Biological Perspective: BPD and Temperament

     Gordon Allport (1937), known as the father of personality psychology, provided one of the first definitions of temperament: 

    Temperament refers to the characteristic phenomena of an individual's emotional nature, including his     susceptibility to emotional stimulation, his customary strength and speed of response, the quality of        his prevailing mood, and all peculiarities of fluctuation and intensity of his mood (p. 34). 

Overall, literature on temperament has argued that a fundamental component of temperament is emotional and self-regulation, and consistencies in behavior that begin early in life and have a neurological basis (Zanarini, 2005). 

    Individuals diagnosed with BPD, researchers found, can be explained by reactivity (high sensitivity) and activity (high dynamism), with reactivity as the underpinning of all borderline facets, while activity differentiates between externalizing and internalizing facets (Brud & Cieciuch, 2024). Internalizing facets include negative affect and detachment while externalizing facets include disinhibition and dissociality (Brud & Cieciuch, 2023). Moreover, those with a BPD diagnosis have been shown to have issues with controlling their anger and their relationships often suffer because of this, intense anger at inappropriate times is a temperamental feature of BPD (Barnow et al., 2005). Self-management, self-directedness and persistency were also shown to be lower in individuals with a BPD diagnosis, as well as novelty seeking (in males) and harm avoidance (in females) (Barnow et al., 2005; Yilmaz et al., 2021). 

    Yilmaz et al. (2021) suggest that therapists take into consideration the high comorbidity and suicidality of patients diagnosed with BPD and focus on addressing low levels of self-directedness as well as maturation. In addition, confronting and altering negative affect and emotional and self-regulation is crucial for clinicians when working with patients with a diagnosis of BPD (Brud & Cieciuch, 2023). 


References

Allport, G. W. (1937). Personality: A psychological interpretation.

Barnow, S., Rüge, J., Spitzer, C. et al. (2005). Temperament und charakter bei personen mit borderline-persönlichkeitsstörung . Nervenarzt, 76, 839–848. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00115-004-1810-8

Brud, P. P., & Cieciuch, J. (2023). Borderline personality disorder and its facets in the context of personality metatraits and pathological traits. Personality and Individual Differences, 202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111958

Brud, P. P., & Cieciuch, J. (2024). Temperamental underpinnings of borderline personality disorder and its facets. Personality and Mental Health, 18(3), 205-213. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmh.1610

Yilmaz, Meltem, Dönmezler, Erensoy, Berkol, Demir. (2021). Temperament and character relations in borderline personality disorder. The Journal of Neurobehavioral Sciences, 8(2), 89-95. DOI: 10.4103/jnbs.jnbs_8_21

Zanarini, M.C. (Ed.). (2005). Borderline Personality Disorder (1st ed.). CRC Press. https://doi.org/10.1201/b14134

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