Investigating Correlations Between Defence Mechanisms and Pathological Personality Characteristics

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between defence mechanisms and pathological personality traits.

We analysed 320 participants aged from 18 to 64 years (70.6% women, 87.5% university students) who completed the Dimensional Clinical Personality Inventory (IDCP) and the Defence Style Questionnaire (DSQ-40). We conducted comparisons and correlations and a regression analysis.

The results showed expressive differences (d>1.0) between mature, neurotic and immature defence mechanism groups, and it was observed that pathological personality traits are more typical in people who use less mature defence mechanisms (i.e., neurotic and immature), which comprises marked personality profiles for each group, according to the IDCP. We also found correlations between some of the 40 specific mechanisms of the DSQ-40 and the 12 dimensions of pathological personality traits from the IDCP (r ≥ 0.30 to r ≤ 0.43), partially supported by the literature. In addition, we used regression analysis to verify the potential of the IDCP dimension clusters (related to personality disorders) to predict defence mechanisms, revealing some minimally expressive predictive values (between 20% and 35%).

The results indicate that those who tend to use immature defence mechanisms are also those most likely to present pathological personality traits.

The findings indicate the importance of investigating these correlations as a possible improvement to clinical assessment and intervention.