[Causal attribution and personality in psychotherapy patients]

The present study addressed the relationship between patients' causal attributions of their disorders on one hand and their personality traits on the other. The investigation was based on the self-reports of 197 psychotherapy patients who presented at a university outpatient department for diagnostic evaluation. Personality traits were measured using the Giessen-Test (Beckmann et al., 1991), causal attributions were assessed by a check list (Faller 1997). Intrapsychic causal factors were rated highest; after those, interpersonal and social factors followed next, while somatic factors were judged to be least important. Psychosocial attributions showed strong correlations with the self-report of depressed mood in the Giessen-Test. Similar relations were found with other personality traits such as low ratings of social resonance, low openness, and low social potency. The reported interrelations suggest that psychological symptoms, personality and causal atttributions are closely intertwined.