Cross-situational inconsistency in the behavior of compulsive and histrionic personality disorders: An analogue study

The purpose of this study was to examine empirically the personologist assumptions underlying definitions of personality disorders. The behavioral consistency or inconsistency of subjects with histrionic (n=28)or compulsive (n =26)personality disorder analogues, as well as control subjects (n=28)was investigated across situations that varied in type of audience (public vs. private) and type of demand (neutral vs. high), using three tasks. It was predicted from an interactionist perspective that histrionics would respond differently to private vs. public situations but consistently across the three tasks and that compulsives would respond differently to neutral-vs. high-demand situations but consistently across the three tasks. In contrast, the results were most consonant with a situationist perspective, with situational factors affecting all subject groups similarly, thus raising questions about personologist assumptions of personality disorders.