Which cluster would include paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal personality disorders?

• A. Cluster A
• B. Cluster B
• C. Cluster C
• D. Cognitive perspective

Answer: (A)

Paranoid, schizoid, and schizotypal personality disorders share an odd or eccentric pattern of thinking and behaving, which is what defines Cluster A. Paranoid personality disorder involves pervasive distrust and suspicion of others; schizoid personality disorder is characterized by social detachment and a limited emotional range; schizotypal personality disorder features discomfort with close relationships along with odd beliefs or magical thinking and unusual or eccentric behavior. This grouping is distinctly described as the odd/eccentric cluster. The other clusters describe different patterns—Cluster B includes dramatic, emotional, and erratic disorders like antisocial and borderline; Cluster C covers anxious and fearful disorders like avoidant and dependent. The cognitive perspective is not a personality-disorder cluster.