Sidney Blatt's Contributions to Personality Assessment

Over a long, distinguished career, Sidney Blatt contributed to theory and research in personality development, personality assessment, and psychotherapy. Best known for his 2-configurations model of personality and author or co-author of more than 250 articles and 18 books and monographs, Blatt was also a master clinician, a psychoanalyst who was awarded the 1989 Bruno J. Klopfer Award by the Society for Personality Assessment (SPA) for his contributions to both self-report and performance-based assessment. He was also the president of SPA from 1984 to 1986. This special series contains papers by writers who participated in all aspects of Blatt's contributions to personality assessment, both self-report and performance-based. Topics covered include Blatt's 2-configurations model of personality, development, and psychopathology; boundary disturbance and psychosis in performance-based assessment; the interaction of gender and personality on narrative assessments; and the Object Relations Inventory and differentiation relatedness, especially as these relate to therapeutic outcome.     

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.     

Personality and relationship quality during the transition from high school to early adulthood

The post-high school transition period is believed to be associated with considerable changes in social networks, yet longitudinal studies documenting these changes are scarce. To address this gap, the current research explored 3 relevant issues. First, changes in participants' relationship characteristics during the transition from high school were examined. Second, the roles of personality traits as antecedents of these changes were studied. Third, the association between change in relationship characteristics and personality during the transition was explored. A sample of over 2,000 German emerging adults, surveyed before leaving school and then 2 years after the transition from high school, was assessed on personality traits and a multidimensional assessment of the quality of their relationships. Findings indicated that participants experienced mostly positive changes in relationship quality during the transition from high school and that antecedent personality at school was an important predictor of the nature of this change. Finally, change in relationship quality was found to be associated with personality change during the post-school transition. Findings indicated that personality traits may influence transition success and that change in relationships during this transition may influence personality development. The implications of the research for post-school transition success are discussed.     

The Developmental Roots of Borderline Personality Disorder in Early Attachment Relationships: A Theory and Some Evidence

The paper suggests a way of understanding borderline personality disorder in terms of the failure of a secure base. We begin with an account of optimal self-development in a secure attachment context, highlighting the importance of the caregiver's ability to help the small child think about his own and others' minds. This optimal self-development is crucial in developing the child's capacity for mentalization, which can enhance his resilience in the face of later trauma. We discuss the impact of attachment trauma in later development, arguing that the extent of this impact depends on how well early attachment relationships facilitated the capacity for mentalization. We identify some of the consequences for the representations of the internal world of a failure of mentalization that may follow trauma in individuals made vulnerable by genetic predisposition or disorganized early attachment. We link these features to the clinical presentation associated with borderline personality organization. Finally, some of the necessary characteristics of successful psychotherapeutic treatment of borderline personality disorder are briefly considered.     

Who Belongs to Me? Social Relationship and Personality Characteristics in the Transition to Young Adulthood

Not much is known about how social network characteristics change in the transition out of school and what role Big Five personality plays in this context. The aim of this paper was twofold. First, we explored changes in social network and relationship characteristics across the transition out of secondary school. Second, we examined within‐person and between‐person effects of personality on these social network changes. Results based on a series of multilevel models to a longitudinal sample of 2287 young adults revealed four main findings. First, social networks increased in size, and this increase was mainly due to a larger number of nonkin. Stable social networks during the transition consisted mainly of family ties but were generally characterized by high closeness. Second, extraversion and openness consistently predicted network size, whereas agreeableness predicted network overlap. Third, increases in emotional closeness were found only for kin; closeness was generally lower for unstable relationships. Fourth, changes in emotional closeness were related to personality, particularly neuroticism, agreeableness, and conscientiousness for stable relationships; for unstable relationships, however, closeness was related to extraversion and openness. The article concludes by discussing the role of personality for social relationship development and the active moulding of social networks in young adulthood. Copyright © 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology     

Culture and Personality: Variability across Universal Motives as the Missing Link

What is the relation between culture and personality? I argue that to address this question, it is necessary to meet five criteria: (1) to identify universal principles of human functioning that underlie both culture and personality; (2) to treat those principles at different levels of analysis for culture and personality; (3) to define culture and personality in terms of those principles in a manner that maintains the integrity of these concepts; (4) to select specific psychological factors that, because of their survival value, are present in every culture and individual, although to varying degrees; and (5) to postulate how different cultures and personalities emerge from variability in the predominance of those specific psychological factors. I then propose that these criteria can be met by identifying specific human motives that are both universal and vary across individuals, situations, and groups. I propose a five‐step model that describes how cultures influence the personalities that emerge among its members, with particular emphasis on the human‐defining period of development between 3 and 6 years of age, and how those personalities in turn influence the culture (from effects of regulatory fit). As initial support for the model, evidence is reviewed for commonality among cultures in the existence of promotion, prevention, locomotion, and assessment motives; for variability across cultures in the predominance of these motives as modal personalities; and for universality in the relations between each motive and Big Five and self‐esteem trait characteristics. Combining the latter universal relations with the cultural variability in modal personalities yields cultural differences in manners of goal pursuit.     

Recalled parental behavior and objective personality measures: a canonical analysis.

Information about an individual's past relationships with his parents is an important component in psychological assessment procedures. To systematically connect these relationships and personality, two groups of college students completed an objective inventory designed to assess parental child rearing behaviors. Canonical correlational analysis was employed to relate these measures to the CPI and MMPI. A recalled parental behavior component described as Acceptance vs. Hostile Detachment/Involvement emerged as being highly related to aspects of both personality inventories, with greater recalled acceptance (and lesser recalled hostility) being associated with the more positive aspects of personality. Additional findings are enumerated.     

