Qualitative and quantitative distinctions in personality disorder

The categorical-dimensional debate has catalyzed a wealth of empirical advances in the study of personality pathology. However, this debate is merely one articulation of a broader conceptual question regarding whether to define and describe psychopathology as a quantitatively extreme expression of normal functioning or as qualitatively distinct in its process. In this article I argue that dynamic models of personality (e.g., object relations, cognitive-affective processing system) offer the conceptual scaffolding to reconcile these seemingly incompatible approaches to characterizing the relationship between normal and pathological personality. I propose that advances in personality assessment that sample behavior and experiences intensively provide the empirical techniques, whereas interpersonal theory offers an integrative theoretical framework, for accomplishing this goal.     

An interpersonal perspective on the personality assessment process

Many aspects of therapeutic approaches to the personality assessment process derived from or are consistent with Sullivan's interpersonal approach to clinical practice, but the link between such approaches and contemporary interpersonal theory remains underdeveloped. In this article, I argue that contemporary interpersonal theory provides a valuable framework within which to conceptualize the personality assessment process. Specifically, I argue that interpersonal models can parsimoniously represent client behavior and can facilitate discussions of assessment data with assessees. Further, I show that hypotheses on the therapeutic mechanisms of personality assessment can be reframed in contemporary interpersonal metatheory so that they can be compared and tested directly.     

An Interpersonal Perspective on the Personality Assessment Process

Many aspects of therapeutic approaches to the personality assessment process derived from or are consistent with Sullivan's interpersonal approach to clinical practice, but the link between such approaches and contemporary interpersonal theory remains underdeveloped. In this article, I argue that contemporary interpersonal theory provides a valuable framework within which to conceptualize the personality assessment process. Specifically, I argue that interpersonal models can parsimoniously represent client behavior and can facilitate discussions of assessment data with assessees. Further, I show that hypotheses on the therapeutic mechanisms of personality assessment can be reframed in contemporary interpersonal metatheory so that they can be compared and tested directly.     

实习初期教师职业认同的发展轨迹及其与主动性人格的关系:一项追踪研究

采用主动性人格量表、工作绩效量表、人际关系量表、教师职业认同量表对385名实习教师从其实习第一周起连续追踪测量五周,利用多层线性模型探讨实习初期教师职业认同的发展轨迹,以及主动性人格对教师职业认同的影响及其机制。结果表明：(1)实习初期教师职业认同呈先高后低再升高的U型非线性发展趋势;(2)工作绩效和人际关系在主动性人格与教师职业认同之间起部分中介作用,且工作绩效的中介效应显著大于人际关系的中介效应。研究结果不仅揭示了实习初期教师职业认同的动态发展轨迹,同时还揭示了主动性人格影响教师职业认同的中介机制,对提升教师培养质量具有重要的参考价值。     

Assessing normal and abnormal personality functioning: strengths and weaknesses of self-report, observer, and performance-based methods

Assessing personality characteristics; distinguishing the boundaries between normal and abnormal functioning; identifying impairment in the domains of work, interpersonal relationships, and emotional state due to maladaptive personality traits; and translating these findings into effective, appropriate treatment interventions is a complicated endeavor. Valid, reliable conclusions about an individual's personality functioning and adjustment cannot be reached unless one has accurate information about that person's patterns of behavior, cognitions, emotions, and interpersonal relationships. I discuss strengths and weaknesses of assessment approaches utilizing explicit assessment methods, such as self-report measures and clinical interviews; information obtained from knowledgeable observers; and performance-based, implicit assessment methods such as the Rorschach Comprehensive System (Exner, 2003). In contrast to explicit methods of assessment, implicit methods can provide salient information about a personality construct whether or not individuals have accurately conceptualized that construct, have weighed how the construct describes them, are self-aware, and are willing to openly provide information relevant to that construct. I propose that the accuracy of conclusions about an individual's personality style, problems in adjustment, and treatment needs may be improved if conclusion are based on a multimethod assessment approach that incorporates information gathered using explicit assessment methods, information provided by significant others, and data from performance-based or implicit measures of personality.     

