Conference Agenda

This presentation examines the psychological dynamics of caregiving for so-called “toxic parents” in contemporary Japan through the lens of Dialogical Self Theory (DST). It focuses on adult children who, having experienced emotional neglect or dysfunction in childhood, are now required to care for their parents in old age. Such caregiving situations often evoke intense emotional ambivalence, including resentment, guilt, moral obligation, and emotional withdrawal. The present study analyzes these fluctuating inner experiences as dialogical processes within the self.

Dialogical Self Theory conceptualizes the self not as a unified entity, but as a dynamic multiplicity of interacting I-positions. In the context of caregiving, positions such as “the wounded child,” “the responsible adult,” “the obedient family member,” and “the self that wants to refuse caregiving” coexist and engage in ongoing internal dialogue and conflict. This presentation explores how these I-positions negotiate, silence, or dominate one another in concrete caregiving practices.

As a theoretical background, the analysis incorporates the philosophy of Kitaro Nishida, particularly his concept of “absolute contradictory self-identity.” Nishida understood the self as a locus that sustains opposing elements without resolving them into a higher synthesis. By applying this concept, the study interprets Japanese caregivers’ capacity to endure contradictory emotions—such as hatred and duty, rejection and devotion—not as psychological inconsistency, but as a culturally grounded mode of selfhood.

By integrating Dialogical Self Theory with Japanese philosophical thought, this presentation aims to move beyond pathologizing or moralizing interpretations of toxic-parent caregiving. Instead, it proposes a culturally sensitive framework for understanding how Japanese individuals live with unresolved contradictions within the self when confronting ethically and emotionally demanding family responsibilities.

The number of Japanese nationals residing overseas remained largely unchanged from the previous year, at approximately 1.29 million (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Survey Statistics on Japanese Nationals Residing Overseas”). Approximately 80% of this population are adults. The purpose of this study was to examine how families supporting Japanese nationals living abroad who have been diagnosed with designated intractable diseases access administration and healthcare services and share information, focusing on conflicts and other aspects of the families’ experiences. The study also analysed the concept of ‘cultural crossing’, discussed since the 2000s, based on the procedure proposed by Mori (2009). The study’s initial research was conducted referencing a study by Okishio (Harada) (2013). Subsequently, guided by Mori (2009), the study visualised the data using TEA (Trajectory Equifinality Approach) and Hermans‘ dialogical self theory. The significance of this research includes a deeper understanding of healthcare professionals and local welfare workers who are involved in the daily lives of Japanese nationals with serious illnesses who reside overseas. Another important contribution is the additional material that can be considered to support these patients and their families. Finally, as Japan marks the 40th anniversary of the enforcement of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law, the study outlined contradictions faced by women leaving their jobs.

This presentation examines contradictions and conflicts in career development through the lens of Dialogical Self Theory (DST). Contemporary career formation faces new challenges as the nature of work itself transforms. Extended working lives due to increased longevity, diversified work arrangements normalised after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the widespread adoption of side jobs and parallel careers are reshaping career landscapes. These changes alter social values and expectations regarding career development while dismantling traditional modes of career transitions that once provided structural guidance. For individuals navigating these conditions, contradictions and conflicts have become increasingly common lived experiences. This presentation focuses on career transitions as critical moments when such tensions emerge and require negotiation.

Drawing on DST and cultural psychology concepts, including personal umwelt, liminality, and triple Gegenstand, I examine how contradictions and conflicts during career transitions emerge within "cultural fields of meaning." The dialogical self framework shows how multiple I-positions—professional, personal, familial, and aspirational selves—engage in internal dialogues during transitions. These positions often carry conflicting cultural voices: traditional employment values versus emerging freelance identities, security-seeking versus growth-oriented selves, or organizationally embedded versus independently entrepreneurial positions.

Career transitions intensify these dialogical tensions as individuals negotiate between established I-positions and emergent possibilities. The cultural field of meaning provides the semiotic resources—narratives, symbols, cultural scripts—through which these internal dialogues unfold. When traditional cultural meanings become destabilised, however, individuals face greater ambiguity in positioning themselves dialogically. This analysis reveals how career-related contradictions are not merely external structural pressures but are constructed through dialogical dynamics of the self within culturally situated meaning-making. Understanding this dialogical construction can inform support for individuals navigating contemporary career complexities.

Dialogical Self Theory provides a framework for understanding the conflict and heterogeneity of the self. It conceptualises the self as a spatial configuration—a collective Gestalt composed of multiple I-positions—thereby enabling the elaboration of intra- and interpersonal auto-dialogue. However, this emphasis on spatial configuration and momentary positioning also entails a limitation. DST has been less thoroughly described as a model of how the I-position—ME as the objective self in relation to the world—emerges, is reconfigured, and transforms over the flow of time. In particular, the generative processes through which the self is reconfigured across life trajectories remain insufficiently theorised.

This presentation addresses this limitation by adopting a process-oriented perspective on the dialogical self through autoethnography. Autoethnography is a qualitative approach that examines the researcher's (or surrounding persons') personal narratives by connecting it to relevant cultural contexts while exploring ways to express that complex process. Based on an autoethnographic study, the presenter examines how the meaning of the career decision, “becoming a teacher,” was developed through a dialogical process involving shifts and the emergence of I-positions.

The analysis in this study suggests two main perspectives. First, the internalisation of others’ voices did not occur through the direct uptake of external discourse. Rather, it emerged through resonance with the pre-semiotic and affective potential of the tension already existing in the subject’s bodily experience. Second, the ongoing recreation of the self is supported by the maintenance of a meaningful address to a generalised voice of the other.

By approaching DST as a process rather than a static structure, this presentation reconceptualises the self as an ongoing flow of meaning-making, in which its composition is continuously generated, destabilised, and reconfigured.