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Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences pp 1–4Cite as

Scar Model

Synonyms

Causes-consequences; Depression; Personality; Psychopathology; Self-esteem

Definition

The scar model suggests a causal effect of psychopathology on personality. It assumes that the experience of having suffered from a severe mental disorder such as a major depression leaves “scars” in individuals that have a lasting effect on personality such as low self-esteem. In this entry, the scar model is discussed with respect to the association between depression and self-esteem.

Personality and Psychopathology

A variety of theoretical models have been proposed to understand the associations between personality and psychopathology (Widiger and Smith 2008). Two competing albeit closely related models are particularly concerned with the directionality of causal effects between the constructs: the vulnerability model and the scar model. The vulnerability (or predisposition) model assumes causal effects of personality on psychopathology. It holds that personality plays a causal role in...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Mathias Allemand & Christoph Flückiger

  2. University Research Priority Program “Dynamics of Healthy Aging”, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Mathias Allemand

  3. Institute Neumünster, Zollikerberg, Switzerland

    Andrea E. Grünenfelder-Steiger

Authors
  1. Mathias Allemand
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  2. Andrea E. Grünenfelder-Steiger
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  3. Christoph Flückiger
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mathias Allemand .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Educational Sciences, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy

    Patrizia Velotti

  2. Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Patrizia Velotti

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Allemand, M., Grünenfelder-Steiger, A.E., Flückiger, C. (2018). Scar Model. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_855-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_855-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social Sciences

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