The common structure of normal personality and psychopathology: Preliminary exploration in a non-patient sample

Normal personality and psychopathology have traditionally been conceptualized as separate or distinct areas of inquiry. However recent research exploring the hierarchical nature of personality traits suggests the possibility of integrating findings across these domains. This study used the Personality Assessment Inventory (Morey, 1991) and NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (Costa & McCrae, 1992) to investigate the joint factor structure of normal personality and psychopathology. Factor analysis revealed a well defined three factor structure with scales from both instruments having prominent loadings on all the factors. The first joint PAI–NEO factor was marked by Neuroticism, Anxiety, Depression and Borderline Personality traits, the second factor had negative loadings for Agreeableness and Conscientiousness and positive loadings for Drug Abuse and Antisocial Personality traits. The third joint factor had positive loadings for Extraversion, Openness and Mania plus a secondary negative loading for Depression. The joint PAI–NEO factor structure bore a clear resemblance to the Big Three model of personality traits depicted in Markon, Krueger, and Watson’s (2005) personality hierarchy. While preliminary the current findings suggest that normal personality and psychopathology may share a common latent structure and their shared structure may integrate into the broader hierarchy of personality traits.