Do maladaptive behaviors exist at one or both ends of personality traits?
In the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) personality disorder trait model, maladaptive behavior is located at one end of continuous scales. Widiger and colleagues, however, have argued that maladaptive behavior exists at both ends of trait continua. We propose that the role of evaluative variance differentiates these two perspectives and that once evaluation is isolated, maladaptive behaviors emerge at both ends of nonevaluative trait dimensions. In Study 1, we argue that evaluative variance is worthwhile to measure separately from descriptive content because it clusters items by valence regardless of content (e.g., lazy and workaholic; apathetic and anxious; gullible and paranoid; timid and hostile, etc.), which is unlikely to describe a consistent behavioral style. We isolate evaluation statistically (Study 2) and at the time of measurement (Study 3) to show that factors unrelated to valence evidence maladaptive behavior at both ends. We argue that nonevaluative factors, which display maladaptive behavior at both ends of continua, may better approximate ways in which individuals actually behave.
Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institute.
Erik
E
Pettersson
Department of Human Development, Cornell University.
Jane
J
Mendle
Department of Psychology, University of Virginia.
Eric
E
Turkheimer
Department of Psychology, University of Virginia.
Erin E
EE
Horn
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Derek C
DC
Ford
Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.
Leonard J
LJ
Simms
Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame.
Lee Anna
LA
Clark
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult