title: A Hierarchical Multiple-Level Approach to the Assessment of Interpersonal Relatedness and Self-Definition: Implications for Research, Clinical Practice, and DSM Planning.
abstract: Extant research suggests there is considerable overlap between so-called 2-polarities models of personality development; that is, models that propose that personality development evolves through a dialectic synergistic interaction between 2 key developmental tasks across the life span-the development of self-definition on the one hand and of relatedness on the other. These models have attracted considerable research attention and play a central role in DSM planning. This article provides a researcher- and clinician-friendly guide to the assessment of these personality theories. We argue that current theoretical models focus on issues of relatedness and self-definition at different hierarchically organized levels of analysis; that is (a) at the level of broad personality features, (b) at the motivational level (i.e., the motivational processes underlying the development of these dimensions), and (c) at the level of underlying internal working models or cognitive affective schemas, and the specific interpersonal features and problems in which they are expressed. Implications for further research and DSM planning are outlined.
authors.affiliation: a Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Leuven , Belgium.|b Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology , University College London , United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Luyten
authors.affiliation: c Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology , Yale University.
authors.forename: Sidney J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Blatt
mesh_terms: D035843:Biomedical Research; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000592:standards; D010553:Personality Development; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000145:classification; D012649:Self Concept