I Am What I Am! Indivdiualizing Behavior

The sixth square in the SAVI grid is characterized by verbal behaviors that communicate information about oneself, one's likes and dislikes, one's ideas and speculations about oneself.  They include:

• current information present
• factual statements about oneself
• statements of planned action (present or future)
• personal editorial comments like "I've been thinking a lot about this"
• personal past information
• opinions/explanations/speculations about the self
• personal questions (questions of others that invite 'individualizing' responses)

Quite understandably, 'individualizing' behavior is considered to be 'person' in orientation when considering the person/topic split within SAVI theory.  It also is 'contingent' behavior, meaning that the statement's overall effect of either 'approach' or 'avoidance' depends on the response of the listener and the overall context of the conversation.