The Janus-Faced Self

van Zomeren, Martijn; Täuber, Susanne; Kutlaca, Maja; Wermser, Frederik L.

Abstract

We connect Dunlop's integrative article with three social–psychological insights about self–construal (e.g. as ‘me’ or ‘us’). Firstly and secondly, individuals‘ flexible and context–sensitive self–construal directs how they perceive themselves and their social context (‘self–as–actor’) and how they can exercise agency through their self (‘self–as–agent’); thirdly, self–narratives (‘self–as–author’) substantiate self–coherence and direct which contexts individuals agentically seek out. We thus suggest that the self is ‘Janus–faced’ because of its amazing potential for fluid transitions between different selves (as actors, agents and authors and at both the individual and collective levels). Copyright © 2015 European Association of Personality Psychology

Citation

van Zomeren, M., Täuber, S., Kutlaca, M., & Wermser, F. L. (2015). The Janus-Faced Self. European Journal of Personality, 29(3), 326 - 362. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2006

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: May 1, 2015
• Publication Date: May 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Sep 21, 2020
• Journal: European Journal of Social Psychology
• Print ISSN: 0890-2070
• Electronic ISSN: 1099-0984
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 326 - 362
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2006
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1255949