IDENTITY DISTURBANCES AND SELF-OTHER DIFFERENTIATION IN SCHIZOPHRENICS, BORDERLINES, AND NORMAL CONTROLS

The present study investigates identity disorders in schizophrenics an d borderlines. Nineteen schizophrenics and 17 borderlines were compare d with 18 normal controls. The technique used was an adapted version o f the repertory grid test to describe the self and nine significant ot hers (i.e., family members). Three indices were derived from the 10 pe rson x 20 self-generated-attribute matrix to measure the extent to whi ch self was differentiated from others: (1) overlap of salient attribu tes, (2) overlap of opposite attributes, and (3) degree of differentia tion among others. Results showed that both schizophrenics and borderl ines describe themselves more in terms of opposites than in terms of s alient attributes. Differentiation among significant others was severe ly impaired in schizophrenics and preserved in borderlines. These find ings were interpreted as a failure of the individuation process in sch izophrenics and as an incomplete construal of self-identity in borderl ines. (C) 1995 by W.B. Saunders Company