title: Assessment of dependency, agreeableness, and their relationship.
abstract: Agreeableness is central to the 5-factor model conceptualization of dependency. However, 4 meta-analyses of the relationship of agreeableness with dependency have failed to identify a consistent relationship. It was the hypothesis of the current study that these findings might be due in part to an emphasis on the assessment of adaptive, rather than maladaptive, variants of agreeableness. This hypothesis was tested by using experimentally altered NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (Costa & McCrae, 1992) items that were reversed with respect to their implications for maladaptiveness. The predicted correlations were confirmed with the experimentally altered version with measures of dependent personality disorder, measures of trait dependency (including 2 measures of adaptive dependency), and measures of dependency from alternative dimensional models of personality disorder. The theoretical implications of the findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.
authors: Department of Psychology, University ofKentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0044, USA. jennifer.lowe@uky.edu
authors: Jennifer Ruth
authors: JR
authors: Lowe
authors: Maryanne
authors: M
authors: Edmundson
authors: Thomas A
authors: TA
authors: Widiger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003858:Dependency, Psychological; D003859:Dependent Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006379:Helping Behavior; D006801:Humans; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012919:Social Behavior; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D013694:Temperament; D055815:Young Adult