Skip to main content
Log in

On the disunity of the self: A systems theory of personality

  • Articles
  • Published:
Current Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The views of a variety of theorists who have proposed that the mind may be usefully conceptualized as made up of a set of subselves are reviewed, and several principles are proposed for a possible systems theory of personality.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allison, R., & Schwartz, T. (1980).Minds in many pieces. New York: Rawson-Wade.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allport, G. W. (1961).Pattern and growth in personality. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Angyal, A. (1965).Neurosis and treatment. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anon. (undated).Three approaches to psychotherapy. Orange, CA: Psychological Films.

  • Assagoli, R. (1975).Psychosynthesis. London: Turnstone.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balint, M. (1968).The basic fault. London: Tavistock.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beahrs, J. O. (1982).Unity and multiplicity. New York: Brunner/Mazel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berne, E. (1961).Transactional analysis in psychotherapy. New York: Grove.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boulding, K. E. (1968).The organizational revolution. Chicago: Quadrangle.

    Google Scholar 

  • Catell, R. B. (1948). Concepts and methods in the measurement of group syntality.Psychological Review, 55, 48–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson, D. (1985). Deception and division. In J. Elster (Ed.),The multiple self (pp. 79–92). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denzin, N. K. (1987). A phenomenology of the emotionally divided self. In K. Yardley & T. Honess (Eds.),Self and identity (pp. 287–296). Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Sousa, R. (1976). Rational homunculi. In A. O. Rorty (Ed.),The identities of persons. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennett, D. C. (1978).Brainstorms. Brighton, England: Harvester.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elster, J. (1985). Introduction. In J. Elster (Ed.),The multiple self (pp. 1–34). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, E. (1959). Identity and the life cycle.Psychological Issues, 1(1).

  • Erikson, E. (1968).Identity: youth and crisis. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairbairn, W. R. D. (1952).Psychoanalytic studies of the personality. London: Tavistock.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairbairn, W. R. D. (1954).An object-relations theory of the personality. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Federn, P. (1952).Ego psychology and the psychoses. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freud, S. (1933).New introductory lectures on psychoanalysis. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gazzaniga, M. (1985).The social brain. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gergen, K. J. (1972). Multiple identity.Psychology Today, 5(12), 31–35, 64–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, E. (1974).Frame analysis. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guntrip, H. (1971).Psychoanalytic theory, therapy and the self. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hilgard, E. R. (1986).Divided consciousness. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofstadter, D. R. & Dennett, D. C. (Eds.). (1981).The mind’s I. Brighton, England: Harvester.

