Week 12 - Personality Flashcards
What is personality?
Aka “character”
Traits/tendencies that’s influence our thoughts, feelings and behaviour
Is flexible, NOT deterministic..
Different instances/circumstances
What does it become a “personality disorder”?
When personality becomes to rigid and extreme
What are the two meanings of “character”?
(In terms of fictional characters)
1) Often have exaggerated/rigid character
2) Often deterministic
***WE NOTICE WHEN CHARACTERS ACT “OUT OF CHARACTER”
***SOMETIMES WRITERS MAKE USE OF THIS
What is the “narrative spectrum”?
Who was its proposed by?
Sociologist/Sci-fi author Malka Older
When we become attuned to PATTERNS of narrative and characterization in FICTION, we might start to EXPECT them or read them into our REAL lives as well
What is the reality about “fictional characters” and how they relate to us?
That we are NOT fictional characters!
We are not “characters” at all, EXCEPT when people expect certain things about ourselves
ONLY when a character becomes too RIGID that it’s may become a problem for ourselves or others
True or false. Personality disorders were thought to be extremely stable and resistant to change. However, recent evidence shows this may not be the case.
TRUE
Disorders are actually LESS STABLE than traits
Symptoms generally IMPROVE over time
What are the 2 main ways to measure personality?
1) Categorical:
Each person has a particular “type” of personality, specific cluster of traits
2) Dimensional:
Traits are independent of one another, vary among a spectrum
How does the DSM-V view the categorical personality classification?
It classifies personality whether you have the disorder (and belong in the category), OR you don’t
Convenient for treatment
Popular conceptualization, example type A or B
How does the DSM cluster the 10 personality disorders into 3 types?
1) CLUSTER A:
- “odd-eccentric”, paranoid
2) CLUSTER B:
- “dramatic-erratic”, antisocial
3) CLUSTER C:
- “anxious-fearful”, obsessive compulsive
Personality disorders are approximately __.__% of the population
7.8%
True or false. Personality disorders have a higher prevalence in high-income countries
If true, why?
True
May be due to SOCIOECONOMIC/CULTURAL factors
In what ways do personality disorders cost individuals/society?
1) impaired social status (decrease employment/marriage)
2) impaired functioning ^
3) possibly associated with crime, violence, substance abuse etc…
What does cluster A show?
Show symptoms similar to SCHIZOPHRENIA, but MILDER
Tendency towards paranoia & social withdrawal
Common in people with family historic of schizophrenia/mood disorders
What is the most common disorder in type A?
Schizoid personality disorder:
-avoidance of relationships/lack of expression
-preference to be alone
- “loners”
Treatment:
- CBT (emotional recall, social skills training, group therapy)
Low amount of data (might be dropped from manual)
***PEOPLE TYPICALLY VERY RELUCTANT TO ENTER THERAPY
What does cluster B show?
Exhibit dramatic, emotional, and chaotic behaviour = disrupts relationship w/ others
What is the most common disorder in type B?
Antisocial personality disorder:
- closely linked to CRIMINAL behaviour (40%-60% male prisoners
- lack of empathy, repeated violation/disregard others
- lying & recklessness
- substance use common
- prison enviro VS personal factors?
Possible psychodynamic (socioeconomic stressors) cognitive-behavioural (operant conditioning) and biological factors (impaired executive functioning)
***NO GENERALLY RELIABLE TREATMENT AVAILABLE
What does cluster C show?
Display anxious and fearful behaviour
Behavioural inhibition
People with anxiety disorder more LIKELY to have this
What is the most common disorder in type C?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder:
- preoccupation w/ perfection, order and control
- complete tasks slowly/not at all
- inability to trust own/others work
- behaviourally inhibited
Possible psychodynamic (early parental figures = anger), cognitive-behavioural (maladaptive thinking)
***TREATMENT CONSISTS OF PSYCOANALYSIS AND CBT
What is dimensional personality also called?
“The big five”
Neuroticism, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experience (sometimes called intellect / imagination)
Individuals rate themselves, or someone else does it
Self-rating is valid and reliable over time
What are some problems with “the big five”?
Questions are SIMPLE , RELATIONAL and NON-CONDITIONAL
“Psychology of the stranger”
The more FAMILIAR we are with someone, the less VALUE the model has to us
What is the “dark triad”?
Low score VS high score?
Consist of 3 dimensions:
1) narcissism
2) psychopathy
3) Machiavellianism
Most people score LOW or MODERATE on this scale
People who score HIGH, tend to be ANTI-SOCIAL/SELF-INTERESTED
Who is Niccolo Machiavelli?
Born in Florence
Most famous book ‘The Prince”
Disputes medieval /religious associations b/w MORAL goodness and POLITICAL AUTHORITY
AUTHORITY depends on POWER & ability to ENFORCE
FEAR preferable to AFFECTION
True or false. The creators of “the big five” prefer a dimensional scale over a categorical scale for personality disorders
True
What is the Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD)?
The CURRENT DSM-V-TR contains a proposed scheme which might ultimately REPLACE the categorical classifications currently used
They propose 5 clusters of traits which are especially likely to be problematic: negative affect,
detachment, antagonism, disinhibition, and psychoticism
What are the 3 steps in AMPD?
1) identify dysfunction
2) assess the clients traits on a DIMENSIONAL scale
3) If the ratings match a SPECIFIC diagnosis, ex. BPD then they receive that diagnosis. If the ratings don’t match a diagnosis, they receive the “Personality Disorder – trait specified” diagnosis, with the dysfunctional trait specified
4) apply inclusion/exclusion criteria
What is a concern with diagnosing personality disorders?
Concerns about LOW inter-rater reliability; different clinicians might give the same patient DIFFERENT ratings, leading to DIFFERENT diagnoses
Concerns that criteria are too LOOSE
