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The preceding lists the most recent and complete of the 15 normal and abnormal
personalities derived from the Millon Evolutionary Theory. Each box includes
first the normal prototype or personality style (e.g., retiring), and
second, the abnormal prototype or personality disorder (e.g.,
schizoid). The following circulargram portrays the same 15 personalities
in a spectrum fashion. It also represents both the normal and abnormal
prototypes of the theory. The vertical segment listed under Legend
informs the reader of the personalities it encompasses. For an overview of the
personality subtypes, or admixtures of these prototypal personality
patterns as they are likely to be encountered in clinical practice,
(see subtype summary here).
Legend I pertains to the polarity-based theoretical grouping that
subsumes the several normal and abnormal personalities listed below it; for
example, Legend I segment is entitled "Detached (pain/pleasure)" and refers to
personalities that manifest their prime characteristic in deficits or
dysfunctions in the pain/pleasure polarity; it includes the normal "retiring"
and abnormal "schizoid" types who evidence a moderate or marked deficit in the
ability to experience both pain and pleasure. The "shy" and "avoidant" types
listed in this polarity grouping are normal and abnormal variants that evince a
hypersensitivity to pain and deficits in pleasure. The "eccentric" and
"schizotypal" types are even more extreme variants of the detached pattern,
evidencing a mixture of both extreme schizoid and avoidant features. One may
continue around the circulargram to note the four other major polarity groupings
(e.g., dependent, ambivalent) and the normal (Legend II) and abnormal (Legend
III) personalities they subsume. Legend IV records whether the adaptation
polarity is of a primary passive (p) or active (a) form.
Legend V refers to the MCMI-III scales that relate to the personality disorders
that are listed above them.
The next set of paragraphs and 15 figures will provide the reader with a
breakdown of the 8 personologic/clinical domains of each of the fifteen
personality styles and disorders derived from Millon's evolutionary theory.
These domains represent Millon's view that personality is composed of numerous
major spheres of structure and functioning.; in essence, personality is not
simply about behavior, or about cognition or unconscious conflicts, but of
all of them. These domains recognize that personality comprises the entire
matrix of the patient or person under study because it is our philosophy that
personality is a multifunctional and multistructural construct. The figures not
only include the distinctive features for the domains of each personality, but
also portrays them in terms of the relative clinical importance, e.g., for the
retiring/schizoid, the interpersonal (unengaged) and mood (apathetic) domains
are the most prominent.
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