Graduate Program

Clinical Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Semester of Degree Completion

2004

Thesis Director

Anu Sharma

Abstract

The present study examined gender biases, ethnic biases, and interaction effects within the DSM-IV-TR Clusters A and B Personality Disorder (PD) criteria. One of the principal controversies of the DSM-IV-TR involves the diagnosis of PDs. The diagnostic criteria have been considered to be subjective, making PDs hard to diagnose, yet easy to misdiagnose. In Phase I, examination of Cluster B PDs, there were 89 female and 31 male participants and in Phase II, examination of Cluster A PDs, there were 60 females and 60 males from introductory psychology courses. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire and viewed a PowerPoint presentation depicting PD criteria. Participants were randomly placed into one of four ethnic conditions varying according to the ethnic background of the presented stimulus (Asian, African American, White, and Latino). Each PD criterion was presented twice, once for stimulus male and once for stimulus female. Participants made ratings of the degree to which they believed the criterion was characteristic of the depicted individual. Phase I results indicated that males were more likely to be characterized with Antisocial PD, while females were more likely to be characterized with Borderline and Histrionic PDs. In general, examination of ethnic biases revealed that Latinos and Whites were more likely to be characterized with Cluster B PDs than Asians. Compared with African Americans, Whites were more likely to be characterized with all Cluster B PDs and Latinos with Antisocial and Borderline. Within Phase II (Cluster A), females were more likely to be characterized with Paranoid traits than males and Latinos were more likely to be characterized with Paranoid PD traits than Asians. A significant interaction between gender and ethnicity was found for Borderline, Histrionic, and Paranoid PDs, respectively. These results, as well as the clinical implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

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