Inaugural Professorial Lecture – Professor Martin Sellbom

A Research Journey into Psychopathic and Other Personality Disordered Minds.

About Professor Sellbom's research
Martin’s research program concerns two distinct but related fields. First, his work focuses on the theoretical understanding, evaluation, and diagnosis of personality disorders, which are those that are associated with problems in relating to and getting along with other people, and tend to be relatively chronic and enduring in people, especially if left untreated.

A particular aim involves improving how these diagnoses are described and used in our diagnostic manuals. He is particularly interested in the psychopathic personality disorder, which concerns individuals who tend to be (among other things) highly self-centered, manipulative, coldhearted, unempathic, and remorseless.

A second area of research concerns applied clinical personality assessment. More specifically, Martin evaluates psychological test instruments that are used to evaluate people for symptoms of mental health problems and maladaptive personality traits with respect to accuracy in measurement, validity, and utility. He is particularly focused on the MMPI instruments, which are among the most common in psychological practice.