Chapter 15: Personality Psychology

Question 1

What does the diagnosis of a personality disorder encompass?

Answer 1

Enduring personality patterns that are:
Extreme and deviate markedly from cultural expectations
Inflexible and pervasive across situations
Evident in adolescence or early adulthood and stable over time
Associated with distress and impairment

Question 2

What are the clusters of personality disorders?

Answer 2

Odd or eccentric (cluster A)
Dramatic, emotional, or erratic (cluster B)
Anxious or fearful (cluster C)

Question 3

What are the cluster A disorders?

Answer 3

Share characteristics, including overlapping environmental and genetic risk factors, which are similar to those found in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders
Paranoid personality
Schizoid personality
Schizotypal personality

Question 4

What is paranoid personality disorder?

Answer 4

Pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others
Often interpret others’ motives negatively, question people’s loyalty or trustworthiness, and bear grudges
Exhibit unwarranted hypersensitivity
Tend to be rigid in their thinking
May seem aloof and lacking emotion

Question 5

What is schizoid personality disorder?

Answer 5

Limited interest in social relationships
Restricted range of emotions in interpersonal settings
Individuals may have a long history of impairment in social functioning
Neither desire nor enjoy close relationships
May be perceived by others as peculiar and aloof
Prefer social isolation and the single life
May be associated with cold, emotionally impoverished childhood
Most likely to seek therapy if they are experiencing stress or a crisis

Question 6

What is schizotypical personality disorder?

Answer 6

Characterized by odd, eccentric, or paranoid thoughts and behaviors and poor interpersonal relationships
Many with disorder believe they have magical abilities or special powers
Some are subject to recurrent illusions
Speech oddities, such as frequent elaboration, digression, or vagueness in conversation, are often present
Abnormalities in cognitive processing
Many characteristics resemble schizophrenia

Question 7

What are the cluster B personality disorders?

Answer 7

Antisocial personality disorder
Intermittent explosive disorder
Kleptomania
Pyromania
Borderline Personality Disorder
Histrionic Personality Disorder
Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Question 8

What is antisocial personality disorder?

Answer 8

Pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others
Must have occurred since age 15
Diagnosis applies to individuals age 18 or older
Lack of anxiety and guilt over failure to conform to social or legal codes
Individuals seek power over others
Onset begins in childhood - girls have a later age of onset than boy

Question 9

What is intermittent explosive disorder?

Answer 9

Experience periodic aggressive episodes that result in physical injury or property damage or frequent episodes of lower intensity verbal or physical aggression
Display an aggressiveness that is grossly out of proportion to any precipitating stressor or event that may have occurred
Show no signs of general aggressiveness between episodes and may genuinely feel remorse for their actions

Question 10

What is kleptomania?

Answer 10

Chronically fail to resist impulses to steal
Do not need the stolen objects for personal use or monetary value, since they usually have enough money to buy the items and typically discard them, give them away, or surreptitiously return them
Feel irresistible urges and tension before stealing, followed by an intense feeling of relief or gratification after stealing

Question 11

What is pyromania?

Answer 11

Deliberately set fires
Are fascinated by and get intense pleasure or relief from setting the fires, watching things burn, or observing firefighters and their efforts to put out fires
Have fire-setting impulses driven by this fascination rather than by motives involving revenge, sabotage, or financial gains

Question 12

What is borderline personality disorder?

Answer 12

Characterized by enduring pattern of volatile emotional reactions
Unstable interpersonal relationships
Poor-self image
Impulsive responding
Intense mood fluctuations
May engage in behaviors with negative consequences
Poor coping skills
Often display poor emotional control
A biologically based vulnerability to emotional dysregulation may underlie the intense emotional reactivity
Three basic assumptions of individuals with BPD - The world is dangerous - I am powerless and vulnerable - I am inherently unacceptable
Early childhood experiences, neglect, or abuse may play a role
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)

Question 13

What is histrionic personality disorder?

