| Summary: | Current advances in the science of personality structure
were discussed with reference to the utility of assessing
dimensions of normal personality for clinical research and
psychological treatment. The current debate in the field of
clinical personality assessment suggests that the extreme
behaviors, attitudes, symptoms, and actions seen in patients
in clinical settings may be widely separated from behaviors
in the normal range, and hence, current conceptions of normal
personality structure may be insufficient to provide useful
information. The basic dimensions of normal personality have
not been directly related to maladaptive, rigid, and abnormal
behavior seen in psychopathology.
Based on the construct of interpersonal problems
(Horowitz, 1979), it was proposed that two ways personality
traits may be expressed rigidly and maladaptively are via
chronic behavioral excesses (behaviors a person does too
much) and chronic behavioral inhibitions (behaviors a person
finds hard to do). Three investigations were conducted to
determine if this operationalization of maladaptive behavior
would lead to the identification of a taxonomy of personality
traits of particular relevance to clinical assessment and
treatment. Additionally, specific methodological techniques
were used to impose a taxonomic structure on the trait
domain, conforming to the Dyadic—Interactional Five-factor
Model of personality structure (Pincus & Wiggins, in press;
Trapnell & Wiggins, 1990; Wiggins & Pincus, 1992, in press). In the current research, a valid and reliable self—
report instrument was derived in a large normal sample,
cross—validated on an independent normal sample, and cross—
validated on a small psychiatric sample. This instrument
extended a recent circumplex modification of Horowitz’ (1979)
Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (lIP-C; Alden, Wiggins, &
Pincus, 1990) to include the three additional personality
dimensions of neuroticism, conscientiousness, and openness to
experience. The final inventory, the IIP-B5, is a 140 item
questionnaire that assesses maladaptive trait expression
(problems) related to the five basic personality dimensions
by assessing a number of lower—order problems facets within
each superordinate trait domain.
The advantages of the IIP-B5 compared to currently
available five—factor model inventories for clinical
assessment and research was discussed. The instrument was
used to operationalize the five—factor model of personality
in a fourth study comparing a competing model of adjustment
to the five-factor model of personality. The clinical
utility of the IIP-B5 was demonstrated in a brief case
presentation of a patient who was seen for intensive group
psychotherapy with the author.
Results of all studies suggest that a taxonomy of
maladaptive personality traits can be subsumed by the five
factor model of personality and that a dimensional
perspective on abnormal behavior may be a viable alternative
to the categorical classification system of the DSM-III. Some structural weaknesses of the IIP—B5 were identified and
further improvements and investigations are required. === Arts, Faculty of === Psychology, Department of === Graduate
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