The Sociocultural Context of Borderline Traits

Research has shown racial differences in borderline personality disorder trait presentation between diagnosed Black women and White women. However, no studies have examined if these differences were generalizable to men and individuals with lower borderline severity. We sought to examine how gender and race affected the presentation of borderline traits across the severity continuum. Participants (n = 196) answered a series of surveys examining comorbid externalizing and internalizing traits. Differences were mostly nonsignificant with few exceptions. Higher physical aggression was observed among Black than among White participants. Gender differences also emerged with higher overall and physical aggression observed among men, and higher rejection sensitivity observed among women. Borderline trait severity was significantly associated with most internalizing and externalizing traits across all racial and gender groups. Our findings suggest a need for more diverse sampling in borderline research to fully capture the extent to which its various mechanisms manifest.