Untangling views of self in interpersonal and relational theories

The author traces the development of ideas of self through the early and later intepersonalists and then in the work of relational theorists. She describes her own effort to explore subjective "dwelling places of self-experience," a view that potentially overrides the intrapsychic-interpersonal dichotomy. The "political" implications of theoretical divergence between the interpersonalists and relationalists are examined with an eye toward transcending them. Recommendations are offered for future efforts to theorize the nature of self.