Evidence that specific personal relationships evoke maladaptive personality expression

ABSTRACT

Introduction

This research applied relational regulation theory (RRT) to maladaptive personality as identified in the DSM-5, dimension trait model. RRT describes how individual social network members help people regulate their own affect, thought and action. Previous research found that people expressed different levels of normal personality dimensions and affect depending upon the network members that people were with or thinking about.

Methods

College students (N = 719) rated their expression of maladaptive dimensions and affect when with important network members, as well as the interpersonal characteristics of network members.

Results

People’s maladaptive personality expression was strongly consistent across network members (recipient effects). Yet, personality expression also varied strongly depending upon which network member the recipient was with or thinking about (dyadic effects). PID-5 negative affectivity and PANAS negative affect more strongly reflected dyads than recipients. Antagonism and disinhibition more strongly reflected recipients than dyads. Network members who evoked maladaptive expressions were seen by recipients as unsupportive, unresponsive, as evoking conflict, attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety. However, the interpersonal constructs were mostly redundant in predicting maladaptive personality. Findings were replicated across random subsamples and gender.

Conclusion

The findings provide evidence that important personal relationships can evoke the expression of maladaptive personality.

KEYWORDS:

• Personality
• maladaptive personality
• relational regulation theory
• social relations model
• perceived social support
• social support

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Added items by item number were 1, 16, 25, 28, 29, 37, 38, 48, 53, 60, 67, 70, 71, 72, 79, 80, 89, 106, 109, 118, 123, 124, 129, 130, 136, 138, 152, 153, 156, 157, 162, 163, 165, 169, 172, 173, 183, 186, 193, 211, 218.

2 Internal consistency reliability formulas were ${\alpha }_{Rec}={\hat{\sigma }}_{R\mathrm{e}c}^2/({\hat{\sigma }}_{R\mathrm{e}c}^2+{\hat{\sigma }}_{R\mathrm{e}c\times It\mathrm{e}m/ni}^2)$ and ${\alpha }_{Dyadic}={\hat{\sigma }}_{Prov}^2/({\hat{\sigma }}_{Prov}^2+{\hat{\sigma }}_{Prov\times It\mathrm{e}m/n_i}^2)$. Note that this is a form of split half reliability as the Items factor is composed of two aggregates of 13–14 items, to be consistent with the variance components analyses described momentarily.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.