When bad gets worse: Negative wording amplifies negative recall in persons with the borderline personality trait

The emotional valence of memory recall strongly influences the extreme, and often self‐destructive behavioral response. Overall, 4427 people from the community filled out our screening questionnaire, of which 674 (mean age: 32.9 years, 64.7% women) passed the threshold for the likely presence of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Participants watched one of 9 possible video clips differing in valence (positive, negative or neutral). Results indicate support (ß = .151, p < .05) for a negative cognitive tendency in the evaluations proportionate to the severity of BPD but only when the impression is assessed with negatively‐worded items. This effect is detectable regardless of other factors such as negative mood, extremity of the answers or general impression of the character. These effects are unaffected by acute trauma. To conclude, different factors influence the recall of emotional stimuli, depending on the valence of the stimuli and the valence of the rating scale in persons with strong borderline tendencies.