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What is that which always is and has no becoming; and what is that which is always becoming and never is?
Winnicott originally polarized false and true selves. However, Winnicott's false self can be considered as containing two false subselves as well (Lo´pez-Corvo 1996), one complying or pleasing, which I refer to as the “complying false-self,” and another aggressive, which I call the “negativistic false-self.” The latter is often confused with a true self1
The “complying false self” attempts to deceive an imaginary castrator projected into the outside object by providing that object with what the patient believes that object wants. This false subself is related to early oral fixations. The, other, “negativistic false self.” is hidden, vengeful, and related to anal-sadistic early object relations, which usually determine certain forms of acting out. This negativistic false self is the complete opposite of the complying false self and attempts to provide the outside object with exactly the opposite of what the patient believes that object wants. Between the two false selves a paranoid-schizoid circularity takes place, where a great need to comply and deceive induces castration anxiety and fear of “fusing” with the object's desire, of just becoming the object's wish and changing into a lie. This fear increases the need for a negativistic false self as a