Self-complexity is a person's perceived knowledge of themselves based on the number of distinct cognitive structures or self-aspects they possess. Psychologist Patricia Linville developed a model suggesting that highly self-complex individuals, with more diverse and independent self-aspects, are less vulnerable to emotional swings and depression because negative life events affect only a portion of their self-concept. The concept is viewed developmentally as increasing with age and cognitively, with clinical perspectives emphasizing its protective factors against psychopathology in adulthood.