Seeing one's self: locating narrative memory in a framework of personality.
Individuals confront the continuing challenge of attending to the competing demands of internal and external stimuli. The emerging I-Self applies three principles of evaluation, categorization, and subsidiation to organize these informational demands. These principles guide the development of the five systems of personality--cognition, affect, motivation, behavior, and psychophysiology. These systems interact to create various Me-Selves that comprise the different roles and contexts of the personality. Each Me-Self contains evaluations (valenced responses to self and others), categories (self- and other representations), and sequences in time (the self and others in past, present, and future). Narrative is the perceptual expression of a particular Me-Self in consciousness. Narrative memory allows for meaningful analysis by consciousness of specific Me-Selves and the cognitions, affects, and goals associated with those selves. Applications of this position to research and psychotherapy are discussed.
Singer
J A
JA
Department of Psychology, Connecticut College, New London 06320, USA.
D000339:Affect; D003071:Cognition; D006801:Humans; D007207:Individuation; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D011939:Mental Recall; D009042:Motivation; D010553:Personality Development; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012649:Self Concept