Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T12:42:05.498Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

17 - Positioning Microanalysis: A Method For the Study of Dynamics in the Dialogical Self and Identity

from Part III - Methodological Approaches

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2021

By
João Salgado  and
Carla Cunha
Edited by
Michael Bamberg ,
Carolin Demuth  and
Meike Watzlawik
Michael Bamberg
Affiliation:
Clark University, Massachusetts
Carolin Demuth
Affiliation:
Aalborg University, Denmark
Meike Watzlawik
Affiliation:
Sigmund Freud University, Berlin
Get access

Summary

From a dialogical and Bakhtinian theoretical stance, identity is seen a process and a product of the tensional relation between multiple perspectives or positions. Even in the midst of different dialogical approaches to the self, there is an overarching consensus that the dialogical dynamics established by these different positions are a core element for understanding how identity works. One of the main problems of the field has been the development of empirical methods enabling the study of such dynamics. Positioning Microanalysis is a method based on a dialogical approach, which aims the systematic tracing by trained observers of the dialogical dynamics of self-positions as they unfold over time. This method assumes a genetic-developmental perspective, allowing the study of self-positions taking place in the here-and-now in a moment-by-moment basis. The main unit of analysis is the emergent self-position, which is characterized by a basic triadic relation (I-Other-Object). This method, on a first level of analysis, depicts the microgenetic movements of self-positions from moment to moment, but it also allows for more macrolevels of analysis, by describing stable sequences or cycles of positions. Thus, it may be used as a tool for the study of identity in a given historical moment of the person regarding specific themes or relevant “objects.” This method will be illustrated by its application to the first session of a psychotherapy case.

