The Bipolarity of Normal and Abnormal Personality Structure: Implications for Assessment

The predominant model of general personality structure is arguably the Five Factor Model (FFM), consisting of the 5 broad domains of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. A hypothesis of long-standing interest has been that personality disorders can be understood...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychological assessment 2019-04, Vol.31 (4), p.420-431
Main Authors: Widiger, Thomas A, Crego, Cristina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Agreeableness
Applicants
Conscientiousness
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Extraversion
Five Factor Personality Model
Human
Humans
Models, Psychological
Neuroticism
Openness to Experience
Personality
Personality Assessment
Personality Disorders
Personality Disorders - diagnosis
Personality Disorders - psychology
Personality Measures
Personality traits
Psychiatric Status Rating Scales
Psychology
Studies
World Health Organization
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Summary:The predominant model of general personality structure is arguably the Five Factor Model (FFM), consisting of the 5 broad domains of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. A hypothesis of long-standing interest has been that personality disorders can be understood as extreme and/or maladaptive variants of the domains and facets of the FFM. This hypothesis has now been formally recognized within Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition (DSM-5) Section III and within the proposal for the 11th edition of the World Health Organization's diagnostic manual. However, a notable feature of both proposals is that they are largely (albeit not exclusively) unipolar with respect to maladaptive personality structure. The purpose of the current article is to present theoretical and empirical support for the presence of maladaptivity at both poles of all 5 domains of the FFM. Discussed in particular are implications for assessment for this maladaptive personality structure. Public Significance Statement The Five Factor Model (FFM) is the predominant model for describing personality. The FFM consists of 5 broad domains (e.g., introversion vs. extraversion). The current article discusses whether there are maladaptive variants at both poles of all 5 domains and the implications this has for assessment.
ISSN:1040-3590
1939-134X
DOI:10.1037/pas0000546