The Dialogical Self: Beyond Individualism and Rationalism
Author(s)
Hermans, Hubert J. M.; Kempen, Harry J. G.; VanLoon, Rens J. P.
Abstract
There is growing awareness among psychologists that the individualistic and rationalistic character of contemporary psychological theories of the self reflect an ethnocentric Western view of personhood. In opposition to this view, it is argued from a constructionist perspective that the self can be conceived of as dialogical, a view that transcends both individualism and rationalism. A comparison of three constructionist forerunners (Vico, Vaihinger, and Kelly) suggests that to transcend individualism and rationalism, the embodied nature of the self must be taken into consideration. Moving through space and time, the self can imaginatively occupy a number of positions that permit mutual dialogical relations. The classic Jamesian distinction between the I and the Me is translated in a narrative framework. The implications for three areas of psychological research–attribution theory, moral development, and the individual differences paradigm–are briefly discussed.
