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The diagnostic usability of selected narrativity indices in stories about close relationships in the assessment of personality organization
 
 
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Instytut Psychologii UAM w Poznaniu
 
 
Submission date: 2013-10-02
 
 
Final revision date: 2014-01-07
 
 
Acceptance date: 2014-02-04
 
 
Publication date: 2015-02-24
 
 
Corresponding author
Emilia Soroko   

Instytut Psychologii UAM w Poznaniu, ul. Szamarzewskiego 89, 60-578 Poznań, Polska
 
 
Psychiatr Pol 2015;49(1):181-199
 
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ABSTRACT
Objectives:
The aim of this study was to test the usability of selected narrativity indices identified from autobiographical accounts of important relationships in an assessment of neurotic (NPO) and borderline personality organization (BPO).

Methods:
Narrativity indices, both particular and generalized, were used to predict personality organization levels. Indices were derived from two separate layers of analysis: 1) lexical indices were counted with computer assistance; 2) evocative/reception indices dealing with coherence of the story were assessed using the competent judges method.

Results:
It was found that the lexical narrativity index—the active “I”—was a good predictor of both BPO and NPO, while the human factor was a good predictor of BPO when low. Moreover, a generalized index was used to describe how stories are saturated with the narrativity indices of intentionality, concreteness, and active “I”, but simultaneously deprived of human factor, and was found to be the best predictor of BPO. Furthermore, where the coherence of the story and of its subdimension (integration) rise, the probability of BPO diagnosis decreases.

Conclusions:
This research provides support for the thesis that surface narrativity indices may predict deeper personality structure. Its results are justified in the light of Kernberg’s theory, and have the potential to become a useful tool in clinical practice as a supplementary source of information in diagnostic and psychotherapeutic processes.

eISSN:2391-5854
ISSN:0033-2674
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