Personality
*Characteristic patterns of behavior, cognition, and emotions.
1) Uniqueness
2) Inter-Individual variability
*All the ways we have of acting, thinking, believing, and feeling that make each of us unique.
Personality Trait
A complex pattern of behavior, thought, and feeling that is stable across time and across many situations.
*Stable patterns
*Intra-Individual consistency across time and situations.
Five-Factor Model
*The Big 5: Appear to be strongly influenced by genetics
1) Negative emotionality vs. Emotional Stability
2) Extraversion vs. Introversion
3) Openness to experience vs. Closedness to one's own experience
4) Agreeablness vs. Antagonism
5) Conscientiousness
DSM-IV-TR Personality Disorders
1) Cluster A: Odd-Eccentric Personality Disorders
2) Cluster B: Dramatic-Emotional Personality Disorders
3) Cluster C: Anxious-Fearful Personality Disorders
Odd-Eccentric Personality Disorders
*Behavior is similar to that of people with schizophrenia, including inappropriate or flat affect, odd thought and speech pattern,and paranoia. But these people retain their grasp on reality to a greater degree than do people with schizophrenia
*These dis
Paranoid Personality Disorder
*Chronic and pervasive mistrust and suspicion of other people that is unwarranted and maladaptive.
*Weak relationship to schizophrenia
*Increased risk for a number of acute psychological problems, including major depression, anxiety disorders, substance a
Theories of paranoid personality disorder
*Some family history studies have shown that this disorder is more common in the families of people with schizophrenia than in the findings of healthy control subjects.
*May be part of the schizophrenia spectrum of disorders
*One twin study found heritabi
Treatment of paranoid personality disorder
* People diagnosed with thins usually come into contact with clinicians only when they are in crisis.
* Cognitive therapy for people diagnosed with this disorder focuses on increasing their sense of self efficacy in dealing with difficult situations, thus
Schizoid Personality Disorder
*Chronic lack of interest in an avoidance of interpersonal relationships, emotional coldness toward others.
*Relationship with schizophrenia is unclear.
*They view relationships with others as unrewarding, messy, and intrusive.
*People diagnosed with this
Theories of Schizoid Personality Disorder
*Evidence for heritability of this disorder is only indirect.
*Slightly increased rate of schizoid personality disorder in the relatives of persons with schizophrenia, but the link between the disorder is unclear.
Treatment of Schizoid Personality Disorder
*Psychosocial treatments for schizoid personality disorder focus on increasing the person's awareness of his or her own feelings, as well as increasing his or her social contacts.
*Social skills training, done through role playing with the therapist and h
Schizotypal Personality Disorder
*Chronic pattern of inhibited or inappropriate emotion and social behavior, aberrant cognitions, disorganized speech.
*Strong relationship with schizophrenia (considered a mild version of schizophrenia)
*As children, people who develop this disorder are p
Theories of Schizotypal Personality disorder
*Family history, adoption, and twin studies all suggest that schizotypal personality disorder is transmitted genetically.
*Much more common in first-degree relatives with schizophrenia.
*Problems in ability to sustain attention on cognitive tasks, as well
Treatment of Schizotypal Personality Disorder
*Most often treated with the same drugs used to treat schizophrenia, including traditional neuroleptics such as
1) haloperidol
2) thiothixene
and atypical antipsychotics such as
1) olanzapine
*As in schizophrenia, these drugs appear to relieve psychotic-l
Dramatic-Emotional Personality Disorders
*Engage in behaviors that are dramatic and impulsive, sometimes violent behaviors and they often show little regard for their own safety or the safety of others.
*Tend to be manipulative, volatile, and uncaring in social relationships.
1) Antisocial Perso
Antisocial Personality Disorder
*Pervasive pattern of criminal, impulsive, callous, or ruthless behavior; disregard for the rights of others; no respect for social norms.
*Similar to conduct disorder (diagnosed in children) on Axis I.
*poor control of impulses, often take chances and se
Psychopathy
*Criteria include: (Hervey Cleckley)
1) Superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self-worth, a tendency toward boredom and need for stimulation, pathological lying, being cunning and manipulative, and a lack of remorse.
2) People with psychopathy are cold
Theories of Antisocial Personality Disorder
* Variety of biological and psychological theories have received some empirical evidence.
* There is substantial evidence of a genetic influence on antisocial behaviors, particularly criminal behaviors.
*Twin studies find that the concordance rate for suc
Kenneth Dodge and Gregory Pettit integrated the myriad biological, social, and cognitive factors associated with antisociality into a comprehensive model
Biological, social, and psychological factors interact across a child's development lead to a lifetime of anti sociality in some children.
Treatments for Antisocial Personality Disorder
* People with antisocial personality disorder tend to believe they do not need treatment.
* They may submit to therapy when forced to because of marital discord, work conflicts, or incarceration, but they are prone to blaming others for their current situ
Borderline Personality Disorder
* Rapidly shifting and unstable mood, self concept, and interpersonal relationship; impulsive behavior; transient dissociative states; self-effacement.
* Similar to mood disorders on Axis I.
