A Contemporary Interpersonal Model of Personality Pathology and Personality Disorder

Author(s):  
Aaron L. Pincus ◽  
Christopher J. Hopwood

We present a model of personality psychopathology based on the assumptions; descriptive metastructure; and developmental, motivational, and regulatory processes of the contemporary integrative interpersonal theory of personality. The interpersonal model of personality psychopathology distinguishes between the definition of personality pathology and individual differences in the expression of personality disorder. This approach facilitates interdisciplinary conceptualizations of functioning and treatment by emphasizing the interpersonal situation as a prominent unit of analysis, organized by the metaconstructs of agency and communion and the interpersonal circumplex model. Linking personality psychopathology to agentic and communal constructs, pathoplastic relationships with those constructs, patterns of intraindividual variability, and interpersonal signatures allows personality dysfunction to be tied directly to psychological theory with clear propositions for research and treatment planning. The model’s relevance for DSM-5 is highlighted throughout the chapter. We conclude by bringing the interpersonal model from bench to bedside with an articulation of its clinical implications.

Author(s):  
Aaron L. Pincus ◽  
Christopher J. Hopwood ◽  
Aidan G. C. Wright

This chapter reviews structural and process assumptions of the Contemporary Integrative Interpersonal Theory of personality and presents the interpersonal situation as a synthetic and widely applicable framework for integrating the structure and dynamics of persons and situations. It is an interactional-dynamic perspective that is variable-centered and dimensional (agency and communion; valence and arousal), specifies the important characteristics of situations, synthesizes objective and subjective perspectives, and is applicable to multimethod, multi-informant, multi-timescale assessments in situ, juxta situm, or ex situ organized by the interpersonal circumplex. Emphasizing clinical implications, the chapter reviews multimethod, multi-timescale empirical research employing intensive repeated measures designs (event-contingent recording, continuous assessment of interpersonal dynamics) supporting the interpersonal situation and its relevance for studying personality, psychopathology, and psychotherapy. It then elaborates on the utility of the interpersonal situation framework for psychotherapy practice and training. Finally, it identifies future directions for advancing this contemporary interpersonal perspective on psychological situations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-16
Author(s):  
Svitlana Kuzikova ◽  
Valeriy Zlivkov ◽  
Svitlana Lukomska

This article is devoted to the concept of integrative interpersonal theory of personality. The origins of the interpersonal theory of personality are found in interpersonal theory of psychiatry. This approach facilitates interdisciplinary conceptualizations of functioning and treatment by emphasizing the interpersonal situation as a prominent unit of analysis, organized by the metaconstructs of agency and communion and the interpersonal circumplex model. The interpersonal circumplex can serve as both companion and guide for those interested in exploring the interpersonal domain of personality. It is outlined the major assumptions and key concepts of the contemporary integrative interpersonal theory of personality. The features and the variety of studies, including several recent studies that extend integrative interpersonal theory are outlined. It is established that applications of the model for exploring both the idiographic (person‐centered) and nomothetic (variable‐centered) realms of personality. The contemporary interpersonal tradition assumes a pathoplastic relationship between interpersonal functioning and many forms of psychopathology. Key concepts of interpersonal theory: Copy process, Catalysts of internalization, Interpersonal motives, Regulatory Metagoals are described. The interpersonal nexus in psychology is a nomological net that provides the architecture to coordinate definition of personality. Given the advances in interpersonal theory and description discussed here, we would argue that agentic and communal personality characteristics should be essential components of an interdisciplinary science of personality psychology. Стаття присвячена аналізу сучасної інтегративної міжособистісної теорії особистості, що базується на міжособистісній теорії психіатрії, згідно з якою міжособистісна ситуація як одиниця аналізу дозволяє реалізувати міждисциплінарний підхід до діагностики, терапії та лікування пато­психологічних станів. При цьому наголошується, що утворений метаконструктами контекст комунікації по суті є моделлю міжособистісного комплексу, який дозволяє вивчати особистість комплексно, в кон­тексті інтегративного підходу, базуючись не лише на принципах патології, а й на принципах гуманізму. Окреслено основні поняття сучасної інтегративної міжособистісної теорії особистості: копінг-процеси, каталізатори інтерналізації, міжособистісні мотиви, регуляторні метацілі. Проаналізовано  численні дослідження (зокрема сучасні), що не лише розкривають основні поняття інтегративної міжособистісної теорії, а й демонструють можливості її використання у практичній психології та психотерапії. Вста­новлено, що застосування інтегративної міжособистісної теорії для вивчення ідеографічних (орієнтованих на людину) та номотетичних (орієнтованих на норми) сфер дозволяють розглядати особистість комп­лексно, у взаємозв’язку її різних властивостей. Сучасна міжособистісна традиція передбачає зумовленість соціального функціонування міжособистісним контекстом, тобто міжособистісний аспект у психології є номологічною мережею, яка забезпечує основу для інтегративного визначення особистості. З урахуванням надбань міжособистісної теорії та досвіду її використання у практичній психології та психотерапії, констатується, що ключові її аспекти можуть вважатися основними компонентами міждисциплінарної психології особистості.


