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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences pp 1–13Cite as

A Subself Theory of Personality

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Abstract

Previous theories of personality which have introduced the concepts of ego states, complexes, subsystems, subpersonalities, and subselves are briefly reviewed. A series of postulates and corollaries are proposed that form the skeleton of a formal theory of personality based on the concept of subselves. Structural, developmental, psychopathological, and psychotherapeutic implications are discussed.

Keywords

  • Subself
  • Multiple self
  • Complexes
  • Ego states
  • Subsystems

I should like to note my indebtedness to my graduate school teachers, Abraham Maslow and George Kelly, and to Andras Angyal of whom Abraham Maslow spoke highly but whom I never met. For a fuller version of the ideas expressed in this chapter, see Lester (2010, 2015).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology, Stockton University, 101 Vera King Farris Drive, Galloway, NJ, 08205-9441, USA

    David Lester

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  1. David Lester
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Correspondence to David Lester .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

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Lester, D. (2017). A Subself Theory of Personality. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_2298-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_2298-1

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