(6) If the incestuous direction of affection thus assists the development of object-love, we must not forget that at the same time it is calculated to give a considerable degree of satisfaction to the Narcissistic elements of love. In their most characteristic and pronounced form, these Narcissistic elements will usually manifest themselves in a homosexual direction and therefore not in the typical form of incestuous heterosexual affection with which we are here chiefly concerned. There can be little doubt however that, in a less violent and overwhelming form and as a factor in a total complex situation, the Narcissistic elements do enter very frequently into normal love between members of the opposite sexes. The similarities--physical, mental and circumstantial--that usually exist between those who are of common descent bring it about that a partial identification of the self with the loved object is often easier in the case of a blood relative than with any other person. Hence the influence of this factor will frequently add itself to the other forces which tend to produce an incestuous direction of affection. The partial identification upon which the operation of this Narcissistic factor in object-love depends, may of course take place at many different psychic levels, from one at which the perception of the resemblance between the loved object and the self may to some extent enter into consciousness, to one at which the identification seems to rest upon some mysterious deep-seated and archaic bond of union, depending possibly upon organic factors or upon the experiences of pre-natal life--such a bond for instance as that which arises perhaps as a result of the close vital connection between mother and child during the period of gestation and lactation[228]. [Sidenote: Thus two opposing tendencies in love find simultaneous gratification] In this way the love of a child to those who are related to it by ties of blood--and particularly to the parents--is such as to afford a convenient compromise between two sets of conflicting impulses--the impulses that tend to the development of object-love and those more primitive ones that manifest themselves most clearly at the autoerotic and Narcissistic levels. Such a compromise formation is, as we know, peculiarly characteristic of the process of displacement. It is a general law of mental progress in conation that in the new direction of activity that results from a conflict of impulses, there are to be found certain elements that are connected with the satisfaction of both conflicting aims. As a ready means of providing such common elements, the love of parents and of other relatives may therefore in very many cases be supported by the energy derived both from the Narcissistic and the object-seeking components of affection. Hence another potent reason for the widespread occurrence of this form of love. [Sidenote: The dependence aspects may also indirectly foster incestuous tendencies]