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Narrative Identity and Personality Disorder: an Empirical and Conceptual Review

  • Personality Disorders (K Bertsch, Section Editor)
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Identity is one of the key domains that is disturbed in people manifesting personality disorder (PD). Within the field of personality psychology, there is a robust approach to studying identity focused on narrative identity which has been largely overlooked in studying PD. In this paper, a systematic review was conducted of studies published in the past decade that focused on how individuals manifesting personality pathology craft their narrative identity.

Recent Findings

This review revealed disturbances related to several motivational/affective themes (e.g., negative valence/valence shifts and thwarted themes of agency and communion), autobiographical reasoning (negative self-inferences), and structural elements (e.g., low coherence and fewer life script events) within the narrative identity of people who manifest PD.

Summary

Narrative identity is disturbed in people experiencing personality pathology and may have crucial implications for enhancing our conceptual understanding of PD and for PD interventions. This review also points to several research limitations and gaps that we encourage the field to pursue in the future.

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Data Availability

Not applicable.

Notes

  1. We conceptualize PD using the ICD-11 definition rather than that in Section II of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition [2] because it is more internationally applicable and addresses the well-documented problems with the DSM-5 conceptualization and operationalization of PD. [3, 4] The alternative model of personality disorder in Section III of DSM-5 has a similar definition to that of the ICD-11.

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Papers of particular interest, published recently, have been highlighted as: • Of importance •• Of major importance

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Funding

The first author is funded by The Independent Research Fund Denmark (no. 8023-00029B).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Florida, McCarty C, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA

    Majse Lind

  2. Olin College of Engineering, Olin Way, MH 368, Needham, MA, 02495, USA

    Jonathan M. Adler

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, 46556, USA

    Lee Anna Clark

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Correspondence to Majse Lind.

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Lind, M., Adler, J.M. & Clark, L.A. Narrative Identity and Personality Disorder: an Empirical and Conceptual Review. Curr Psychiatry Rep 22, 67 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-020-01187-8

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