Self-over-time and decision-making in Borderline Personality Disorder
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Reframing agency in Borderline Personality Disorder: self-over-time and decision-making processes.
IRAS ID
216633
Contact name
Michalis/M.K. Kyratsous
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is characterised by instability in emotions, behaviour, relationships and sense of self. There is a pattern of rapid fluctuation from periods of confidence to despair, with fear of being abandoned and rejected, and a strong tendency towards suicidal thinking and self-harm. There is also instability in self-image and sense of self, such as thinking differently about yourself depending on who you are with. This study will further explore this phenomenon. The aim is to specify and describe the psychological processes that can give rise to instability of self. The two main processes that are hypothesized to be involved are mental time travel (MTT), and temporal discounting. MTT is the ability to re-experience past events and simulate possible future ones. MTT, whether it be into the past or the future, crucially involves the notion of experiencing the self in time.Temporal discounting is the tendency to disregard future options and prefer immediate choices. People with BPD struggle to know who they really are and their self-concept is very fragile; they may also find it difficult to identify or connect with their past and future selves. Research has shown that they appear to show impairments in systems related with memory and behavioural inhibition. In this project, subjects will be asked to travel backward and forward in time, remembering specific events, imagining future ones, and making time-related decisions. These processes are related with both memory and behavioural inhibition. They have also been linked with having a continuous sense of self. They will be measured but also characterised further by using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0091
Date of REC Opinion
22 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion