MONOLOGUE AND INNER DIALOGUE - TWO WAYS OF DIALOGICAL SELF USE

The question of dialogicality is present in psychology since the beginning of twentieth century, however Hermans' conception of dialogical self has recently made it more popular. At the same time Josephs' research suggests that one can distinguish at least two basic form of imaginary contact with a figure that is objectively absent: a monologue addressed to the figure or dialogue with it. Taking that fact into account one can consider whether there are any personality differences between people having inner dialogues versus individuals having only monologues. The groups of respondents having respectively imaginary dialogues (n =63) and monologues (n=31) were asked to describe their own personality traits by the means of NEO PI-R by Costa and McCrae. It was found that people having monologues scored significantly higher in Assertiveness and lower in Self-Consciousness, Fantasy, Aesthetics, Feelings and Openness than people having inner dialogues. Main functions fulfilled by aforesaid types of the imaginary contact are also discussed. It was noted that dialogue more often than monologue is related to: Exploration, Self-guiding, Support and Insight.