Why the self is empty: Toward a historically situated psychology.

Abstract

This article presents a contextualized treatment of the current configuration of self, some of the pathologies that plague it, and the technologies that attempt to heal it. Of particular interest is the historical shift from the Victorian, sexually restricted self to the post-World War II empty self. The empty self is soothed and made cohesive by becoming "filled up" with food, consumer products, and celebrities. Its historical antecedents, economic constituents, and political consequences are the focus of this article. The two professions most responsible for healing the empty self, advertising and psychotherapy, find themselves in a bind: They must treat a psychological symptom without being able to address its historical causes. Both circumvent the bind by employing the life-style solution, a strategy that attempts to heal by covertly filling the empty self with the accoutrements, values, and mannerisms of idealized figures. This strategy solves an old problem but creates new ones, including an opportunity for abuse by exploitive therapists, cult leaders, and politicians. Psychology's role in constructing the empty self, and thus reproducing the current hierarchy of power and privilege, is examined.

Cultural accommodation: Hybridity and the framing of social obligation.

“…Social obligation per se is not central to this world view. Thus, individualism has been criticized as promoting an empty self, one devoid of family and community (Cushman, 1990) as well as promoting a saturated self, one overloaded with information because no other structure is considered of value but one's own self (Gergen, 1991). American individualism has been described as focused on the " 'M-Factor'-movement, migration, and mobility" (Wilkinson, 1992, p. 80, describing the work of George Pierson, 1963).…”

When Is Identity Congruent with the Self? A Self-Determination Theory Perspective

“…Psychologists made a similar analysis. For instance, Cushman (1990) argued that the self, which he viewed largely as a function of the dominant cultural norms and rules, "experiences a significant absence of community, tradition, and shared meaning" in the post-war era (p. 600). In existential psychological terms, the gradually lessening impact of social structures has created an existential vacuum.…”

The Coming Age of Scarcity: Preventing Mass Death and Genocide in the Twenty-First Century

“…Given the truism among social scientists that personality is grounded upon, and reflective of, culture, whereas culture is under stood to be an expression of the "collective personality" of society, it is not surprising that over the past decade an increasing number of personality theorists (for example, Lifton 1993;Gergen 1991;Cushman 1990;Secord 1990;Rowan 1990;Sampson 1989;Baumeister 1987) have begun to discuss the psychosocial significance of the socioeconomic and cultural changes noted above under the heading of postmodernism. Most of this burgeoning literature follows the culture-personality logic laid out by Geertz (1973), namely, that culture is the ultimate source of the individual's core sense of self or identity, because it provides the systems of meaning-roles, norms, values, and language-through which individuals conduct their lives and sense of self.…”