The variety of terms used to describe the process of self-other differentiation in communication--empathy, role taking, decentering, and perspective taking are but a few--tend to undermine efforts to establish a consistent framework for research in this area. A review of these terms suggests that decentering is the broadest of the concepts, encompassing both affective and cognitive dimensions. Although overlapping at points, empathy and role taking/perspective taking appear to be, respectively, affective and cognitive subsets of decentering. In addition to indicating that self-other differentiation is a multidimensional process, the literature suggests that the intensity of this differentiation is variable and the relationship between communication and self-other differentiation is not linear, for communication can occur without decentering. (MM)