The interpersonal domain of alexithymia

Alexithymia refers to the difficulty identifying and describing emotions as well as an externally-oriented cognitive style. The interpersonal theory of clinical, social, and personality psychology is a well-articulated conceptual framework from which to examine this construct. In three separate samples from two geographic regions in the United States, university students completed self-report measures of interpersonal style, interpersonal goals, attachment, and interpersonal outcomes. The three components of alexithymia (i.e., difficulty identifying emotions; difficulty describing emotions; externally-oriented thinking) were associated with a hostile interpersonal style and hostile interpersonal goals. Attachment insecurity to romantic partners and to a higher power (e.g., God) was a consistent finding for those participants reporting difficulty identifying and difficulty describing their emotional experiences. Overall, these components were also associated with deleterious interpersonal outcomes, but the externally-oriented thinking component demonstrated inconsistent and weaker associations. It is argued that interpersonal theory can play an important role as an integrative framework for understanding the construct of alexithymia.