In the next sections of the book we turn from the large sweep of life as it has been portrayed in the socioemotional analysis. Now we examine some smaller emotional behaviors, the habits of expression in writing and behavior. We show that these are much more than disconnected habits; they form meaningful bits of the structure of personality. They are like fractals – small versions of elements with similar forms making up a larger form. Some critical behaviors are like crystals in that they are made of elements that resemble each other and then form a larger structure. The larger form resembles the elements, and, psychologically, the resemblance may be both meaningful and symbolic. These small pieces of behavior are what the broader categories of attachment are composed from or result from. We have already been integrating the forms of specific emotions such as shame or anger into the portrayal of attachment styles, but now we will go in a different direction with the same intent.

It is in the small, significant bits of behavior that people such as Silvan Tomkins, a founder of emotional analysis, or Perls, founder of Gestalt therapy, erratically form their often surprising insights about the larger wholes. From subconscious uses of expressive emotional words to the larger patterns of intellectual organization, the tendency toward emotional wholeness of the person is always building, adapting to new circumstances, and then rebuilding on the old foundations.