Self-appraisals and self-evaluations are important methods by which people can determine whether they are “on course.” Whereas selfappraisal may simply represent observations of the self, self-evaluation implies making value judgments about the self: good–bad, worthwhile– worthless, lovable–unlovable. Negative self-evaluations are found overtly in depression but may operate in a more subtle fashion in most of the personality disorders.

In normal functioning, this system of self-evaluations and self-directions operates more or less automatically. People may not be aware of these self-signals unless they specifically focus their attention on them. These cognitions may then be represented in a particular form labeled “automatic thoughts” (Beck, 1967). As noted earlier, these automatic thoughts become hypervalent in depression, and they are expressed in notions such as “I am worthless” or “I am undesirable.”

The self-evaluations and self-instructions appear to be derived from deeper structures: namely, the self-concepts or self-schemas. In fact, exaggerated negative (or positive) self-concepts may be the factors that move a person from being a “personality type” into having a “personality disorder.” For example, the development of a rigid view of the self as helpless may move a person from experiencing normal dependency wishes in childhood to “pathological” dependency in adulthood. Similarly, an emphasis on systems, control, and order may predispose a per- son to a personality disorder in which the systems become the master instead of the tool—namely, obsessive–compulsive personality disorder.