Recalled Parental Behavior and Objective Personality Measures: A Canonical Analysis

Information about an individual's past relationships with his parents is an important component in psychological assessment procedures. To systematically connect these relationships and personality, two groups of college students completed an objective inventory designed to assess parental child rearing behaviors. Canonical correlational analysis was employed to relate these measures to the CPI and MMPI. A recalled parental behavior component described as Acceptance vs. Hostile Detachment/Involvement emerged as being highly related to aspects of both personality inventories, with greater recalled acceptance (and lesser recalled hostility) being associated with the more positive aspects of personality. Additional findings are enumerated.     

Normal and abnormal personality traits: evidence for genetic and environmental relationships in the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart

ABSTRACT Recent studies have demonstrated substantial correlations between normal and abnormal personality traits. Yet little is known about how these correlations are mediated genetically and environmentally: Do normal and abnormal personality traits stem from the same underlying genes and environments? We addressed this question using data from 128 monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs in the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart (MISTRA). Additive genetic and nonshared environmental correlations between scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)—an index of abnormal personality—and the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ)—an index of normal personality—were estimated. Results indicated that phenotypic correlations between normal and abnormal personality were mediated by genetic as well as environmental factors, although the magnitude of genetic mediation tended to be larger overall. Moreover, the patterns of phenotypic, genetic, and environmental relationships among the scales were similar, suggesting that influences on normal and abnormal personality act through systems common to both. It is suggested that future research focus on the neurogenetic substrates of these shared systems and how dysfunction in these systems influences development of disordered personality.     

A Clinical-Empirical Model of Personality: Life after the Mischelian Ice Age and the NEO-Lithic Era

ABSTRACT A theory of personality should lead to both accurate prediction and interpretive understanding. Aside from its empirical uses, a personality theory should provide a grammar that allows personality psychologists to infer meaning from overt behavior with more sophistication than a layperson, and the best laboratory for testing the interpretive utility of a personality theory remains the clinic. With respect to the appropriate data for constructing and evaluating theories of personality, an overreliance on questionnaire data is problematic for several reasons: It assumes that understanding people requires no training, it mistakes research on the conscious self-concept for research on personality, it conflates implicit and explicit knowledge, it fails to address defensive biases, and it lacks interrater reliability. Consideration of both empirical and clinical data points to three questions that define the elements of personality necessary for a comprehensive assessment of an individual: (a) What psychological resources–cognitive, affective, and behavioral dispositions–does the individual have at his or her disposal? (b) What does the person wish for, fear, and value, and how do these motives combine and conflict? (c) How does the person experience the self and others, and to what extent can the individual enter into intimate relationships?     

Clinical utility of the MMPI-2 Restructured Clinical (RC) Scales in therapeutic assessment: a case study

In the following article, we provide a case study on a 25-year-old man who was released from a crisis stabilization unit following a suicide attempt. After completing a diagnostic intake, the client participated in a Therapeutic Assessment (Finn, 1996, 2003), which included the MMPI-2 (Butcher et al., 2001) and the Incomplete Sentences Blank (Rotter & Rafferty, 1950). In particular, in the article, we focus on how the Restructured Clinical (RC; Tellegen et al., 2003) scales can be used to form a personological conceptualization of the client. The RC scales measure important personality and affective trait dimensions including demoralization and both positive and negative affect, which allows for a clear explanation of the underlying etiological factors that influence a client's negative emotional experience. In this article, we highlight how explaining these underlying personality characteristics to the client within the framework of therapeutic assessment allowed for an increase in his insight.     

威廉·斯特恩的儿童人格发展观及其历史效应

威廉·斯特恩是被历史遮蔽的现代儿童发展心理学的重要创建者,对儿童人格发展理论作出了原创性卓越贡献。他以批判人格主义为哲学基础提出了人文科学取向的儿童人格发展观,主要表现在整体论、过程论和情境论三个维面。他认为儿童人格发展是多元统一的整合性发展,是主动、动力、辩证、独特和开放的过程性发展,是内在于生活世界的情境性发展。他的观点为奥尔波特和勒温、维果茨基、皮亚杰、彪勒及里格尔等人的儿童发展理论提供了直接或间接思想来源。     

Attachment models of the self and others: Relations with self‐esteem,humanity‐esteem,and parental treatment

The present research tested the extent to which perceptions of early childhood experiences with parents predicted general views of the self (i.e., self‐esteem) and others (i.e., humanity‐esteem), and whether attachment self‐ and other‐models mediated these links. Two studies used a new measure of humanity‐esteem (Luke & Maio, 2004) to achieve these ends. As expected, indices that tapped a positive model of the self in relationships were associated with high self‐esteem and indices that tapped a positive model of others in relationships were associated with high humanity‐esteem. Also, early attachment experiences with fathers and mothers predicted self‐esteem and humanity‐esteem, respectively, and these direct relations were mediated by the attachment models. The studies, therefore, provide direct evidence that attachment measures predict general favorability toward the self and others, while revealing novel differences in the roles of childhood experiences with fathers and mothers.

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The Body and Mind (Including of the Analyst) in the Treatment of a Psychotic State: Some Reflections: Commentary on Paper by Riccardo Lombardi

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Parental locus of control and the assessment of children's personality characteristics

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