Within-person and between-people variability in personality dynamics: Knowledge structures,self-efficacy,pleasure appraisals,and the Big Five

We investigated within-person co-variations from the perspective of knowledge-and-appraisal theories of personality. Knowledge structures were idiographically assessed as personal beliefs on the relevance of personality characteristics in facilitating successful actions in interpersonal situations. Three main findings emerged. First, beliefs of situational relevance of self-defining strengths and weaknesses show additive effects in accounting for intra-individual variability in contextualized self-efficacy appraisals. Secondly, between-person variability in Extraversion moderates within-person co-variation between self-efficacy and knowledge structures. Thirdly, self-efficacy mediates the impact of knowledge structures on perceived likelihood of performing the interpersonal behaviors in the future, after controlling for rated frequency of the same behaviors in the past. Overall, the present findings suggest that within-person and between-person approaches are complementary and need to be integrated.     

大学生人际自立特质对人际信任的预测:独立于大五人格的作用

采用大学生人际自立量表、人际信任量表、大五人格简式量表等工具对1345名大学生进行的调查和情境研究显示:控制大五人格后,人际开放仍能预测人际信任倾向,并能通过人际信任倾向的中介作用间接预测人际信任的认知和行为反应;人际责任仍能直接预测人际信任的认知与行为反应。这提示,在对人际信任的预测方面,人际责任和人际开放具有大五人格所不能解释的独特作用,并在一定程度上支持了人格与人际信任反应的人际信任倾向中介模型。     

人际自立特质对大学生情绪调节策略作用的纵向研究

虽然不少学者认为人格会影响情绪调节策略的使用,但是目前尚缺乏人格与认知重评、表达抑制这两种情绪调节策略关系的纵向研究。根据人际自立与情绪关系的系列研究,假设人际自立会影响情绪调节策略的使用。采用青少年学生人际自立量表和情绪调节问卷对374名大学生进行了间隔6个月的两次调查。结果发现,人际主动、人际灵活显著预测6个月后的认知重评。这说明某些人格特质可以影响特定情绪调节策略的使用。     

The relationship between individual differences in intraindividual variability in core affect and interpersonal behaviour

How people's feelings and interpersonal behaviour change across time can be represented as movements within a core affect and an interpersonal space. To gain insight into the relationship between affect and behaviour dynamics, the present study examined how individual differences in intraindividual variability in core affect relate to those in interpersonal behaviour, and how both are related to personality traits. In an experience sampling study, 63 participants were asked to monitor their core affect during one week and their interpersonal behaviour during another one. The results demonstrated a fairly consistent correspondence between several indices of people's variability in core affect and interpersonal behaviour, indicating that emotional lability also signals behavioural volatility and vice versa. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of Personality Characteristics on Knowledge,Skill, and Performance in Servicing Retail Customers

This study tested the idea that some personality variables are related to interpersonal aspects of job performance primarily through interpersonal knowledge and skill, just as cognitive ability has been shown to be related to technical aspects of job performance primarily through technical knowledge and skill. We measured personality factors, cognitive ability, customer service knowledge (through a structured interview), customer service skill (through role‐play simulations), and customer service performance (through supervisory ratings) in a sample of 140 retail store associates. As expected, results showed that interpersonally oriented personality characteristics are related to customer service knowledge even when effects of ability, conscientiousness, and experience are taken into account, and that customer service knowledge and skill together carry the indirect effects of personality characteristics, ability, and experience to customer service performance. We also found that conscientiousness moderates the relation between knowledge and performance such that knowledge predicts performance best for people who are highly conscientious.     

Psychoanalysis is a two‐way street

The paper discusses psychoanalysis as a mutual exchange between the analyst and analysand. A number of questions are raised: What was Ferenczi's and the early psychoanalysts' contribution to the interpersonal relational dynamics of psychoanalytic treatment? Why did countertransference become an indispensable tool in relationship‐based psychoanalysis? Why is the transference‐countertransference dynamic seen as a special dialogue between the analyst and analysand? What was Ferenczi's paradigm shift in the trauma theory? How did he combine the object relation approach with Freud's original trauma theory? The paper illustrates through some case study vignettes the intersubjective and intrapsychic dynamic in the process of traumatization. We can look at countertransference as an indicator of the patient's basic interpersonal experiences and traumas. Finally the paper discusses countertransference in the light of attachment theory, connecting the early initiatives of inter‐relational approaches in psychoanalysis with recent research.