In accordance with Situationist theories of personality, it is possible to exhibit inconsistent and even contradictory personality characteristics. A person who is generally considered to be cold and emotionless, for instance, might unexpectedly demonstrate exceptional warmth and empathy. Multiple personality disorder or dissociative identity disorder is a condition in which someone possesses two or more distinct personalities within themselves.
A case study reported by Corbett H. Thoggen and Hervey M. Kleckley in 1953 describes a woman who displayed dissociative personality disorder, splitting into four separate identities. Each of these was aware of the others, but they did not interact with each other. When asked about the disorder, the woman said that she felt uncomfortable discussing mental illness, so she preferred to talk about “normal things”. She explained that she experienced headaches and blackouts during times of stress and that she would occasionally spend money without remembering to do so afterward. During therapy sessions, she identified herself as being either ‘Eve White‘, ‘Eve Black‘, or ‘Jane’. The psychiatrist helped to merge her identified by making her aware of them.
