Abstract. There is a growing interest in embitterment as psychological concept. However, little systematic research has been conducted to characterize this emotional reaction. Still, there is an ongoing debate about the distinctiveness of embitterment and its dimensions. Additionally, a categorical and a dimensional perspective on embitterment have been developed independently over the last decade. The present study investigates the dimensions of embitterment by bringing these two different approaches together, for the first time. The Bern Embitterment Inventory (BEI) was given to 49 patients diagnosed with “Posttraumatic Embitterment Disorder (PTED)” and a matched control group of 49 patients with psychological disorders with other dominant emotional dysregulations. The ability to discriminate between the two groups was assessed by t-tests and Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves (ROC curve analysis). PTED patients scored significantly higher on the BEI than the patients of the control group. ROC analyses indicated diagnostic accuracy of the inventory. Further, we conducted Confirmatory Factor Analyses (CFA) to examine the different dimensions of embitterment and their relations. As a result, we found four characteristic dimensions of embitterment, namely disappointment, lack of acknowledge, pessimism, and misanthropy. In general, our findings showed a common understanding of embitterment as a unique but multidimensional emotional reaction to distressful life-events.