    Google Scholar 

  • Horowitz, M. (1988). Formulation of states of mind in psychotherapy.American Journal of Psychotherapy, 42, 514–520.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • James, W. (1890).Principles of psychology. New York: Holt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janov, A. (1970).The primal scream. New York: Putnam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, G. (1955).The psychology of personal constructs. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kihlstrom, J. F., & Cantor, N. (1984). Mental representations of the self. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.)Advances in experimental social psychology, Volume 17, (pp. 1–47). New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, M. (1948).Contributions to psychoanalysis. London: Hogarth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laing, R. D. (1969).The divided self. New York: Pantheon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laing, R. D. (1982).The voice of experience. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lake, F. (1980).Studies in constricted confusion. Oxford: Clinical Theology Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lester, D. (1985). Applications of the principles of group behavior to systems theories of personality.Psychology, 22(2), 1–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lester, D. (1987a). Systems theories of personality: implications from Boulding’s writings.Psychology, 24(3), 44–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lester, D. (1987b). The concept of integration in systems theories of personality.Psychology, 24(4), 66–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lester, D. (1992). The disunity of the self.Personality & Individual Differences, 8, 947–948.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1936).Topological psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lifton, R. J. (1970).History and human survival. New York: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loevinger, J. (1971).Ego development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lycan, W. G. (1981). Form, function and feel.Journal of Philosophy, 78, 24–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahrer, A. R. (1978).Experiencing. New York: Brunner/Mazel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mair, J. M. M. (1977). The community of self. In D. Bannister (Ed.),New perspectives in personal construct theory (pp. 125–149). New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Margolis, H. (1982).Selfishness, altruism and rationality. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Markus, H. (1983). Self-knowledge.Journal of Personality, 51, 543–565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martindale, C. (1980). Subselves. In L. Wheeler (Ed.),Review of personality and social psychology, Volume 1, (pp. 193–218). Beverly Hills: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maslow, A. H. (1970).Motivation and personality. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • McAdams, D. P. (1985). The imago. In P. Shaver (Ed.),Self, situations and social behavior (pp. 115–141). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCall, G. J., & Simmons, J. L. (1966).Identities and interactions. New York: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCulloch, W. S. (1965).Embodiments of mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minsky, M. (1986).The society of mind. New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray, H. A. (1959). Preparations for the scaffold of a comprehensive system. In S. Koch (Ed.),Psychology, Volume 3 (pp. 7–54). New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, E. (1971).Our many selves. New York: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogilvy, J. (1977).Many dimensional man. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ouspensky, P. D. (1949).In search of the miraculous. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pears, D. (1985). The goals and strategies of self-deception. In J. Elster (Ed.),The multiple self (pp. 59–77). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perls, F. (1969).Gestalt therapy verbatim. Moab, UT: Real People Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perls, F. S., Hefferline, R. F., & Goodman, P. (1951).Gestalt therapy. New York: Julian.

    Google Scholar 

  • Progoff, I. (1973).Jung’s psychology and its social meaning. Garden City, NY: Anchor, 1973.

    Google Scholar 

  • Redfearn, J. W. T. (1985).My self, my many selves. London: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, C. R. (1959). A theory of therapy, personality, and interpersonal relationships, as developed in the client-centered framework. In S. Koch (Ed.),Psychology, Volume 3 (pp. 184–256). New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, T. B. (1981). A model of the self as an aspect of the human information processing system. In N. Cantor & J. F. Kihlstrom (Eds.),Personality, cognition and social interaction, (pp. 193–214). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rorty, A. O. (1985). Self-deception, akrasia and irrationality. In J. Elster (Ed.),The multiple self (pp. 115–131). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowan, J. (1990).Subpersonalities. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson, E. E. (1983). Deconstruing psychology’s subject.Journal of Mind & Behavior, 4, 135–164.

    Google Scholar 

  • Satir, V. (1978).Your many faces. Berkeley, CA: Celestial Arts.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, S., & Elliott, J. (1976).The selves within you. Berkeley, CA: Explorations Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sidgwick, H. (1893).The methods of ethics. London: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Southgate, J., & Randall, R. (1978).The barefoot psychoanalyst. London: Association of Karen Horney Psychoanalytic Counsellors.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steedman, I., & Krause, U. (1985). Goethe’s Faust, Arrow’s possibility theorem and the individual decision-taker. In J. Elster (Ed.),The multiple self (pp. 197–231). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steiner, C. (1974).Scripts people live. New York: Grove.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stone, H., & Winkelman, S. (1985).Embracing ourselves. Marina del Rey, CA: Devors.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tart, C. T. (1986).Waking up. Boston: New Science Library.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagner, E. (1971). Structural analysis.Journal of Personality Assessment, 35, 422–435.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Watkins, J. G. (1978).The therapeutic self. New York: Human Sciences Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watkins, M. (1986).Invisible quests. Hillsdale, NJ: Analytic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wessler, R. L. (1986). Conceptualizing cognitions in the cognitive-behavioural therapies. In W. Dryden & W. Golden (Eds.),Cognitive-behavioural approaches to psychotherapy, (pp. 1–30). London: Harper & Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winnicott, D. W. (1960).The maturational process and the facilitating environment. New York: International Universities Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lester, D. On the disunity of the self: A systems theory of personality. Current Psychology 12, 312–325 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686812

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02686812

Keywords

Navigation