Background:
Views of self, others, relationships and social functioning form a significant part of the clinical picture of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Theoretical models have variously implicated temperament, most notably neuroticism, and aberrant attachment experience, along with related deficits in sense of self and social cognition in the etiology of this serious mental disorder. However, no research has systematically investigated the extent to which these views are associated with the characteristics of BPD. The present study examines the relationship of self-complexity and self-discrepancy, attachment style and rejection sensitivity to endorsement of BPD features.
Method:
As part of course requirements, 101 first-year university students (70 women and 31 men) completed well-validated self-report measures of neuroticism, self-complexity and self-discrepancy, attachment style, rejection sensitivity and an 80-item screening measure for BPD.
Results:
With levels of neuroticism controlled for, significant positive relationships were found between attachment anxiety and avoidance, rejections sensitivity and endorsement of BPD features. In addition, the extent to which participants saw themselves as discrepant from their ideal and ought self-guides [actual-ideal (AI) and actual-ought (AO) self-discrepancies] in terms of both positive and negative self-roles and attributes were assessed, as was the extent to participants' self-concepts were complex with regard to the organization of positive and negative attributes. Reporting more BPD features was associated with large negative AI and AO discrepancies (reflecting greater possession of negative traits), as were the complexity of both negative roles and attributes. The data suggest that both the self-concept content and structure contribute to BPD.
Conclusion:
The theoretical and clinical implications of the present findings and planned future research into the role of self and social cognition in BPD are discussed.
