PERSONALITY PATHOLOGY, AFFECTIVE EXPRESSION,  AND DYADIC INTERACTIONS

Personality pathology has been consistently linked with negative relationship outcomes, though little work has focused on interpersonal dynamics that might explain the association between the two. In the current study, we used Actor Partner Interdependence Modeling (APIM) with self-reported personality features from the Personality Inventory for the DSM-4+ for individuals in committed romantic relationships. Scores on the personality disorder scales were used to predict self-reported change in positive and negative affect across a conflict resolution task as well as variability in affective valance and arousal during the conflict resolution task as coded by third-party raters. In general, both positive and negative affect increased after the conflict resolution task as compared to before. Variability in emotional arousal appeared largely unrelated to PD features. The most consistent finding across models was that change in internal affect and variability in expressed affect was most related to men’s PD features but not women’s, with some exceptions. Taken together, results suggest that couples are likely to exhibit greater variability in affect during conflict in couples in which a male partner is high in PD features.