Since its introduction in the diagnostic manuals DSM-5 and ICD-11, the construct of personality functioning has gained increasing attention. However, it remains unclear which factors might predict improvement in personality functioning.

We examined a sample of 648 completed psychodynamic psychotherapies conducted by 172 therapists at the Heidelberg Institute for Psychotherapy. A machine learning approach was used to filter for variables that are relevant for the prediction of the improvement of personality functioning from a broad data set of variables collected at the beginning of each psychodynamic psychotherapy.

On average, we found an improvement of 0.24 (SD = 0.48) in the OPD-SQ. This corresponds to a medium effect in the improvement of personality functioning. Patients with initially high impairment experienced particularly large improvements. Overall, we found a large number of variables that proved to be predictive for the improvement of personality functioning. Limitations in social activity due to physical and emotional problems proved to be one of the most important predictors of improvement. Most of the effect sizes were small.

Overall, the improvement in personality functioning during psychotherapy is determined more by the sum of a large number of small effects than by individual variables. In particular, variables that capture social areas of life proved to be robust predictors.

Assessment of personality functioning in different stages of psychotic disorders could provide valuable information on psychopathology, course of illness and treatment planning, but empirical data are sparse.

To investigate personality functioning and sense of self in individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis and with first-episode psychosis (FEP) in comparison with a clinical control group of individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) and healthy controls.

In a cross-sectional design, we investigated personality functioning (Structured Interview of Personality Organization, STIPO; Level of Personality Functioning Scale, LPFS) and disturbances of the basic self (Examination of Anomalous Self-Experience, EASE) in 107 participants, comprising 24 individuals at UHR, 29 individuals with FEP, 27 individuals with BPD and 27 healthy controls.

The UHR, FEP and BPD groups had moderate to severe deficits in personality organisation (STIPO) compared with the healthy control group. Self-functioning with its subdomain (facet) ‘self-direction’ (LPFS) was significantly worse in participants with manifest psychosis (FEP) compared with those at-risk for psychosis (UHR). The FEP group showed significantly worse overall personality functioning than the UHR group and significantly higher levels of self-disturbance (EASE) than the BPD group, with the UHR group lying between these diagnostic groups. Hierarchical cluster analysis based on the seven STIPO domains yielded three clusters differing in level of personality functioning and self-disturbances.

Our data demonstrate that psychotic disorders are associated with impaired personality functioning and self-disturbances. Assessment of personality functioning can inform treatment planning for patients at different stages of psychotic disorder.

People with personality disorders (PD) share some impairments in personality functioning (e.g. identity, intimacy, empathy) that are also associated with inner or interpersonal conflicts, and sometimes also with different strategies of moral disengagement (MD). It is unclear whether MD strategies are related to individuals with/without PD and their willingness to have social contacts with representatives of otherness (like minorities, physically handicapped, etc.).

Comparison of the differences in MD strategies and social distance to the otherness of healthy controls and people with PD, and the influence of personality functioning.

Moral Disengagement Scale which measures eight MD strategies, the Semi-Structured Interview for Personality Functioning DSM-5 assessing the Self and Interpersonal functioning, and Bogardus Social Distance Scale measuring perceived social distance toward various representatives of otherness are applied in two samples (general population and personality disorders).

People with PD showed a significantly higher propensity to use various MD strategies than healthy controls with moderate effect size (.34–.49). Moral disengagement is facilitated by different aspects of personality functioning in both samples, sharing the impairments in maintaining close relationships. Both samples differed in MD strategies connected with higher social distancing.

People with PD are more prone to moral disengagement than healthy adults. MD appears to be facilitated by different aspects of personality functioning in both samples. Some representants of otherness are more related to specific MD strategies. We hypothesize that understanding of specific MD strategies used by people with PD can provide insight and explain some of their behavior.

The idea that personality can influence our perception of ‘otherness’ is widely accepted within the literature of social sciences. Undoubtedly, the principle of dehumanization played an important role in genocides during the 20th and 21st centuries. In totalitarian or post-totalitarian regimes ‘otherness’ may present a challenge to the absolute power. Recent studies showed that negative attitudes toward ‘otherness’ – also known as xenophobia – are on a rise in the Czech Republic.A deeper analysis of the personality in relation with perception of otherness is still missing.

The presentation analyse the personality variables associated with the perception of otherness and compare the differences between various age groups, genders, individuals with different levels of education, and above all, the differences between various groups. Several contrast groups are compared - general population, high neuroticism sample, personality disorder sample, xenophobic and xenophilic sample.

Bogardus Scale of Social Distance as a measure of perception of otherness is compared with in-depth analysis of personality functioning (Semi-Structured Interview for Personality Functioning DSM–5, STiP-5.1).

We analyze the results of five samples with respect to demographic variables, variables of personality functioning and try to point out the relationship between more attitudes and underlying personality functioning. The importance of some demographic variables (as age) and connections between personality functioning (Self and Interpersonal) and social distance is emphasized and discussed.

The project help us to understand perception of otherness in light of demographic and relative power of personality factors.