Answer 13

Characterized by pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention-seeking
Intensely dramatic emotions and behaviors
Superficially charming and warm
Shallow and self-centered

Question 14

What is narcissistic personality disorder?

Answer 14

Individuals with this disorder have a sense of entitlement, exaggerated self-importance, and superiority
Grandiosity
Talk mainly about themselves
Lack of empathy
Show a lack of interest in others

Question 15

What are the cluster C personality disorders?

Answer 15

Avoidant personality disorder
Dependent personality disorder
Obsessive-Compulsive personality disorder

Question 16

What is avoidant personality disorder?

Answer 16

Characterized by pervasive pattern of social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to negative evaluation
Individuals with disorder crave affection and an active social life
Some researchers believe this disorder is on a continuum with social anxiety disorder
People with this disorder are caught in a vicious cycle: Because they are preoccupied with the possibility of rejection, they are constantly alert for signs of negativity or ridicule

Question 17

What is dependent personality disorder?

Answer 17

Pervasive, excessive need to be taken care of
Leads to submissive and clinging behavior
Individuals have fear of separation
High risk for becoming a victim of relationship violence
Associated with overprotective, authoritarian parenting

Question 18

What is obsessive-compulsive personality disorder?

Answer 18

Pervasive pattern of preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and mental and interpersonal control
Rigid behaviors in persons with OCPD can significantly impair their occupational and social functioning
Differs from OCD: OCD involves unwanted, intrusive thoughts and urges while individuals with OCPD see their way of functioning as correct
OCPD have altered activity in parts of the brain that affect rumination, cognitive flexibility, and response switching

Question 19

What are the biological causes of antisocial personality disorder?

Answer 19

Interactions between biological vulnerabilities and environmental adversity
Genetic influences, including behavioral characteristics observed during childhood and adolescence
Genetic factors appear to influence structures of the brain involved with characteristics such as fearlessness, anxiety, and empathy
Risk taking and/or impulsivity

Question 20

What is the fear extinction theory for antisocial personality disorder?

Answer 20

Biological abnormalities make people with APD less susceptible to fear and anxiety (don’t learn from punishment, distinguish inappropriate behaviors)
Possibility that never become conditioned to aversive stimuli
Youth exhibiting antisocial behaviors showed diminished reactivity in the amygdala when shown pictures depicting fearful facial expressions

Question 21

What is the psychodynamic explanation for antisocial personality disorder?

Answer 21

Faulty superego development
People with APD are dominated by id impulses

Question 22

What is the cognitive explanation for antisocial personality disorder?

Answer 22

Core beliefs influence behavior
Worldview of those with APD revolves around a need to perceive themselves as strong and independent so they can survive

Question 23

What is the learning explanation for antisocial personality disorder?

Answer 23

Neurobiological traits that impede learning
Lack of positive role models
Type of punishment may influence learning

Question 24

What are the social causes of antisocial personality disorder?

Answer 24

Family relationships are a paramount factor
Childhood history of emotional and physical maltreatment
Lack of positive role models
Nurturing parenting can help minimize antisocial traits
Providing positive reinforcement appears to be protective against the genetic expression of traits associated with APD

Question 25

What are the sociocultural causes of antisocial personality disorder?

Answer 25

Men more likely to exhibit characteristics
Women more likely to report childhood emotional neglect, sexual abuse, and parental use of substances
Traditional gender-role training accepts or encourages aggression in boys but not girls
Men tend to engage in direct acting-out behavior
Women express themselves in an indirect or passive manner (relational aggression)
More frequently in urban environments
Exposure to ethnic-political violence can result in the development of violent and antisocial behavior

Question 26

How is antisocial personality disorder treated?

Answer 26

Not easy: people with disorder often consider amoral actions as acceptable
Approaches that require cooperation may be ineffective
Incarceration or psychiatric hospitalization - setting for treatment

Focus on decreasing deviant activities, combined with opportunities to practice appropriate social skills
Material rewards for behavior modification
Cognitive approaches

Individuals are often influenced by dysfunctional beliefs about themselves