Can Similar Histories Contribute to Different Results?
By:
THEODORE MILLON and
Seth Grossman
Carrie Millon
Sarah Meagher
Rowena Ramnath
Hamburger
et al. (1996) postulate that similar histories contribute to different results,
noting that the research literature shows higher than expected rates of
comorbidity between the histrionic and antisocial personalities and that
histrionic males show a high rate of antisocial behavior (Lilienfeld, Van
Valkenburg, Larntz, & Akiskal, 1986; Luisada, Peele, & Pittard, 1974).
Moreover,
both personalities show an interaction between gender and prevalence rate, with
the histrionic personality being identified more frequently in females and the
antisocial more frequently in males (APA, 1994; Ford & Widiger, 1989; Kass
et al., 1983).
Because
the disorders share a number of characteristics, particularly lack of impulse control,
stimulus-seeking behavior, and a deficient conscience, these authors assert that
both personalities represent different expressions of the same underlying
problem: psychopathy. If so, females with psychopathic genes would be disposed
to develop a histrionic personality, and males with psychopathic genes would be
disposed to develop an antisocial personality.
To
test this speculation, Hamburger et al. (1996) formed three hypotheses.
First,
individuals with high levels of psychopathy should exhibit more features of the
histrionic and antisocial personalities than individuals with low levels of
psychopathy.
Second,
psychopathic males should show more antisocial features, and psychopathic
females should show more histrionic features.
Third,
this relationship should be mediated by adherence to social gender roles.
A
group of 180 undergraduates became experimental subjects. As expected, the
higher the psychopathy score, the more likely subjects would show histrionic
and antisocial features. A statistical technique known as path analysis was
then used to examine the relationship between psychopathy and gender. The
second hypothesis was also supported.
References
Personality Disorders in Modern Life,
second edition, 2000, 2004 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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