Multiple Selves: When characters in a novel have a multiple, split, or divided sense of self, it means that they have multiple personality

Multiple selves are the sense of self of each of the person’s multiple personalities. Do not confuse multiple selves with multiple roles. Everyone has multiple roles, but only persons—or characters in a novel—who have multiple personality will have the subjective experience of multiple selves.

SENSE of SELF:  The Subjective Side of Personality

“sense of self an individual’s feeling of identity, uniqueness, and self-direction. See also…sense of identity” (1, p. 837).

“sense of identity awareness of being a separate and distinct person. See identity” (1, p. 837).

“identity an individual’s sense of self…Identity involves a sense of continuity: the feeling that one is the same person today that one was yesterday or last year…and the feeling that one’s memories, purposes, values, and experiences belong to the self” (1, p. 463).

PERSONALITY: The Objective Side of Sense of Self 

“personality the configuration of characteristics and behavior that comprises an individual’s unique adjustment to life, including major traits, interests, drives, values, self-concept, abilities, and emotional patterns” (1, p. 689).

ROLE: A Person’s Superficial Change to Fit Situations

role a coherent set of behaviors expected of an individual in a specific position within a group or social setting…individuals’ actions are regulated by the part they play in the social setting rather than by their personal predilections or inclinations” (1, p. 804).

1. American Psychological Association. APA Dictionary of Psychology. Gary R. VandenBos, PhD, Editor in Chief. Washington DC, American Psychological Association, 2007.