Character Styles

Johnson shows how basic life issues underlie the severe

pathology of personality disorder, the nagging symptoms of

neurosis, and the more functional coping and adaptation of

the character styles. Johnson’s dimensional model captures

the complexity of the human personality, while allowing for

variability not seen in categorical systems such as DSM-IV.

His descriptive names of the character styles not only link

childhood experiences to later personality and psychopathology

but also put flesh and bones on psychiatric diagnosis.