One particularly interesting area of personality research focuses on personality disorders. Personality disorders represent a class of mental disorders that are characterized by rigid patterns of thought and behavior that deviate from the expectations of one’s social and cultural environment (Grohol, 2013). To diagnose a personality disorder, a mental health professional must determine that a patient possesses a behavioral pattern that causes significant distress or impairment in personal, social, and/or occupational situations.
There are a wide range of personality disorders, including the following: antisocial, avoidant, borderline, dependent, histrionic, narcissistic, obsessive–compulsive, paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, and dissociative identity disorder. Select one of the personality disorders listed here for this activity.
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Find an article or Website that focuses on the personality disorder that you selected. What disorder did you choose? Provide a citation for your article or the URL of the Website that you used.
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What are some defining characteristics of the personality disorder that you selected?
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Are men or women more likely to be diagnosed with the personality disorder?
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4
How might the four basic perspectives on personality (described in your textbook) explain the development of a personality disorder? A. Psychoanalytic B. Humanistic C. Social cognitive D. Trait
How might the four basic perspectives on personality (described in your textbook) explain the development of a personality disorder? A. PsychoanalyticB. HumanisticC. Social cognitiveD. Trait
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5
A _____ theory of personality focuses on identifying, describing, and measuring individual differences in behavioral predispositions.
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According to Sigmund Freud, the ___ represents the organized, rational, and planning dimensions of personality.
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The _____ perspective on personality is built on research in learning, cognitive psychology, and social psychology, rather than on clinical impressions.
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8
How might the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) reveal the existence of a personality disorder? Use your textbook and online resources to answer this question.
The MMPI assesses a number of areas related to mental health, including sexual attitudes, physical and psychological health, interpersonal relationships, and abnormal thoughts and behaviors. The MMPI is often used by clinical psychologists and psychiatrists to evaluate patients and candidates for such occupations as doctors, nurses, police officers, and professional pilots. Although an MMPI is not used exclusively to diagnose personality disorders, it can provide information to suggest the existence of antisocial, borderline, and narcissistic personality disorders. However, most researchers urge practitioners to use the MMPI as a screening instrument and then follow up with other assessment measures that are specifically designed to diagnose personality disorders.