The relationship between the verb use in projective tests and the styles of self-assessment and expression

This study aims to understand how patients diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder construct and execute object relationships within discourse. To this end, this study analyzes the discourse of the patients diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder through their verb use. The study adheres to Psychoanalytic Theory for the analysis. The data of the study was collected from 7 volunteers who applied to the psychiatry service and were diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder. First, they were applied a psychoanalytically oriented semi-structured clinical pre-interview. Then, the participants took Rorschach Test and Thematic Apperception Test, which are projective tests. Their answers were studied through micro discourse analysis and content analysis of the French School. In the study, it was found that the participants distanced themselves from situations or events with negative affect by changing the structure of the verbs used in their responses. Besides, they were found to project the negative affect of the action to the object by changing the voice of the verbs. Additionally, they constructed their own omnipotent phantasies in the discourse by using the verbal person affixes. Finally, they converted activity to inactivity by de- verbalizing the verbs.