Several distinctive dynamic constellations associated with success neurosis are delineated in university students. It appears that success neurosis does not lend itself to any singular dynamic formulation. The traditional explanation based on oedipal competition is limited in its applicability. Pre-oedipal factors appear to assume greater magnitude than has previously been recognized. Dynamic explanations can be fruitfully subdivided into two categories, depending upon whether guilt or aggression is the critical etiological determinant for failure.
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