Keywords

PositioningmicroanalysisI-positionsdialogical approachmultivoicedness
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Identity , pp. 366 - 387
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Angus, L., Goldman, R., & Mergenthaler, E. (2008). Introduction. One case, multiple measures: An intensive case-analytic approach to understanding client change processes in evidence-based emotion-focused therapy of depression. Psychotherapy Research, 6, 629–633, doi:10.1080/10503300802430673.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
American Psychological Association (APA). (2018). Identity. In APA Online Dictionary of Psychology. Retrieved May 05, 2021, from https://dictionary.apa.org/identity.Google Scholar
Bakhtin, M. M. (1981). The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays by M. M. Bakhtin, translated by Emerson, C. & Holquist, M.. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Bento, T., Cunha, C., & Salgado, J. (2012). Dialogical theory of selfhood. In Valsiner, J. (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Culture and Psychology (pp. 421–438). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bertau, M. C. (Ed.). (2004). Aspects of the Dialogical Self. Berlin: Lehmanns Media.Google Scholar
Cunha, C. A. C. (2007). Processos dialógicos de mudança: Um estudo microgenético [Dialogical change processes: A microgenetic study]. Master’s thesis, University of Minho, Braga.Google Scholar
Cunha, C., Figueiredo, C., & Salgado, J. (2020). “Let’s dance:” A dialogical proposal for analyzing interactions and positions in couples therapy. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 34(2), 1–20, doi:10.1080/10720537.2020.1717149.Google Scholar
Cunha, C., Gonçalves, M. M., Hill, C. E., Sousa, I., Mendes, I., Ribeiro, A. P., Angus, L. & Greenberg, L. S. (2012). Therapist interventions and client innovative moments in emotion-focused therapy for depression. Psychotherapy, 49, 536–548, doi:10.1037/a0028259.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cunha, C. & Salgado, J. (2017). Social frames and the dialogical self: A dynamic account of subjectivity within a subjectified world. In Han, M. & Cunha, C. (Eds.), The Subjectified and Subjectifying Mind (pp. 69–84). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.Google Scholar
Cunha, C., Salgado, J., & Gonçalves, M. M. (2012). The dialogical self in movement: Reflecting on methodological tools for the study of the dynamics of change and stability in the self. In Abbey, E. & Surgan, S. (Eds.), Emerging Methods in Psychology (pp. 65–100). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.Google Scholar
Fassinger, R. (2005). Paradigms, praxis, problems, and promise: Grounded theory in counseling psychology research. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52, 156–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Greenberg, L. S. & Watson, J. (1998). Experiential therapy of depression: Differential effects of client-centered relationship conditions and process experiential interventions. Psychotherapy Research, 8, 210–224, doi:10.1080/10503309812331332317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hermans, H. J. M. (1996). Voicing the self: From information processing to dialogical interchange. Psychological Bulletin, 119(1), 31–50.Google Scholar
Hermans, H. J. M. (2001a). The construction of a personal position repertoire: Method and practice. Culture & Psychology, 7(3), 323–366.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hermans, H. J. M. (2001b). The dialogical self: Toward a theory of personal and cultural positioning. Culture & Psychology, 7(3), 243–281.Google Scholar
Hermans, H. J. M. (2003). The construction and reconstruction of a dialogical self. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 16, 89–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hermans, H. J. M. (2018). Society in the Self: A Theory of Identity in Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hermans, H. J. M. & Dimaggio, G. (Eds.). (2004). The Dialogical Self in Psychotherapy. Hove: Bruner-Routledge.Google Scholar
Hermans, H. J. M. & Gieser, T. (Eds.). (2011). Handbook of Dialogical Self Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Hermans, H. J. M. & Hermans-Jansen, E. (1995). Self-Narratives. New York, NY: Guilford.Google Scholar
Hermans, H. J. M. & Hermans-Konopka, A. (2010). Dialogical Self Theory: Positioning and Counter-Positioning in a Globalizing Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hermans, H. J. M. & Kempen, H. (1993). The Dialogical Self: Meaning as Movement. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hermans, H. J. M., Kempen, H., & van Loon, R. (1992). The dialogical self: Beyond individualism and rationalism. American Psychologist, 47, 23–33.Google Scholar
Hill, C. (2009). Helping Skills: Facilitating Exploration, Insight, and Action. New York, NY: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Holquist, M. (1990). Dialogism: Bakhtin and His World. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Konopka, A., Hermans, H. J., & Gonçalves, M. M. (Eds.). (2019). Handbook of Dialogical Self Theory and Psychotherapy: Bridging Psychotherapeutic and Cultural Traditions. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Leiman, M. (2011). Mikhail Bakhtin’s contribution to psychotherapy research. Culture & Psychology, 17, 441–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Locke, J. (1689/1975). An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
McAdams, D. P. (2020). Self and identity. In Biswas-Diener, R. & Diener, E. (Eds.), Noba Textbook Series: Psychology. Champaign, IL: DEF. Retrieved May 5, 2021, from http://noba.to/3gsuardw.Google Scholar
Marsico, G. & Valsiner, J. (2018). Beyond the Mind: Cultural Dynamics of the Psyche. Charlotte, NC: Information Age.Google Scholar
Meijers, F. & Hermans, H. J. M. (2018). Dialogical self theory in education: An introduction. In Meijers, F. & Hermans, H. J. M., (Eds.), The Dialogical Self Theory in Education (pp. 1–17). Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature.Google Scholar
Neimeyer, R. A. (2006). Narrating the dialogical self: Toward an expanded toolbox for the counselling psychologist. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 19, 105–120.Google Scholar
Raggatt, P. T. (2010). The dialogical self and thirdness: A semiotic approach to positioning using dialogical triads. Theory & Psychology, 20(3), 400–419.Google Scholar
Salgado, J. & Clegg, J. W. (2011). Dialogism and the psyche: Bakhtin and contemporary psychology. Culture & Psychology, 17(4), 421–440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salgado, J. & Cunha, C. (2012). Positioning microanalysis: The development of a dialogical-based method for idiographic psychology. In Salvatore, S., Gennaro, A., & Valsiner, J. (Eds.), Making Sense: Generating Uniqueness. Yearbook of Idiographic Science, Vol. 4 (pp. 221–244). Charlotte, NC: Information Age.Google Scholar
Salgado, J. & Cunha, C. (2018). The human experience: A dialogical account of self and feelings. In Rosa, A. & Valsiner, J. (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Sociocultural Psychology (pp. 503–517). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Salgado, J., Cunha, C., & Bento, T. (2013). Positioning micronalysis: Studying the self through the exploration of dialogical processes. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 47, 325–353.Google Scholar
Salgado, J., Lourenço, P., Barbosa, E., Santos, A., Greenberg, L.S., & Angus, L. (2011). A study of the change process through the analysis of the positioning dynamics in an EFT good outcome case. Paper presented at the 42nd Society for Psychotherapy Research (SPR) International Annual Meeting, Bern, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Salgado, J. & Hermans, H. J. M. (2005). The return of subjectivity: From a multiplicity of selves to the dialogical self. E-Journal of Applied Psychology, 1, 1–13.Google Scholar
Salgado, J. & Valsiner, J. (2010). Dialogism and the eternal movement within communication. In Grant, C. B. (Ed.), Beyond Universal Pragmatics: Studies in the Philosophy of Communication (pp. 101–121). New York, NY: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Simão, L. M., Guimarães, D. S., & Valsiner, J. (Eds.). (2015). Temporality: Culture in the Flow of Human Experience. Charlotte, NC: Information Age.Google Scholar
Stinson, C., Milbrath, C., Reidbord, S. & Bucci, W. (1994). Thematic segmentation of psychotherapy transcripts for convergent analyses. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, 31, 36–48.Google Scholar
Valsiner, J. (2002). Forms of dialogical relations and semiotic autoregulation within the self. Theory & Psychology, 12(2), 251–265.Google Scholar
Valsiner, J. (2007). Culture in Minds and Societies: Foundations of Cultural Psychology. New Delhi: Sage.Google Scholar
Wijsen, F. & Hermans, H. J. (2020). Editors’ introduction: Radicalization and deradicalization from the perspective of dialogical self theory. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 33, 231–234, doi:10.1080/10720537.2019.1677534.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×