* Instability (mood, self concept, interpersonal relationships)
Theories of Borderline Personality Disorder
* People with this disorder have fundamental deficits in emotion regulation that are physiologically based (Marsha Linehan)
* Psychoanalytic theories argue that people diagnosed with this have poorly developed views of themselves and others.
* The instabi
Treatments for borderline personality disorder
*One of the first psychotherapies shown to have positive effects in patients with borderline personality disorder was dialectical behavior therapy.
*Cognitive therapy treatments for this disorder have been proven helpful; STEPPS is a group intervention fo
Dialectal Behavior Therapy
*focuses on helping clients with borderline personality disorder gain a more realistic and positive sense of self, learn adaptive skills for problem solving and regulating emotions, and correct dichotomous thinking.
*Therapists teach clients to monitor se
Cognitive therapy treatments for borderline personality disorder
*Systems training for emotional predictability and problem solving (STEPPS):
*is a group intervention for people with this disorder and combine cognitive techniques challenging irrational and maladaptive thinking and behavioral techniques addressing self
Psychodynamically oriented therapies for borderline personality disorder
1) Transference focused therapy: Uses the relationship between patient and therapist to help patients develop a more realistic and healthy understanding of themselves and their interpersonal relationships.
*Showed reduction in sociality, impulsivity, aggr
Histrionic Personality Disorder
*Syndrome marked by rapidly shifting moods, unstable relationships, and an intense need for attention and approval, which are sought by means of overly dramatic behavior, seductiveness, and dependence
*Similar to somatoform disorders and mood disorders on
Theories of Histrionic Personality Disorder
*Discussions of this disorder date back to ancient Greek philosophers, but little is known about causes or effective treatments.
*Family history studies indicate that this disorder clusters in families, along with borderline personality disorder, antisoci
Treatment of Histrionic Personality Disorder
*Psychodynamic treatments: focus on uncovering repressed emotions and needs and helping people with histrionic personality disorder express these emotions and needs in more socially appropriate ways.
*Cognitive therapy: focuses on identifying these patien
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
*Grandiose thoughts and feelings of ones one worth;oblivious to others needs; exploitative, arrogant demeanor.
*Similar to manic symptoms on Axis I
*People with this disorder rely on their self evaluations and see dependency on others as weak and dangerou
Theories of Narcissistic Personality Disorder
*Cognitive Theorists: have argued that some people with this disorder develop unrealistically positive assumptions about their self worth as a result of indulgence and overvaluation by significant others during childhood.
*People with this disorder develo
Treatment of Narcissistic Personality Disorder
*People with this disorder tend to not seek treatment except when they develop depression or are confronted with severe interpersonal problems
*cognitive techniques can help these clients develop more realistic expectations of their abilities and more sen
Anxious-Fearful Personality Disorders
*People with these disorders are chronically anxious:
1) Avoidant Personality Disorder
2) Dependent Personality Disorder
3) Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder
Avoidant Personality Disorder
*pervasive anxiety, a sense of inadequacy, and a fear of being criticized, which lead to the avoidance of social interactions and nervousness.
*similar to social phobias on Axis I
*may tend to be depressed and lonely
*studies suggest that from 0.8 to 6.4%
Theories of Avoidant Personality Disorder
*Twin studies show that genetics play a role in this disorder and that the same genes likely are involved in avoidant personality disorder and social phobia.
*Cognitive theorists suggests that people with this disorder develop dysfunctional beliefs about
Treatment of Avoidant Personality Disorder
*Cognitive and behavior therapies have proven helpful and include graduated exposure to social settings, social skills training, and challenged to negative automatic thoughts about social situations.
Dependent Personality Disorder
*pervasive selfishness, a need to be cared for, and a fear of rejection,leading to total dependence on and submission to others.
*similar to separation anxiety disorder and dysthymic disorder on Axis I
*these people can function only within a relationship
Theories of Dependent Personality Disorder
*runs in families, and one twin study estimated heritability of the disorder to be .81
*cognitive theories argue that people with dependent personality disorder have beliefs, such as "I am needy and weak." that drive their dependent behaviors.
Treatment of Dependent personality Disorder
*people with this disorder frequently seek treatment.
*psychodynamic treatment focuses on helping clients gain insight into the early experiences with caregivers that led to their dependent behaviors by using free association, dream interpretation, and in
Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder
*pervasive rigidity in ones activities and interpersonal relationships, including emotional construction, extreme perfectionism, and anxiety about even minor disruptions in one's routines.
*similar to obsessive compulsive disorder on Axis I
*shares featur
Theories of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder
*cognitive theories suggest that people with this disorder harbor beliefs such as "flaws, defects, or mistakes are intolerable.
Treatment of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder
*supportive therapies may assist people with this disorder in overcoming the crises that bring them in for treatment, and behavioral therapies can decrease their compulsive behaviors
Problems with the DSM-IV-TR Personality Disorders
1) diagnostic overlap and reliability:
a) the majority of people who are diagnosed with one disorder meet the diagnostic criteria for at least one other personality disorder.
b) diagnosing a personality disorder often requires information that is hard for
DSM-5 Reconceptualization of Personality Disorder
* a major proposed change in the DSM-5 is the incorporation of a continuum model into the diagnosis of the personality disorders.
* specifically, for of the five dimensions in the big 5-negative emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientious