Table 2 Exploratory factor analysis of the primary Inventory of Personality Organisation (IPO) items (N = 353)

29

Important people suddenly change towards me

0.80

-0.12

-0.05

38

When everything is confused, I feel that way inside

0.73

0.00

-0.06

28

When others see me as having succeeded, I'm elated

0.64

-0.07

0.05

36

After being involved with people, I find out what they are really like

0.63

0.00

0.07

30

It is hard for me to be sure about what others think of me

0.62

-0.28

0.24

35

My goals keep changing

0.54

0.38

-0.30

34

My life goals change frequently

0.52

0.38

-0.33

27

I pick up interests and then drop them

0.50

0.21

-0.18

31

Being alone is difficult

0.48

-0.06

-0.22

20

I behave differently in different situations

0.47

-0.22

0.41

32

I see myself in different ways at different times

0.46

0.17

0.10

25

It's hard for me to say no

0.46

0.04

0.03

21

I fluctuate between being warm and cold

0.43

-0.14

0.42

14

I do things that I later find hard to believe I did

0.40

0.13

0.19

33

In an intimate relationship, I'm afraid of losing a sense of myself

0.40

0.36

-0.10

40

When I am confused, things in the outside world don't make sense either

0.40

0.31

0.05

5

I admire people in order to feel secure

0.37

-0.19

0.33

24

I do things on impulse that are socially acceptable

0.32

0.05

0.29

37

People cannot guess how I'm going to behave

0.32

0.14

0.22

6

I do things that at other times I think are unwise

0.32

0.09

0.07

26

My life seems like a series of short stories

0.32

0.22

0.02

19

My tastes and opinions are borrowed from other people

0.29

0.15

0.21

13

I have favourite people whom I idealise

0.21

-0.02

0.12

55

I can't tell whether I simply want something to be true

-0.04

0.85

-0.04

42

I see things that turn out to be something else

-0.01

0.73

0.00

51

I understand things that nobody else is able to understand

-0.08

0.68

0.10

39

I am not sure whether a voice I have heard is my imagination

0.07

0.63

-0.01

54

I feel as if I have been somewhere before when I really haven't

-0.02

0.61

-0.04

43

When uncomfortable, I can't tell whether it is emotional or physical

0.13

0.55

0.01

41

I feel as if I'm someone else

0.06

0.54

0.12

47

I do things to upset other people

-0.08

0.53

0.14

52

I cannot tell when certain things would appear crazy to others

-0.04

0.51

0.21

49

My wishes/thoughts will come true as if by magic

-0.15

0.49

0.08

57

I never know how to conduct myself with people

0.13

0.46

0.19

4

People turn against me or betray me

-0.12

-0.05

0.69

11

People use me

-0.03

-0.07

0.64

15

People either overwhelm me with love or abandon me

-0.17

0.27

0.61

10

People are basically either good or bad

-0.32

0.15

0.58

17

Others see me as quite different from the way I really am

0.08

0.11

0.53

12

I act in unpredictable and erratic ways

0.13

0.01

0.52

22

I provoke people to get my way

-0.11

0.31

0.51

8

I don't get what I want

0.13

0.02

0.46

16

I feel things with either joy or despair

0.17

0.15

0.44

18

I'm different at home than at work/school

0.33

-0.01

0.40

3

It has been a long time since anyone taught me anything I did not know

-0.14

0.26

0.39

9

I behave in contradictory ways

0.04

0.32

0.36

1

I am a 'hero worshiper'

-0.02

0.04

0.34

2

People I once thought highly of have disappointed me

0.19

0.06

0.33

23

I can't explain changes in my behaviour

0.17

0.07

0.33

Percentage variance explained

28.6%

4.5%

3.5%