Multiplicity (subculture) explained

Multiplicity, also called plurality or polypsychism, is an online subculture of people identifying as having or using multiple personalities,[1] [2] [3] or as having multiple people occupying one mind and body. Multiplicity communities mostly exist online through social media platforms.

Definition

The coinage multiplicity describes people displaying or experiencing multiple personalities, selves, or identities in one mind and body, each with their own thoughts, emotional reactions, preferences, behavior, memory and sense of self.[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

It commonly covers:

Origins and related practices

In contrast to dissociative identity disorder, the social movement of people who identify as "multiple" is under-researched.

Resources dedicated to multiplicity started to appear early in the internet's history. According to a member of the community interviewed by Vice Magazine, the multiplicity subculture and related vocabulary originated in mailing lists of the 1980s. Playing video games has also been cited as a context in which people engage with multiplicity.[11]

Vice suggests that aspects of the online multiplicity community were also found in Haitian Vodou, spirit possession and the Tibetan practice of tulpamancy. Nowadays, an online subculture dedicated to tulpamancy also exists, where practitioners willfully create and engage with tulpas which has been described as an online multiplicity space.

Characteristics

Multiplicity communities exist online through social media blogging sites like LiveJournal, Tumblr,[12] [13] and more recently, TikTok, Reddit, and YouTube.[14] Composing their members are "systems" of multiple distinct identities or personalities in the same body. Those identities are often called "headmates", "systemmates", and sometimes "alters", and can have different names, ages, genders, sexualities, and personalities from one another.[15] Some other jargon used within multiplicity communities includes:

Role as a support community

Participating in online multiplicity communities can remedy social isolation. Ribáry et al. found that for participants, adopting a plural identity helps them cope with identity disorders and that discovering the notion of multiplicity and participating in related communities "is helpful and therapeutic". According to The Plural Association (a Netherlands-based nonprofit founded to "empower Plurals, no matter the words or labels they use to define their unique and individual experiences"[17]), "Denying the existence of separate experiences can be harmful and may not facilitate healing. Acknowledging and respecting the multiplicity-plurality of individuals with DID is essential for promoting understanding, acceptance, and support."[18]

As a personality style

In personality research, the term plurality can also refer to personality style defined as "an individual's relatively consistent inclinations and preferences across contexts".[19]

Stephen E. Braude and Rita Carter use a different definition of personality style, defining "personality style" as "personality" and proposing that a person may have multiple selves and not have any relatively consistent inclinations and preferences in personality. This may happen as an adaptation to a change of environment and role within a person's life and may be consciously adopted or encouraged, in a similar way to acting or role-playing. For example, a woman may adopt a kind, nurturing personality when dealing with her children but change to a more aggressive, forceful personality when going to work as a high-flying executive as her responsibilities change.[20]

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Ribáry . Gergő . Lajtai . László . Demetrovics . Zsolt . Maraz . Aniko . 2017-06-13 . Multiplicity: An Explorative Interview Study on Personal Experiences of People with Multiple Selves . Frontiers in Psychology . 8 . 938 . 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00938 . 1664-1078 . 5468408 . 28659840 . free.
  2. Web site: Lucas . Jessica . Inside TikTok's booming dissociative identity disorder community . 2022-09-25 . Input . 6 July 2021 . en.
  3. Web site: Telfer . Tori . 2015-05-11 . Are Multiple Personalities Always a Disorder? . 2020-06-15 . Vice . en.
  4. Web site: 2021-07-21 . Exploring the experiences of young people with multiplicity . 2023-09-24 . Youth & Policy . en.
  5. Eve . Zarah . Heyes . Kim . Parry . Sarah . 2023-09-12 . Conceptualizing multiplicity spectrum experiences: A systematic review and thematic synthesis . Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy . en . 10.1002/cpp.2910 . 1063-3995. free .
  6. Web site: Enacted Identities: Multiplicity, Plurality, and Tulpamancy Psychology Today . 2023-09-24 . www.psychologytoday.com . en.
  7. cooper . mick . 1996 . MODES OF EXISTENCE: TOWARDS A PHENOMENOLOGICAL POLYPSYCHISM . Journal of the Society for Existential Analysis . 7 . 2 . 1.
  8. Book: The plural self: multiplicity in everyday life . 1999 . Sage Publ . 978-0-7619-6076-8 . Rowan . John . 1. publ . London . 2.
  9. Web site: What we can learn about respect and identity from 'plurals' Aeon Ideas . 2023-09-24 . Aeon . en.
  10. Web site: Enacted Identities: Multiplicity, Plurality, and Tulpamancy Psychology Today . 2023-06-30 . www.psychologytoday.com . en-US.
  11. Web site: Multiplicity and Identity Mitigation in Video Games Nightmare Mode [Archived] ]. 2023-07-02 . en-US.
  12. Web site: Riesman . Abraham . 2019-03-29 . The Best Cartoonist You've Never Read Is Eight Different People . 2023-06-28 . Vulture . en-us.
  13. https://www.lycoming.edu/schemata/pdfs/Sullivan.pdf
  14. Web site: Styx . Lo . 2022-01-27 . Teens Are Using TikTok to Diagnose Themselves With Dissociative Identity Disorder . 2023-06-30 . Teen Vogue . en-US.
  15. Parry . Sarah . Eve . Zarah . Myers . Gemma . 2022-07-21 . Exploring the Utility and Personal Relevance of Co-Produced Multiplicity Resources with Young People . Journal of Child & Adolescent Trauma . en . 15 . 2 . 427–439 . 10.1007/s40653-021-00377-7 . 1936-1521 . 9120276 . 35600531 .
  16. Web site: Stronghold . 2023-04-18 . How they took the Multiple out of Multiplicity - Understanding the history . 2023-10-28 . powertotheplurals.com . en-US.
  17. Web site: Stronghold . TPA Nonprofit . 2023-11-07 . powertotheplurals.com . en-US.
  18. Web site: Stronghold . 2023-04-18 . How they took the Multiple out of Multiplicity - Understanding the history . 2023-10-28 . powertotheplurals.com . en-US.
  19. Eriksen, Karen & Kress, Victoria E. (2005). "A Developmental, Constructivist Model for Ethical Assessment (Which Includes Diagnosis, of Course)". Beyond the DSM Story: Ethical Quandaries, Challenges, and Best Practices. Thousand Oaks, CA: Page Publications.
  20. Book: Carter . Rita . Multiplicity: The New Science of Personality, Identity, and the Self . March 2008 . Little, Brown . 9780316115384.

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