1999 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 246-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Krista K. Trobst

Summary: The present article relied upon interpersonal theory ( Sullivan, 1953 ), the interpersonal circumplex model ( Leary, 1957 ), resource exchange theory ( Foa & Foa, 1974 ), and the meta-constructs of agency and communion ( Bakan, 1966 ; Wiggins, 1991 ) in the attempt to explicate a theoretical and measurement model of social support. The Support Actions Scale - Circumplex (SAS-C; Trobst, in press ) provides a circumplex measure of social support whose psychometric characteristics are comparable to the best circumplexes reported in the literature. Empirical findings using this recent measure are summarized and interpreted with respect to an interpersonal theory perspective.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 499-524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Hopwood ◽  
Mitja Back

Clinical and basic personality psychologists interact less than they should, given their similar interests. In clinical personality psychology, available evidence supports a transition from the current categorical system to a hierarchical trait scheme for diagnosing the stable features of personality disorder. However, trait models do not capture the dynamic aspects of personality disorders as they have been described in the clinical literature, and thus miss a clinically critical feature of personality pathology. In contrast, basic personality psychologists have coalesced around a consensual structure of individual differences and become increasingly interested in the dynamic processes that underlie and contextualize traits. But trait psychology models are not sufficiently specific to characterize dynamic personality processes. In this paper, I filter clinical descriptions of personality disorders through the lens of interpersonal theory to specify a recursive within–situation interpersonal pattern of motives, affects, behaviours, and perceptions that could contribute to the stable between–situation patterns of maladaptive behaviour of historical interest to both basic and clinical personality psychologists. I suggest that this interpersonal model adds specificity to recent proposals regarding processes in the basic personality literature and has significant potential to advance research on personality dynamics. © 2018 European Association of Personality Psychology


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Sleep ◽  
Joanna Lamkin ◽  
Donald Lynam ◽  
William Keith Campbell ◽  
Josh Miller

Mixed findings exist as to whether personality pathology involves a critical lack of awareness and insight. Research questions about insight and awareness in personality pathology are typically assessed via comparing self and informant reports of traits. However, recent studies have measured insight by asking individuals to evaluate additional questions about impairment and desire to change. The present study uses a variety of approaches to examine these issues including investigations of convergence between self and informant reports (N = 197 dyads; correlations and comparisons of means) of personality psychopathology, desired trait levels, and perceptions of impairment. Convergence was observed between levels of self- and informant-reported traits, desired traits, and impairment. However, individuals rated themselves higher on pathological trait levels and impairment than did their informants. Furthermore, individuals with relatively higher pathological traits desired higher levels of these traits (but lower than their actual scores) than individuals with lower scores; on the actual measurement scale, however, these higher scorers rated their desired level below the neutral point. Overall, individuals with pathological personality traits possess a reasonable degree of insight into their actual trait levels and associated impairment.


1998 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul S Links ◽  
Ronald Heslegrave ◽  
Robert van Reekum

Objective: To examine the rate of persistence of borderline personality disorder (BPD), the existence of concomitant personality disorders on follow-up, and the predictors of outcome in patients who met criteria for BPD compared with patients with borderline features who failed to meet all of the criteria. Method: This prospective cohort study reassessed subjects for BPD diagnosis and cooccurring personality pathology at 7 years follow-up. Initial measures of borderline and comorbid personality psychopathology were used to predict levels of borderline or other personality disorder psychopathology at follow-up. Results: Of the 5 7 subjects who initially met the criteria for BPD, 30 (52.6%) were found to have remitted BPD, and 27 (47.4%) were characterized as having persistent BPD. The remitted group met significantly fewer comorbid personality disorder diagnoses than the persistent group (mean = 0.8, mean = 3.5 respectively; P < 0.05). Results also indicated that the initial level of borderline psychopathology was predictive of borderline psychopathology at follow-up, which explained 17% of the variance. Conclusions: This prospective follow-up study found that almost 50% of former inpatients with BPD continue to test positive for BPD at 7 years follow-up, and these persistent BPD patients also had significantly more comorbid personality psychopathology. Borderline psychopathology at follow-up was primarily predicted by the level of borderline psychopathology recorded at the initial assessment.


1999 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael B. Gurtman

Summary: Social competence is an alluring, yet elusive, construct. The purpose of this article is to examine social competence in relation to a model of interpersonal behavior, the interpersonal circumplex. The circumplex can serve as descriptive taxonomy for social competence constructs; it also gives rise to a set of analytic methods useful for validating particular measures and analyzing item characteristics. The value of the approach was demonstrated in studies done on an array of self-report measures. The results suggested that most social competency measures can be reconceptualized as some blend of Dominance, Extraversion, and Friendliness. When linked to interpersonal theory, the circumplex model provides an integrative framework for understanding social competence, and a springboard for generating and testing relevant hypotheses.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aidan G.C. Wright ◽  
Leonard Simms

Very little is known about the daily stability and fluctuation of personality pathology. To address this gap in knowledge, we investigated the naturalistic manifestation of personality pathology over the course of 100 days. A group of individuals (N=101) diagnosed with any personality disorder (PD) completed a daily diary study over 100 consecutive days (Mdn = 94 days, Range = 33-101 days). Participants completed daily ratings of 30 manifestations of personality pathology. Patterns of stability and variability over the course of the study were then examined. Results indicated that individual PD manifestations and domains of PD manifestations were variable across days and differed widely in their frequency. Additionally, individual averages and level of variability in PD domains were highly stable across months, individual averages of PD domains were predicted by baseline dispositional ratings of PD traits with a high degree of specificity, and daily variability PD domains was associated with elevated levels of PD traits. This pattern of findings suggests that dynamic processes of symptom exacerbation and diminution that are stable in mean level and variability in expression over time characterizes personality pathology. Further, dispositional ratings are significant predictors of average daily expression of PD features.


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