Transformations of identity: referent location, agency, and levels of integration in the progress from potential self to existential identity.
The study traces the genesis of existential despair and empty depression in personality disordered individuals to the impact of a premature definition of the self in terms of an other-centered referent. Three aspects of identity are discussed: self identity, role identity, and existential identity. Their respective potential contribution to self-integration is examined.
von Broembsen
F
F
McLean Hospital, Boston, MA.
D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology; D004532:Ego; D005086:Existentialism; D006801:Humans; D007063:Identity Crisis; D007389:Internal-External Control; D010553:Personality Development; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D011936:Reality Testing