Personality Cluster: What Is It And What Types Are There?
We all have different tastes, different opinions, different ways of doing things and we even see the world in a distinctive and personal way. We are unique people, who have been shaped by both our biology and our life experiences. But we do not stop being members of the same species.
In this sense, it is possible to establish different personality types with a certain similarity to each other, in which some basic elements are shared. And from the field of psychology and psychiatry, these types of personalities have been organized into what have come to be called personality clusters
What does this concept refer to? What is a personality cluster? Let’s see it throughout this article.
Before considering what is referred to by the concept of personality cluster, it may be useful to briefly define its most important component: personality.
We call personality pattern or set of behaviors, cognitions, emotions, perspectives and ways of seeing and interpreting reality and relating to the environment and with ourselves that are habitual to us and that we tend to maintain in a relatively stable way over time and through situations throughout life.
Personality is defined throughout our growth and throughout our life cycle, being configured in part based on our genes and based on our experiences and learning. It is what defines our way of being and acting, and it is generally adaptive to relate effectively to the environment.
However, sometimes a series of circumstances cause us to acquire some characteristics or ways of thinking or doing that, although they allow us to survive and adapt to the environment, they can cause great difficulties in areas such as interpersonal relationships, work or the ability to enjoy life, and can lead to certain dysfunctionality in us or our environment. , discomfort and suffering.
This is the case of people who suffer from a personality disorder. And it is with respect to this type of disorder that the three main types of personality cluster that are usually used have been developed, a concept that we will define below.
What is a personality cluster?
A cluster is understood as an organization or way of classifying different quantitative variables into different groups which include them based on some type of characteristic or common element.
Thus, when we talk about a personality cluster we are referring to a grouping of various personality types that have some type of element among themselves that allows them to be grouped That is, the existence of common factors is established between different classes or types of personalities which allow them to be defined to a large extent as a whole, so that the different categories are homogenized and encompassed around said quality or aspect.
The three personality clusters
Although technically it would be possible to make personality clusters based on different criteria, when we talk about this concept we are generally referring to three in particular, those in which personality disorders have been classified and cataloged In this sense, three large personality clusters are currently considered, based on the type of behavior pattern that they habitually manifest.
Cluster A includes the types of personality disorder that have as a common element the performance of acts and the maintenance of ways of thinking and interpreting the world considered extravagant and very unusual, sometimes resembling the functioning of the population with psychotic elements. (although in this case we are talking about personality traits and not a disorder itself).
It is these behaviors and manners that generate dysfunction or discomfort in the subject. Paranoid, schizoid and schizotypal personality disorders are included within this cluster
Cluster B: Unstable/Dramatic-emotional
The grouping or organization of personality disorders known as cluster B refers to the set of personality disorders that have as a common trait the presence of high emotionality, which is highly labile, and that tends to present dramatic and sometimes theatrical behavior
The presence of a lack of control over emotions and affects is commonly observed, as well as a certain distrust of others and/or their esteem. Within this group we find antisocial, borderline, histrionic and narcissistic personality disorders.
Cluster C: Fearful-anxious
This third cluster integrates a set of disorders which have in common the presence of a high level of fear or anxiety (or not doing so), which leads them to act in a way that reduces it as much as possible. The axis or core of much of their behavior is the avoidance of what they fear. Also it is common to have a low tolerance for uncertainty
Within cluster C we find avoidant, dependent and obsessive-compulsive personality disorders.
A useful concept, but not as closed as it seems
The concept of personality cluster, as it relates to at least the three commonly used types, was first used in 1980 with the DSM-III. This was carried out with the purpose of carrying out a grouping of personality disorders that would allow the disorders to be classified in a simpler way, at the same time that greater research was promoted into this type of alterations.
Since then, personality clusters have been commonly used when identifying the sphere in which personality alterations move. This does not mean that they are used to diagnose (since the cluster is not a diagnosis in itself nor does it establish one), but it can give an idea of ​​the type of characteristics or implications that a specific problem may have in the daily life of a subject.
Now, although the organization in clusters can be very useful when establishing delimited categories between the different personality types, the truth is that The performance of various factor analyzes does not consistently support that these clusters are always so tight and separated from each other: for example, in clinical practice it is not uncommon for the same patient to present characteristics and even disorders belonging to different clusters.
