Relationships among borderline, narcissistic, and avoidant personality disorders and the discrepancy between explicit and implicit self-esteem

Abstract

Personality disorders (PDs) are considered mental disorders due to a pathology of self (Lynum et al., 2008). In order to capture the multi-levels of self-concept, we investigated both explicit and implicit self-esteem. This study aimed to understand the relationships among borderline, narcissistic, and avoidant PDs and the discrepancy between explicit and implicit self-esteem. Eighty-five undergraduates and graduates completed a questionnaire and self-esteem implicit association test measuring implicit self-esteem. The questionnaire included items about PDs and explicit self-esteem. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that borderline and avoidant PDs could be explained by a large discrepancy between two levels of self-esteem when implicit self-esteem is relatively higher than explicit self-esteem. On the other hand, narcissistic PD was not related to each level of self-esteem individually or the discrepancy between these self-esteems. These results suggest that borderline and avoidant PDs are related to discrepancies among multi self-concepts, but narcissistic PD cannot be explained by discrepancies in self-esteem.