Psychologists usually considered the “Self” as an object of experience appearing when the subject begins to perceive its existence within the conscious field. In accordance with such view, the self-representing attitude of the human mind has been usually related to individual development and to neuro-plastic acquisitions of the cortico-limbic network. On the other hand, Carl Gustav Jung considered the Self as the inborn dynamic core of our personality, in its conscious and unconscious aspects as well as in its actual and potential forms. According to Jung, the Self integrates those essential bio-psychological drives leading to instinctual behavioral actions and archetypal psychological experiences and influencing all forms of learning and memory. Interestingly, recent neuroethological studies indicate that our subjective identity rests on ancient neuro-psychic processes that humans share with other animals as part of their inborn constitutional repertoire. Indeed, the brain activity within subcortical midline structures (SCMS) is intrinsically related to the emergence of prototypical affective states, that influence our behavior in a flexible way and alter our conscious field, giving rise to specific feelings or moods, which constitute the first form of self-orientation in the world. Moreover, such affective dynamics play a central role in the organization of individual personality, informing about the meaning of our personal experience and harmonizing our instinctual vestiges within the experience-dependent learning functions of the “mind-brain”. Therefore, on the base of the convergence between contemporary cutting-edge scientific research and some psychological intuition of Jung, we intend here to explore the first neuro-evolutional layer of human mind, that we call the affective core of the Self.

The aim of this research was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on teachers, particularly on their self-esteem and self-efficacy, their difficulty in the transition to distance learning, the difficulty of students, and specially of students with learning disabilities (LDs students), as perceived by teachers. 226 teachers were invited to complete an online questionnaire. Our results showed lower self-esteem and lower self-efficacy by the teachers compared with the normative sample. Self-esteem and self-efficacy also decrease in teachers with greater service seniority at work. Teachers perceived a greater difficulty in students than in their own difficulty. The concentration of the school system’s efforts on the massive and, for long periods, exclusive organisation of distance learning risks favouring only cognitive aspects to the detriment of affective dynamics. This aspect could make teaching more complex for teachers and learning poorer for students, impoverishing the complex relational process that forms the basis of the learning process.

Over the last decade, a substantial number of studies have focused on the role of personality traits and of the personality trait similarity/dissimilarity in partner selection and in predicting the quality of adult romantic relationships. The present study contributes to this general objective by investigating the correlations between levels of similarity/dissimilarity in partners’ personality profiles, analyzed through the Big Five dimensions, and levels of romantic relationship adjustment at different stage of a couple’s life course. A sample of Italian couples (N = 92 couples; 184 individuals) completed the Big Five Questionnaire and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. The results revealed that similarity was not directly related with romantic relationship adjustment. Similarity only affected adjustment in interaction with the length of relationship. Partners reporting high levels of similarity in conscientiousness and openness showed the highest levels of romantic relationship adjustment during the first years of their relationship, while showing lower levels of adjustment as the relationship progressed. The lower levels of romantic relationship adjustment fell within the length of relationship range spanning between 10 and 21 years. These results suggest the importance of considering the life cycle perspective when studying the impact of personality similarity on romantic relationships, as well as suggesting the need to analyze the relationship between personality factors and interpersonal processes in a deeper way particularly in counseling and therapeutic contexts.

At the end of 2019, COVID-19 (an infective respiratory disease caused by SARSCoV-2) was discovered in Wuhan, China

Bowen and colleagues argued through their clinical observations that psychological distress is a result of low levels of differentiation of self. Starting from these premises, the main objective of the present investigation was to compare a normative sample and a sample of adults seeking services at a systemic therapy clinic. Initially, we assessed differences between groups in dimensions related to differentiation of self and psychological distress. In the second step, we examined whether differentiation of self dimensions would increase or reduce the likelihood that an individual belonged to either of the two groups. The help-seeking sample was comprised of 64 adults seeking therapeutic services, and the normative sample was comprised of 85 students. All participants completed the Differentiation of Self Inventory and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised. We found that the participants of the help-seeking sample had significantly higher scores on the Global Severity Index and in I-position and emotional cutoff dimensions. We also found that higher emotional cutoff was the strongest predictor of the probability of belonging to the help-seeking group in the hypothesized model. These data suggest that information about differentiation of self might enable counseling psychologists and therapist to define effective interventions.