Acts, dispositions, and clinical assessment: The psychopathology of everyday conduct

Abstract

Manifestations of psychopathology typically are noted first in the context of a person’s everyday life. The inability to work or play, displays of unusual behavior or ideation, expressions of subjective distress, and behaviors injurious to self or others initially come to the attention of family, friends, co-workers, and other members of society. Only subsequently do persons encounter mental health professionals and receive psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. In contrast to the wide-ranging manifestations of psychopathology in everyday life, the typical settings for forming diagnostic judgments, such as the interview room or the psychiatric ward, provide more restricted contexts that limit the range of behaviors likely to be displayed and observed. An important goal of clinical assessment, therefore, should be to preserve the links between psychiatric diagnostic classifications and the psychopathology of everyday conduct. The act frequency approach to personality (Buss & Craik, 1980, 1981, 1983a, 1984, in press; also see Wiggins, 1981) represents a systematic analysis of dispositional constructs (e.g., dominance, quarrelsomeness) as categories of acts occurring in everyday human conduct (e.g., monopolizing the conversation, or picking a fight with the stranger at the party). This article outlines the implications of the act frequency approach for clinical assessment generally, and its application to the personality disorders classified in the DSM-III specifically (American Psychiatric Association, 1980). The first two sections describe the basic framework of the act frequency approach and its research and assessment methods. Categories of acts for the dispositions