Abstract
The concept and the assessment of personality have been extensively discussed in psychoanalysis and in clinical psychology over the years. Nowadays there is large consensus in considering the constructs of the self and relatedness as central criterions to assess the personality and its disturbances. However, the relation between the psychological organization of personality, the construct of the self, and its neuronal correlates remain unclear. Based on the recent empirical data on the neural correlates of the self (and others), on the importance of early relational and attachment experiences, and on the relation with the brain’s spontaneous/resting state activity (rest–self overlap/containment), we propose here a multilayered model of the self with: (i) relational alignment; (ii) self-constitution; (iii) self-manifestation; and (iv) self-expansion. Importantly, these different layers of the self can be characterized by different neuronal correlates—this results in different neuronally grounded configurations or organizations of personality. These layers correspond to different levels of personality organization, such as psychotic (as related to the layer of self-constitution), borderline (as related to the layer of self-manifestation) and neurotic (as related to the layer of self-expansion). Taken together, we provide here for the first time a neurobiologically and clinically grounded model of personality organization, which carries major psychodynamic and neuroscientific implications. The study of the spontaneous activity of the brain, intrinsically related to the self (rest–self overlap/containment) and the interaction with stimuli (rest–stimulus interaction) may represent a further advance in understanding how our default state plays a crucial role in navigating through the internal world and the external reality.
Highlights
SELF-OTHER ORGANIZATION OF PERSONALITYPersonality can be considered as a dimension or a continuum from healthy features, characterized by a coherent sense of the self and identity, engagements in satisfying relationships, relatively flexible functioning when stressed by external events or internal conflicts, appropriate expression of impulses and emotions, internalized moral values and maladaptive features
Several authors tried to classify patients who did not reach the criteria to be placed either in neurotic or in psychotic diagnosis (e.g., Knight, 1953). It was only in 1967 that Kernberg (1967) proposed a broader concept of Borderline personality organization (BPO), which included the evaluation of the identity, of defense mechanisms and reality testing, as closely associated with the continuity and coherence of the sense of self and significant others
Several authors, departing from the background of the attachment theory (Schore, 2000, 2001, 2012; Lyons-Ruth, 2003, 2008; Fonagy et al, 2007; Mucci, 2013, 2017; Beebe and Lachmann, 2014), proposed that the parent-infant dyad can be considered as the first intersubjective encounter that predisposes the development of the self and emphasized how the dual caregiver–infant exchange continuously modulates the formation of the growing subject, organizing the mind-body-brain interoceptive and exteroceptive connections in relation to the other
Summary
Personality can be considered as a dimension or a continuum from healthy features, characterized by a coherent sense of the self and identity, engagements in satisfying relationships, relatively flexible functioning when stressed by external events or internal conflicts, appropriate expression of impulses and emotions, internalized moral values and maladaptive features. These are characterized by identity diffusion and incoherent sense of the self, problems in self-other
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
