Lexical Tendencies of High and Low Barrier Personalities in Narratives of Everyday and Dream Memories

Abstract

The use of computerized content analysis has encouraged great interest in the assessment of personality. Given the psychological importance of body boundaries in the maintenance and regulation of the self, this study aimed to assess the lexical tendencies of High and Low Barrier personalities (Fisher & Cleveland, 1956, 1958), as measured using the BTD (Wilson, 2006), with regard to lexical frequencies, as classified by the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) (Pennebaker, Booth, & Francis, 2007). Consistent with previous research that has identified an association between body boundary imagery and regressive cognitive functioning in autobiographical memories, the results of this study showed that High Barrier personalities used higher frequencies of semantic content associated with primordial mental activity, such as group references, somatosensory processes, and spatial references. In contrast, Low Barrier personalities showed increased use of semantic content related to conceptual thought, such as self-reference, as well as affective and cognitive processes. The discussion conceptualizes the identified lexical tendencies in High and Low Barrier personalities by drawing on various cognitive and social psychological theories.

“Inside or Outside”

“…As heightened levels of primordial mental activity have been associated with an increase in use of metaphorical language (Freud, 1900), this study also aims to explore how High and Low Barrier personalities use metaphorical expressions differently in narratives of everyday memories and of dream memories. In particular, previous literature has identified that Low Barrier personalities showed more frequent instances of expressing their thoughts and emotions directly, whereas High Barrier personalities communicated their emotions and thoughts less often (Cariola, 2015). From this context, it is possible to infer that High Barrier personalities communicate their thoughts and emotions through the use of metaphorical expressions more frequently than Low Barrier personalities.…”

“…Kinship represents a group entity that is defined by its emotional attachments and shared genetics; thus, this entity is differentiated from other social groups and relationships. In this context, the high frequency of references to kinship echoes the High Barriers' tendency to emphasise group membership (Cariola, 2015). Kinship has also been anthropologically associated with nurturing and protection against individuals who are not kin (Murphy, 2008).…”

“…Such an increased focus on the evaluation and truthfulness of memory events is consistent with semantic usage, relating to Pennebaker and King's (1999) factor level of 'making distinctions'. It suggests that the production of autobiographical memories by Low Barrier personalities might be perceived as more factually reliable than the narratives of High Barrier personalities, which reflect a more creative and socially engaging narrative style (Cariola, 2015).…”

“…Based on this scoring, high frequencies of boundary imagery indicate a High Barrier personality, whereas low frequencies of barrier imagery relate to a Low Barrier personality. Barrier and penetration imagery represent personality states that are context dependent (Cariola, 2014a).…”

Assessing the Alternate-Form Reliability of Interview-Based and Web-Based Rorschach Responses Measuring Body Boundary Imagery and Regressive Imagery

“…Given the theoretical relationship that relates an inflation of penetration imagery to higher levels of primordial thought functioning, empirical research has shown that the frequencies of penetration imagery correlate positively with primordial thought language in various types of religious texts (Cariola, 2012a, 2012b; Wilson, 2009). Empirical research has demonstrated that both penetration and barrier imagery increase with the level of regressive cognition, which indicates that barrier and penetration imagery reflects the different psychological functions of phenomena related to regressive cognition (Cariola, 2013; see also Cariola, in press). Primordial thought language has been measured using the Regressive Imagery Dictionary (RID; Martindale, 1975, 1990), which gauges the frequency of lexical items classified as primordial thought language and conceptual thought language.…”