Personality and Mental Health: A Clarification

When I was first invited ta read and respond to Jerry Surh's paper concerning the Sues-Tong controversy, my initial reaction was negative. Several of my ideas have changed since the publication of our original paper' in 1971, and I felt that we would have to defend some old ideas (that I still hold) and to reformulate some of my views (which would entail a lengthy paper). Then too, after our heated exchange with Ben Tong, I had become dissatisfied and disenchanted with our process of debate and discussion. Too much of what we say lacks methods by which we can test its adequacy or validity. Thus we are trapped into endless controversies over, for example, whether an identity crisis exists, whether it is caused by one factor or another, etc. Which position is correct? How can we tell? In other words, we are left with opir.ions, some logical, others not; some based upon empirical research; others based upon personal experiences. For these reasons, I wanted to focus my attention upon the verification of assertions rather than upon another possible debate or controversy.