Seamlessness in personality and its derangements

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Personality Science

Background:

• The circumplex model describes interpersonal functioning through continuous behavioral variations.
• Existing personality organization models often rely on categorical distinctions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To argue that the continuous nature of interpersonal functioning challenges categorical personality systems.
• To highlight how this continuous structure impacts personality organization and diagnostic systems.

Main Methods:

• Conceptual analysis of the circumplex structure of interpersonal functioning.
• Critique of taxonomic systems that postulate categorical personality entities.

Main Results:

• Interpersonal functioning is characterized by systematically continuous ordering, lacking sharp categorical boundaries.
• Categorical taxonomic systems for personality are rendered suspect by this continuous nature.
• Artifactual comorbidities in psychiatric diagnoses are a predictable anomaly of categorical systems like the DSM.

Conclusions:

• The continuous nature of personality organization undermines categorical diagnostic approaches.
• The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) may produce artifactual comorbidities due to its categorical framework.
• A paradigm shift towards continuous models is needed for a more accurate understanding of personality and mental health.