Impairment in personality functioning predicts the presence of a personality disorder,
and the severity of impairment predicts whet her an individual has more than one person-
ality disorder or one of the more typically se vere personality disorders. A moderate level
of impairment in personality functioning is re quired for the diagnosis of a personality dis-
order; this threshold is based on empirical ev idence that the moderate level of impairment
maximizes the ability of clinicians to accurate ly and efficiently identify personality disor-
der pathology.
Criterion B: Pathological Personality Traits
Pathological personality traits are organized into five broad domain s: Negative Affectiv-
ity, Detachment, Antagonism, Disinhibition, and Psychoticism. Within the five broad trait
domains  are 25 specific trait facets  that were developed initially  from a review of existing
trait models and subsequently through iterat ive research with samples of persons who
sought mental health services. The full trait taxonomy is presented in Table 3 (see pp. 779–
781). The B criteria for the spec ific personality disorders comp rise subsets of the 25 traitTABLE 1 Elements of personality functioning
Self:
1. Identity:  Experience of oneself as unique, with clear boundaries between self and others; sta-
bility of self-esteem and accuracy of self-apprai sal; capacity for, and ability to regulate, a 
range of emotional experience.
2. Self-direction:  Pursuit of coherent and meaningful short-term and life goals; utilization of 
constructive and prosocial internal standards of behavior; ability to self-reflect productively.
Interpersonal:
1.Empathy:  Comprehension and appreciation of others’ experiences and motivations; tolerance 
of differing perspectives; understanding the effects of one’s own behavior on others.