A Contemporary Interpersonal Model of Personality Pathology and Personality Disorder

Abstract

We present a model of personality psychopathology based on the assumptions; descriptive metastructure; and developmental, motivational, and regulatory processes of the contemporary integrative interpersonal theory of personality. The interpersonal model of personality psychopathology distinguishes between the definition of personality pathology and individual differences in the expression of personality disorder. This approach facilitates interdisciplinary conceptualizations of functioning and treatment by emphasizing the interpersonal situation as a prominent unit of analysis, organized by the metaconstructs of agency and communion and the interpersonal circumplex model. Linking personality psychopathology to agentic and communal constructs, pathoplastic relationships with those constructs, patterns of intraindividual variability, and interpersonal signatures allows personality dysfunction to be tied directly to psychological theory with clear propositions for research and treatment planning. The model’s relevance for DSM-5 is highlighted throughout the chapter. We conclude by bringing the interpersonal model from bench to bedside with an articulation of its clinical implications.

Momentary assessment of interpersonal process in psychotherapy.

“…Some types of disorders, such as borderline personality disorder, may be characterized by distinctive cyclical patterns, and these patterns, as well as changes in them due to psychotherapy, could be captured using the methods advanced here (Pincus & Hopwood, 2012). In addition, questions regarding the degree to which interpersonal processes coalesce and diverge across different therapies are highly amenable to investigation using the methods advanced in this article.…”

Pathological narcissism and interpersonal behavior in daily life.

“…It may also be important to link CAUs with childhood environmental events, parenting styles, or social reinforcement methods to determine how CAUs develop. The interpersonally articulated CAPS framework should also be extended to examine whether other types of personality pathology result in interpersonal patterns representative of dysfunction (Eaton et al, 2009; Pincus & Hopwood, 2012). This research would ideally be conducted in both normative and clinical samples, to investigate whether meeting clinical thresholds for personality pathology leads to changes in these interpersonal patterns and functioning.…”

“…This perspective is particularly well suited to examine personality pathology given the prominence of interpersonal dysfunction in describing personality disorder in the upcoming DSM (Morey et al, 2011; Pincus, 2011; Pincus & Hopwood, 2012). Contemporary interpersonal theory organizes interpersonal experiences into the broad domains of agency and communion (Bakan, 1966; Wiggins, 2003).…”

Assessment ofDSM–5Personality Disorder

“…The Big Five can indeed accommodate alternative theoretical perspectives. For example, an alternative model to the Big Five and FFM is the interpersonal circumplex, which provides a rich theoretical model for understanding the etiology and pathology of personality disorders (e.g., Pincus & Hopwood, 2012). However, the two domains of the interpersonal circumplex, agency and communion, can be understood as 45-degree rotations of the FFM domains of extraversion and agreeableness (McCrae & Costa, 1989;Wiggins & Pincus, 1989).…”