Normal Dimensions of Multiple Personality without Amnesia

Abstract

A survey for distinguishing the normal and pathological dimensions of multiple personality—the Personal Situations Survey (PSS)—was developed by the authors and tested on 209 college students. Scale A of the PSS was designed to measure Multiple Self-Identity, was normally distributed, and was positively correlated with the normal Absorption/Imagination factor of the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES). Scale B was designed to measure Multiple Self-Control, was normally distributed, and was positively correlated with the normal Absorption/Imagination factor of the DES. Scale C was designed to measure Recall Amnesia/Source Amnesia, was skewed significantly to the right, and was positively correlated with the pathological Amnestic Dissociation and Derealization/Depersonalization factors of the DES. These results suggest that Multiple Self-Identity and Multiple Self-Control are normal dimensions of multiple personality, and that Recall Amnesia/Source Amnesia is the truly pathological dimension of multiple personality. Discussion focuses on the implication that, in Dissociative Identity Disorder, pathological amnesia for trauma is simply superimposed on any pre-existent normal manifestations of Multiple Self-Identity and Multiple Self-Control.