Possible selves and borderline personality disorder.
Although clinical theories suggest that people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) experience a confused sense of self, little empirical research has directly examined the self in BPD (Heard & Linehan, 1993; Westen & Cohen, 1993). In this study, 43 female participants, 15 with BPD and 28 without BPD, completed the closed-ended version of Markus and Wurf's (1987) Possible Selves Questionnaire (PSQ). Participants with BPD were less likely than controls to endorse positive possible selves as current, but more likely to endorse negative possible selves as current, probable, desired, and important. Participants with BPD linked negative and positive selves to their desired selves, which is consistent with the unstable sense of self characteristic of BPD.
Janis
Irene Belle
IB
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA. ijanis@fas.harvard.edu
Veague
Heather Barnett
HB
Driver-Linn
Erin
E
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D004532:Ego; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007092:Imagination; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012016:Reference Values; D012649:Self Concept; D012718:Set, Psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires