ABSTRACT

Passie-Aggressie (Negatiistic) Personality Disorder Defined

Essential Features

The passive-aggressive (negativistic) personality disorder (PAPD) is located in Appendix B in the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000). It was included in the Cluster C personality disorders in the DSM-III-R (APA, 1987) but was removed from official status in Axis II in the DSM-IV (APA, 1994) for the following reasons:

Millon (1996) proposes expanding PAPD to the more comprehensive concept of a negativistic personality disorder characterized by:

In Appendix B, the DSM-IV-TR (APA, 2000) describes the PAPD essential features as a pervasive pattern of negativistic attitudes and passive resistance to demands for adequate performance. The following characteristics are research criteria for determining the validity and utility of the proposed PAPD (negativistic) category for possible inclusion in the DSM-V:

PAPD was first introduced in a U.S. War Department technical bulletin in 1945. The term was coined by wartime psychiatrists who found themselves dealing with reluctant and uncooperative soldiers who followed orders with chronic, veiled hostility and smoldering resentment. Their style was a mixture of passive resistance and grumbling compliance (Stone, 1993).