Dialogical valence: a novel measure for the dialogical self and its implications for psychotherapy

Production of meaning in the dialogical self emerges from the movement and combination of I-positions. In that sense, psychotherapy is a preferential setting for such processes to occur. Dialogical Valence (DiaV) is suggested as a novel measure of the promptness of I-positions to combine in the dialogical self. Derived from the Personal Position Repertoire, DiaV is intended to reflect the dynamics of the dialogical self. The study compared people under psychological treatment with controls on DiaV and neuroticism. Neuroticism did not yield significant differences, whereas DiaV was lower in the psychotherapy group. Findings are discussed in terms of the potential movements of the dialogical self in psychotherapy. The DiaV measure allows for data summarizing, between-subjects comparisons and assessment of psychotherapeutic process otherwise impracticable with standard dialogical self approaches.