Circumplex models for the similarity relationships between higher-order factors of personality and personality disorders: an empirical analysis.

Similarity relationships between personality factors and personality disorders (PDs) are usually described within the conceptual framework of the "big five" model. Recently, two-dimensional circumplex models have been suggested as alternatives, such as the interpersonal circle, the multifacet circumplex, and the circumplex of premorbid personality types. The present study is an empirical investigation of the similarity relationships between the big five, the 11 DSM-III-R personality disorders and four subaffective disorders. This was performed in a sample of 165 psychiatric inpatients. We tested the extent to which the relationships could be adequately represented in two dimensions and which circumplex model can be supported by the empirical configuration. Results obtained by principal-components analysis (PCA) strongly confirm the circumplex of premorbid personality, and to some extent the multifacet circumplex. However, the interpersonal circle cannot be confirmed.