ABSTRACT
Undifferentiation, or symbiosis, may be said to obtain in a dyadic relationship to the degree that either party has some difficulty perceiving himself or herself as a separate, distinct individual. In the extreme this may mean experiencing the other as a part of oneself, but lack of differentiation may manifest itself in various forms and to different degrees. For example, some narcissistic patients tend to expect, or even assume, that the other shares their deeply held values or viewpoint, suggesting a degree of undifferentiation, but they are able to separate from the other without extreme anxiety (Kohut, 1971). More deeply undifferentiated patients are unable to be apart from the other without a threat of annihilation (ibid.). The degree to which a relationship is differentiated is the extent to which the subjective states of both parties are recognized and respected, whether they are similar or different. Complete differentiation would be expressed in the ability to recognize the other’s differences and to cherish them, a state Benjamin (1995) called mutuality. The present instrument is designed to assess the degree to which each of the various components of differentiation has been achieved.
