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Paranoid Personality Disorder

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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

Synonyms

Paranoia

Definition

Paranoid personality disorder is a psychiatric condition listed in the current edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association 2013). Individuals with this disorder tend to carry pervasive feelings of mistrust towards others, to perceive others and their environment as being dangerous regardless of evidence of threat, and to hold grudges or act in a vindictive manner towards others in response to perceived attacks or slights.

Introduction

Paranoid personality disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis assigned to individuals who persistently perceive interpersonal threats and danger without sufficient evidence or cause. Individuals with this diagnosis constantly monitor their social environments for signs of danger, believing that other people are plotting against them; minor hardships occurring over the course of the day that most people would dismiss are taken by the paranoid individual to be evidence...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Austen Riggs Center, Stockbridge, MA, USA

    Katie C. Lewis & Jeremy M. Ridenour

Authors
  1. Katie C. Lewis
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  2. Jeremy M. Ridenour
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katie C. Lewis .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY, USA

    Kevin Meehan

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Lewis, K.C., Ridenour, J.M. (2020). Paranoid Personality Disorder. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T.K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24612-3_615

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