What Is True for Others Does Not Apply to Me: Expectations About Social Causality and the Anticipation of Emotions in Borderline Personality Disorder

13/10/2026

AI Summary

Individuals with BPD endorse more negative and fewer positive explanations for self-referential social scenarios compared with controls.
People with BPD anticipate stronger negative and weaker positive emotions in response to self-related explanations.
Explanatory expectations predicted lower self-esteem across groups, and reduced anticipated positive emotions in BPD were associated with greater loneliness.

TL;DR (AI Generated)

We examined whether expectations about self-esteem-damaging and self-esteem-enhancing explanations, as well as associated emotions, are specific to self-referential processing in BPD, and how they relate to self-esteem and loneliness.

Sixty individuals with BPD and 60 nonclinical controls evaluated the likelihood of positive, neutral, and negative explanations in self- and other-related scenarios, rated anticipated emotional responses, and completed measures of self-esteem and loneliness.

Compared to controls, individuals with BPD endorsed more negative and fewer positive explanations in self-referential scenarios, with stronger negative and weaker positive emotions.

Basic summary

J Pers Disord. 2026 Oct;40(5):411-430. doi: 10.1521/pedi.2026.40.5.411.

ABSTRACT

Research suggests that individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) display a maladaptive explanatory style, but it remains unclear whether this bias is specific to self-referential processing or reflects a broader negative tendency. We examined whether expectations about self-esteem-damaging and self-esteem-enhancing explanations, as well as associated emotions, are specific to self-referential processing in BPD, and how they relate to self-esteem and loneliness. Sixty individuals with BPD and 60 nonclinical controls evaluated the likelihood of positive, neutral, and negative explanations in self- and other-related scenarios, rated anticipated emotional responses, and completed measures of self-esteem and loneliness. Compared to controls, individuals with BPD endorsed more negative and fewer positive explanations in self-referential scenarios, with stronger negative and weaker positive emotions. Across groups, explanatory expectations related to lower self-esteem, but in BPD, reduced anticipation of positive emotions was linked to higher loneliness. These findings highlight potential intervention targets to enhance social functioning in BPD.

PMID:42863108 | DOI:10.1521/pedi.2026.40.5.411

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