindictive response to their environment. A narcissistic response is when a child believes that they can accomplish anything and is caused by the child being unequally favored. This idea is exemplified in the image (image: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/arJLy3hX1E8/maxresdefault.jpg) where the person standing infront of a mirror is much bigger and better than they actually are. This idea is in essence what narcissism is and can cause children to overestimate their potential. This can cause a blindness to one’s flaws and hubris in one’s actions. The perfectionistic response is when a child holds others to perfect standards and sees themselves as insignificant in comparison. The perfectionistic reponse almost opposite to the narcissistic response, it’s the underconfidence and lack of decision making caused by an underestimate of the child’s potential. They see the good in everyone but themselves. The arrogant-vindictive response is when a child who has been abused seeks revenge by becoming overly competitive and ruthless. This response is a pessimistic view of the world and a “natural selection standpoint” on a child’s
Basic anxiety can come from a variety of things. These things are plentiful in a child’s life and affect their development and integration into the real world. The article mentions that Horney believes basic anxiety is derived from“. . . direct or indirect domination, indifference, erratic behavior, lack of respect for the child's individual needs, lack of real guidance, disparaging attitudes, too much admiration or the absence of it, lack of reliable warmth, having to take sides in parental disagreements, too much or too little responsibility, over-protection, isolation from other children, injustice, discrimination, unkept promises, hostile atmosphere, and so on and so on" (Horney,