1st Student's Major
Communication Studies
1st Student's College
Arts and Humanities
Students' Professional Biography
Brianna Kloss is a graduating senior at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and is looking forward to graduate school to continue her studies in feminist research. Her decision to major in psychology was made due to a longtime interest in psychological disorders after being diagnosed with Bipolar. Before graduating from Mankato East High School in 2002, she volunteered with a student-lead Yellow Ribbon Suicide Intervention/Prevention Program group. In addition to continued volunteerism she enjoyed providing volunteer opportunities for others as an Activities Coordinator for Psi Chi National Honor Society for Psychology.
Mentor's Name
Rachel Anderson Droogsma
Mentor's Email Address
rachel.droogsma@mnsu.edu
Mentor's Department
Communication Studies
Mentor's College
Arts and Humanities
Abstract
Criticisms of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000), the most widely recognized system for classification of psychological disorders in the U.S., including gender discriminating disorders and diagnoses, have existed for all editions of the DSM. Arguably, gender construction has a profound influence on the standards and evaluation of normal and abnormal behaviors. Concern for the presence of gender bias of personality disorders has been raised within the DSM, in part, by the frequent diagnoses made according to gender stereotypes. The DSM-IV-TR characterizes personality disorders as marked distress and impairment caused by persistent and inflexible thoughts and behaviors that deviate from cultural norms (APA, 2000). Disorders are categorized into three clusters: (A) odd or eccentric, (B) dramatic, emotional, or erratic, and (C) fearful or anxious. With a specific focus on cluster b personality disorders (Antisocial, Borderline, Narcissistic, and Histrionic), I conducted a rhetorical analysis of the diagnostic criteria to evaluate evidence of consistency with, or deviation from, gender expected behaviors: four masculine and four feminine expectations, explicated by Wood (2007). Similar underlying characteristics of criterion between disorders were masked by differences of gendered behaviors, i.e. impulsivity, which has been defined differently across the gendered disorders. Disorders were then compared based on similarity of diagnostic characteristics, level of gender consistency, and the prevalence and frequency of gendered diagnoses. Adopting a multidimensional approach for the diagnosis of personality disorders would be more comprehensive and would accommodate for individual human differences and support the development of new treatments.
Recommended Citation
Kloss, Brianna
(2009)
"Cluster B Personality Disorders Separated by Gender Expectations,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato: Vol. 9, Article 7.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56816/2378-6949.1060
Available at:
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur/vol9/iss1/7
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