This paper continues Heinz Hartmann's study of adaptation by utilizing the framework of mechanisms elaborated by Anna Freud. Hartmann discussed the relationship between the individual and the social world in terms of an average expectable environment. Parin starts from the premise of a variable environment and goes on to describe the various ways in which the ego of the individual deals with the changing environment. He delineates such concepts as the "group ego," the

"clan conscience," and specific "modes of ego identification" (e.g., "identification with the role") to describe aspects of the adaptation process. The paper concludes with a discussion of narcissistic personality disorders as a function of adaptation to modern industrial society.