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Psychologist

Ronald Fairbairn

FAIR-bairn (/fɛrˈbɛərn/)
Also Known As W. Ronald D. Fairbairn
Clinical Psychology

Ronald Fairbairn (1889-1964) was a Scottish psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, a central figure in the development of object relations theory. Working in relative isolation in Edinburgh, he replaced Freud's drive-based model of personality with one built entirely on relationships, arguing that the infant seeks the object (the caregiver) itself rather than the discharge of instinctual tension, and that a failure of that relationship is internalized through splitting into distinct ego structures. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Birth Date
1889-08-11 1
Birth Year
1889 1
Death Date
1964-12-31 1
Death Year
1964 1
Birthplace
Morningside, Edinburgh, Scotland 1
Death Place
Edinburgh, Scotland 1
Nationality / Culture
Scottish 1
Defining Contribution
Formulated a systematic object-relations theory of personality that replaced Freudian drive theory with the infant's relationship to its caregiver as the primary motivating force, describing splitting into libidinal, central and anti-libidinal ego structures. 1
Notable Work
Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality (1952), published in the United States as An Object-Relations Theory of the Personality (1954) 1
Connections

Held Differently

Melanie Klein, Psychologists
Source Wikipedia: Object Relations Theory

In Branch

Clinical Psychology, Branches of Psychology
Source Wikipedia: Ronald Fairbairn

Schools Founded

Object Relations Theory, Schools and Movements
Source Wikipedia: Ronald Fairbairn
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Ronald Fairbairn
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Introduction
    He was generally known and referred to as "W. Ronald D. Fairbairn".
  • infobox
    Ronald Fairbairn FRSE
  • Career section
    Fairbairn produced only one book-length collection of his papers called Psychoanalytic Studies of the Personality (1952) published in the United States as An Object-Relations Theory of the Personality by Basic Books in 1954.
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Wikipedia: Object Relations Theory
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Melanie Klein, Kleinian object relations theory
Quote, Associated With: Melanie Klein, Kleinian object relations theory
In contrast to Fairbairn and later Guntrip, Klein believed that both good and bad objects are introjected by the infant, the internalization of good objects being essential to the development of healthy ego function.
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