Concept
True self
In Winnicott's theory, the source of a person's spontaneous gestures and of the feeling of being real, rooted in bodily aliveness. It develops when a responsive mother meets the infant's spontaneous gestures and gives them reality, and it shows itself in creativity and in the sense that life is worth living.
- Introduced by
- Donald Winnicott
- Key works
- 1
- Related
- False self
introduced by
- Donald Winnicott 1960
opposed by
- False self The two are defined as a pair: the false self forms out of compliance with an environment that fails the infant, and it shields and hides the true self.