Interpersonal relatedness and self-definition: Two primary lines of personality development and experiences of depression

This enlightening book by Sidney J. Blatt, one of the leading psychoanalytic researchers of our time, is highly relevant to investigators and clinicians interested in personality development as well as depression. In Experiences of Depression, Blatt amalgamates nearly 30 years of work. He combines brilliant insights about clinical practice with a broad range of empirical research to enrich our understanding of individual differences in the personality vulnerabilities that underlie and foster depression. Blatt illuminates our understanding of the psychological and interpersonal worlds and the life experiences that contribute to the specific nature of depressive experiences. The book s comprehensive integration of theoretical, clinical, and empirical perspectives also demonstrates the significance of Blatt s broad theoretical conceptualizations. Beginning in the 1970s, Blatt (Blatt, 1974, 1990, 1995; Blatt & Blass, 1990, 1996; Blatt & Shichman, 1983) proposed a model of personality development applicable to the study of both normal and pathological processes. Blatt characterized personality development as the integration of a person s capabilities for self-definition and interpersonal relatedness. The process of self-definition relates to ‘‘the development of a realistic, essentially positive and increasingly integrated self-definition and self-identity’’ (Blatt, 1991, p. 453). The process of interpersonal relatedness is defined as ‘‘the capacity to establish increasingly mature, reciprocal and satisfying interpersonal relationships’’(Blatt, 1991, p. 453). These two basic modalities of human existence have been discussed in other theoretical contexts as autonomy and surrender (Angyal, 1951), agency and communion (Bakan, 1966), and achievement or power versus affiliation or intimacy (McAdams, 1985; McClelland, 1985; Winter, 1973). According to Blatt, self-definition and relatedness capabilities develop primarily in the context of early interpersonal relationships (Blatt, 1974; Blatt & Blass, 1990, 1996; Blatt, D Afflitti, & Quinlan, 1992). An adequate balance between the development of relatedness and self-definition contributes to an evolving identity and self-sufficiency that in turn facilitates the establishment of stable interpersonal relationships. However, excessive emphasis on only one of these dimensions has been found to predispose individuals to depression. Thus, Blatt identifies two types of depression that, despite a common set of symptoms, have distinct roots. Overemphasis on