Books / Psychodynamic & attachment
Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality
A 1952 collection of papers by W. R. D. Fairbairn developing an object-relations theory of personality.
Book details
Author of listed edition: W. R. D. Fairbairn
Edition: First published 1952 by Tavistock Publications and Routledge & Kegan Paul (with a preface by Ernest Jones); 1994 Routledge paperback (ISBN 9780415107372) checked
Publisher: Routledge (originally Tavistock Publications / Routledge & Kegan Paul)
Edition year: 1952
Language and origin: English (United Kingdom)
Form and genre: Clinical & Theoretical Monograph
Level: Advanced
Historical era: 1940–1959 · Object Relations, Existential & Client-Centred
Covers: Object-seeking libido, schizoid phenomena, endopsychic structure (central, libidinal and anti-libidinal egos) and the moral defence against bad objects
APA 7th reference: Fairbairn, W. R. D. (1952). Psychoanalytic studies of the personality. Tavistock Publications.
What it is & historical context
Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality is a 1952 collection of theoretical and clinical papers by Scottish psychoanalyst W. R. D. Fairbairn. The first edition was published by Tavistock Publications. The 1994 Routledge paperback includes a new introduction by David E. Scharff and Ellinor Fairbairn Birtles.
Core clinical themes & arguments
Part One sets out Fairbairn’s object-relations theory of personality. He argued that libido is object-seeking: relationships are central to development, rather than simply a means of satisfying drives. His account of personality includes a central ego and split-off libidinal and anti-libidinal egos.
Fairbairn’s concept of moral defence proposes that a child may internalise badness to preserve a sense of security in the relationship with a caregiver. This is a psychoanalytic interpretation, not an established description of how every child responds to mistreatment. Kerr (2024) also traces changes in Fairbairn’s account of internalisation across the collected papers.
Questions for critical reading
How does Fairbairn’s idea of moral defence explain self-blame, and what are its limits as an interpretation of a person’s experience? How might an object-relations perspective change the way a reader thinks about the therapeutic relationship?
Who it may suit
Advanced psychodynamic trainees, trauma clinicians and students of British object-relations and relational psychoanalysis.
Scope & clinical limits
Fairbairn’s account of split egos and internal objects is abstract and historically situated. Its concepts should be read as theoretical interpretations rather than established developmental mechanisms or a guide to individual treatment.
Paired academic and clinical scholarship
Paired work: Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory (Jay R. Greenberg and Stephen A. Mitchell, 1983)
Reference: Greenberg, J. R., & Mitchell, S. A. (1983). Object relations in psychoanalytic theory. Harvard University Press.
A historical study of object-relations theories, including Fairbairn’s contribution.
Source-mapped claims and evidence notes
Claim 1: First published in 1952 by Tavistock Publications in London with a preface by Ernest Jones; reissued by Routledge (1994, ISBN 9780415107372) with a new introduction by David E. Scharff and Ellinor Fairbairn Birtles. (PEP-Web archive record ZBK.006.0001A and Routledge product page) [Source 1: Fairbairn, W. R. D. (1952). Psychoanalytic studies of the personality. Tavistock Publications. PEP-Web archive.]
Claim 2: Fairbairn’s moral defence describes the internalisation of a bad object as a way of preserving a sense of security in the external relationship. (Kerr (2024) discusses Fairbairn’s 1943 paper and traces later revisions in his account of internalisation.) [Source 3: Kerr, N. (2024). Culture as the bad object. Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society, 29, 1–14.]
Sources and inspection notes
Supports: Pending verification: 1952 Tavistock publication, Ernest Jones preface, and Part One papers on schizoid factors, object-seeking libido and endopsychic structure.
Supports: Pending verification: ISBN 9780415107372, Routledge edition details and introduction by David E. Scharff and Ellinor Fairbairn Birtles.
Kerr, N. (2024). Culture as the bad object. Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society, 29, 1–14.
Supports: Interpretation of moral defence and changes in Fairbairn’s account of internalisation; reproduces the wording of the 1943 passage.
Google Books. Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality, 1994 Routledge edition.
Supports: 1994 Routledge edition and paperback ISBN 9780415107372.