Borderline personality disorder features and mate retention tactics.

Area of Science:

• Evolutionary Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Personality Disorders

Background:

• Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is associated with interpersonal difficulties and relationship instability.
• Mate retention tactics are behaviors individuals use to maintain romantic relationships.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between borderline personality disorder (BPD) features and mate retention tactics.
• To explore an evolutionary perspective on BPD features, interpersonal problems, and relationship violence.

Main Methods:

• 225 college students completed the Personality Assessment Inventory for Borderlines (PAI-BOR) and the Mate Retention Inventory-Short Form (MRI-SF).
• Statistical analyses examined associations between BPD features and various mate retention tactics.

Main Results:

• A strong association was found between BPD features and cost-inflicting mate retention tactics (vigilance, punishing infidelity threats, intrasexual threats, sexual inducements) for both genders.
• Gender-specific associations were observed for additional mate retention tactics.

Conclusions:

• BPD features are linked to maladaptive mate retention strategies, potentially explaining relationship problems, violence, and impulsive sexual behavior in individuals with BPD.
• These findings offer insights into the evolutionary underpinnings of relationship dynamics in the context of BPD.