Are childhood misbehavior and physical illness factors in the development of self-defeating personality.

Abstract

49 undergraduate men and 45 women took Schill's 1990 Self-defeating Personality Scale and answered questions about their physical health and misbehavior as children and the amount of attention such behavior elicited from their parents. No support was found for the idea that individuals who currently score more self-defeating had been more likely to engage in such behavior or had been able to gain attention thereby. In fact, these people reported getting less rather than more attention from parents when they were physically ill. Results were discussed as consistent with prior findings wherein self-defeating individuals have described their parents as being nonsupportive, inconsistent, and rejecting.