Character: Taking a Fresh Look: Dynamics of Character: Self-Regulation in Psychopathology, David Shapiro

Psychologist David Shapiro's distinctive style of observation reveals complexity, nuance, and irony in the operation of character. A person's character feels intimately familiar, yet can produce estrangement from their own experience. Character steadies mental functioning by keeping anxiety within tolerable limits, but does so at a cost. An abiding outlook on events, or working image of oneself or others, avoids discomfort by shrouding the inner promptings and interests that enable choice and self-direction. To the careful observer this estrangement may be evident when the tone of a person's apparent enthusiasm or showy conviction seems intended to silence their own doubts.