ABSTRACT
The unique value of roleplaying depends chiefly on three characteristics, namely: simultaneity, spontaneity and veridicality. In roleplaying the patient is engaged in a meaningful situation, interacting with therapeutic assistants who take roles in his private world, and he acts, thinks, and feels at the same time in his spontaneous responses to what they say and do. In this chapter the author points out why personality change occurs as a result of roleplaying; to attempt some explanation of the major dynamics of the technique. Personality may be conceived of as a set of consistent expectations about oneself and others. These expectations add up to what sociologists call role-taking; that is to say, the role one assumes. Roleplaying is generally based on the inductive principle; one learns complex matters best from unit behaviors which lead to generalizations. The effects of roleplaying, and of other forms of therapy, are central and peripheral.
