16 - Voicing inner conflict: from a dialogical to a negotiational self

Summary

Central to dialogical self theory (DST) is the notion that the self is organized as a dialogical interchange between mutually influencing I-positions in the society of the mind. This chapter presents a case study of an inner conflict to illustrate the internal negotiation process and to outline its characteristics and dynamics. It demonstrates how different I-positions put forward their needs and claims in a back-and-forth communication until a decision is made. Then, using well-established criteria from the field of interpersonal negotiation, the chapter presents several hypothetical resolutions to the inner conflict and illustrates the differences between distributive and integrative internal negotiations. The chapter discusses the notion of transforming win-lose internal decisions into integrative win-win resolutions. It delineates a four-stage negotiational self theory (NST) intervention method, designed to direct systematically the inner conflict towards a collaborative and integrative resolution.