PARENTAL REPRESENTATIONS AND DIMENSIONS OF PERSONALITY - EMPIRICAL RELATIONS AND ASSESSMENT IMPLICATIONS

Research on the relations between parental representations, personalit y traits, and psychopathology was discussed with reference to their in tegration for clinical personality assessment. Empirical results linki ng parental representations assessed by the Structural analysis of Soc ial Behavior and the Five-Factor Model of personality traits in a youn g adult population supported the position that parental representation s significantly relate to adult personality. Individuals whose parenta l representations were generally affiliative described themselves as l ess prone to emotional distress (lower neuroticism); more interpersona lly oriented and experiencing of positive emotions (higher extraversio n); more peaceable and trustworthy (higher agreeableness); and more du tiful, resourceful, and dependable (higher conscientiousness). Parenta l representations colored by autonomy granting and autonomy taking wer e related to higher levels of openness to experience but lower levels of conscientiousness and extraversion in self-descriptions. Assessment implications and an integrative assessment strategy were presented al ong with a clinical Case example.