This study investigated the relationship between cluster B personality disorder characteristics and neuropsychological test performance. Specifically, the study examined whether neuropsychological test patterns could be used to support personality disorder diagnoses. The participants were 109 university students who were given a neuropsychological test battery and personality assessment. When controlling for Axis I psychopathology, no relationship was found between neuropsychological performance and borderline characteristics. However, narcissistic characteristics were associated with poorer working memory, divided attention, and verbal associative memory, and greater cognitive flexibility. Histrionic characteristics were associated with better list learning and selective auditory attention. This study suggests that some cluster B characteristics are associated with neuropsychological performance, but additional research is needed to clarify the nature of this relationship.

Psychopathy research has focused primarily on characteristics of male offenders. With little empirical knowledge on psychopathy in women, gender differences within psychopathy are not well understood. To gain a better understanding of these differences, the current study used prototypical analysis to compare ratings of 242 forensic experts when considering their most representative case of male or female psychopathy. The present study investigated gender differences for psychopathic traits and Cluster B personality disorder criteria. Most aspects of psychopathy were less prototypical of female psychopaths than males. In particular, the antisocial behavior facet does not appear to apply to males and females equally. The distinction between Cluster B disorders and psychopathy was more ambiguous in females than males; however, the affective deficits facet differentiated psychopathy from Cluster B disorders across genders. Current research also raises the question of potential diagnostic gender bias in the assessment of psychopathy.

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This thesis investigates the relationship between social media and Cluster B Personality Disorders: Borderline Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder, and Histrionic Personality Disorder. This research builds upon previous findings by examining specific negative social media motivations and behaviors, such as excessive use and negative motivations, in relation to Cluster B Personality Disorders. Participants completed the McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (MSI-BPD; Zanarini et al., 2005), The Short Dark Triad (Jones &Paulhus, 2014), Antisocial Process Screening Device (Frick & Hare, 2002), Self-Test Histrionic Personality Disorder (Olivardia, 2022), and Motivations for Social Media Use Scale (MSMU; Rodgers et al., 2020). These instruments assess callous-unemotional traits, narcissism, impulsivity, attention-seeking behaviors, erratic behaviors, and motivations for social media use. The results indicate a significant positive correlation between extensive social media use and higher tendencies toward Cluster B Personality Disorder traits, with specific social media motivations strongly linked to distinct aspects of these disorders. This study enhances understanding of the psychological correlates of excessive social media use.

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