The person with this personality expects to be mistreated by others, becomes suspicious, secretive, jealous, and argumentative. He or she will not accept blame and appears cold and unemotional.

characterized by suspiciousness and distrust.

characterized by a resistance to external influences. They tend to be chronically tense because they are constantly mobilized against perceived threats from the environment. They are guarded, defensive, argumentative, and litigious. They tend to be distrustful, secretive, and isolative. They avoid intimacy and turn aside nurturing overtures by others. They tend to search for evidence that supports their preconceptions rather than seek objective facts (which they discard if they come across such evidence that doesn't support their prejudices). Thus, while their perceptions may be correct, their judgment is not.

A personality disorder characterized by pervasive distrust of other people such that others are virtually always perceived as being threatening or hostile

persons with this disorder are often cold, distant, and unable to form close, interpersonal relationships. Often overly, yet unjustifiably, suspicious of their surroundings, persons with paranoid personality disorder generally cannot see their role in conflict situations and often project their feelings of paranoia as anger onto others.

Paranoid personality disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis that denotes a personality disorder with paranoid features. It is characterized by an exaggerated sensitivity to rejection, resentfulness, distrust, as well as the inclination to distort experienced events. Neutral and friendly actions of others are often misinterpreted as being hostile or contemptuous.