True self and false self

The true self (also known as real self, authentic self, original self and vulnerable self) and the false self (also known as fake self, idealized self, superficial self and pseudo self) are a psychological dualism conceptualized by English psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott.^[1] Winnicott used "true self" to denote a sense of self based on spontaneous authentic experience and a feeling of being alive, having a real self with little to no contradiction.^[2] "False self", by contrast, denotes a sense of self created as a defensive façade,^[1] which in extreme cases can leave an individual lacking spontaneity and feeling dead and empty behind an inconsistent and incompetent appearance of being real, such as in narcissism.^[1]

^ ^a ^b ^c Winnicott, Donald (1960). "Ego distortion in terms of true and false self". The Maturational Process and the Facilitating Environment: Studies in the Theory of Emotional Development. New York City: International Universities Press, Inc: 140–57. ISBN 978-0946439843.
^ Salman Akhtar, Good Feelings (London 2009) p. 128

[:0-1] Winnicott, Donald (1960). "Ego distortion in terms of true and false self". The Maturational Process and the Facilitating Environment: Studies in the Theory of Emotional Development. New York City: International Universities Press, Inc: 140–57. ISBN 978-0946439843.

[2] Salman Akhtar, Good Feelings (London 2009) p. 128

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