The "actual thing out there in the world", at least for the case of psychology, is discursively ("socially") constructed. This fact is the precise problem with

The "actual thing out there in the world", at least for the case of psychology, is discursively ("socially") constructed. This fact is the precise problem with the original essay, and with empirical psychology as a field -- it has no understanding of the actual thing it's studying. Dealing with narcissism through statistical surveys is like the blind men and the elephant.