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Gender Bias in Diagnosing Personality Disorders

Ever since Freud, much more girls than guys sought therapy. Consequently, terms like "hysteria' are intimately connected to female physiology and alleged female psychology. The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the bible on the psychiatric profession) expressly professes gender bias: personality issues like Borderline and Histrionic are supposed to be much more typical amongst girls. however the DSM is rather even-handed: other character problems (e.g., the Narcissistic and Antisocial at the same time as the Schizotypal, Obsessive-Compulsive, Schizoid, and Paranoid) are far more prevalent amongst males.
Why this gender disparity? You'll find several possible answers:
Maybe character issues usually are not objective clinical entities, but culture-bound syndromes. In other words, possibly they reflect biases and value judgments. Some patriarchal societies are also narcissistic. They emphasize qualities like individualism and ambition, typically identified with virility. Hence the preponderance of pathological narcissism amongst males. Females, alternatively, are widely believed to be emotionally labile and clinging. This can be why most Borderlines and Dependents are females.
Upbringing and environment, the method of socialization and cultural mores all play a crucial function inside the pathogenesis of character problems. These views usually are not fringe: severe scholars (e.g., Kaplan and Pantony, 1991) claim that the mental health profession is inherently sexist.
Then once again, genetics may possibly be is at perform. Women and men do differ genetically. This might account for the variability of the occurrence of specific character disorders in women and men.
A few of the diagnostic criteria are ambiguous or even regarded "normal" by the majority of the population. Histrionics "consistently use physical look to draw focus to self." Well, who does not in Western society? Why when a lady clings to a man it is labeled "codependence", but when a man relies on a woman to sustain his house, take care of his children, choose his attire, and prop his ego it is "companionship" (Walker, 1994)?
The less structured the interview and the much more fuzzy the diagnostic criteria, the far more the diagnostician relies on stereotypes (Widiger, 1998).
Quotes from the Literature
"Specifically, past research suggests that exploitive tendencies and open displays of feelings of entitlement will be less integral to narcissism for females than for males. For females such displays could carry a higher possibility of unfavorable social sanctions since they would violate stereotypical gender-role expectancies for ladies, that are anticipated to engage in such positive social behavior as getting tender, compassionate, warm, sympathetic, sensitive, and understanding.
In females, Exploitiveness/Entitlement is less well-integrated with the other components of narcissism as measured by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) - Leadership/Authority, Self-absorption/Self-admiration, and Superiority/Arrogance- than in males - even though 'male and female narcissists normally showed striking similarities within the manner in which a lot of the facets of narcissism have been integrated with each and every other'."
Gender variations within the structure of narcissism: a multi-sample analysis from the narcissistic personality inventory - Brian T. Tschanz, Carolyn C. Morf, Charles W. Turner - Sex Roles: A Journal of Study - Problem: May, 1998
"Women leaders are evaluated negatively if they exercise their authority and are perceived as autocratic."
Eagly, A. H., Makhijani, M. G., & Klonsky, B. G. (1992). Gender and also the evaluation of leaders: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 3-22, and ...
Butler, D., & Gels, F. L. (1990). Nonverbal affect responses to male and female leaders: Implications for leadership evaluations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58, 48-59.
"Competent females must also appear to become sociable and likable in order to influence males - males must only appear to be competent to achieve the same results with both genders."
Carli, L. L., Lafleur, S. J., & Loeber, C. C. (1995). Nonverbal behavior, gender, and influence. Journal of Character and Social Psychology, 68, 1030-1041.