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The current adulation of the notion, ‘Elvis Presley,’ by a large population of adolescents might, at first, appear to be a form of insanity. (1) However, the reasons become clearer in the light of psychoanalytic speculation.
First we must consider the psychology of the adolescent. With the onset of puberty come the psychic conflicts aroused as a result of the maturation of the sex glands. The quiescence of the latency period is abruptly shattered and the ego of the adolscent must now cope with the increased instinctual urges.
Puberty brings a second phallic phase, unlike the one in childhood, accompanied by anxiety because of masturbation guilt. (2) There is a conflict between the ego and the id - a wish for gratification against the fear of losing control (castration), and defiance against anxiety.
Just as the early ego is a body ego, so, for the adolescent, the early reality is a body reality. In making the step from pleasure principle to reality principle and from narcissism to object choice, there is an over-cathexis of the body. The adolescent, in order to dilute his narcissism must effect libidinal ties with others. (3) This means dependence on the cathected objects.
Because of the need to become independent of the parents, the old ego-ideal must be externalized and over-cathected by the ego so that the new external object takes the place of the old ego-ideal. This is the establishment of object love in a narcissistic way. By becoming one of many having the