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Could Regina George Have A Personality Disorder?

 Sanyukta Singh


Mean Girls, a cultural phenomenon, gave us an exciting glimpse into the lives of high school students as they navigated popularity, appearance, friendships and relationships. Despite being released in 2004, the movie still remains appealing to teenage audiences as it reflects the experiences of many high schoolers. The movie follows Cady Heron, a new student enrolled in North Shore High School, as she discovers the social hierarchy that divides the school into cliques. At the top of the social pyramid are “The Plastics” led by Regina George and her “little workers”, Gretchen Wieners and Karen Smith who idolize her (Waters 2004, 08:17). Regina George epitomizes a ruthless bully and is the human form of evil (Waters, 2004, 08:04). She is manipulative, self-centered, controlling and has no regard for other people’s emotions. Her mother’s obsession with being a ‘cool mom’ enabled her inappropriate behaviour and instilled the belief that she can get everything she wants and is incapable of doing any wrong. The character traits of Regina George and her behaviour throughout the movie allude to her possibly having Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD). 

What is a personality disorder? By the time we reach early adulthood, we develop consistent patterns of traits and behaviours that characterize our personality (Hooley et al., 2021, p. 352). These traits determine our sense of self, interpersonal interactions and how we function in society. An individual can be diagnosed with a personality disorder if they have maladaptive traits that cause them difficulties in interpersonal communication, issues with their sense of self and the failure to function effectively in society (Hooley et al., 2021, p. 352). Personality disorders are grouped into three clusters in DSM 5 based on their features.  HPD is in cluster B and is characterized by “pervasive and excessive emotionality and attention-seeking behavior” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 667). To be diagnosed with HPD, an individual must meet five or more of the eight diagnostic criteria. 

Regina George’s thirst for attention and her discomfort at the lack thereof makes her suitable to meet the first diagnostic criteria. Regina displays the characteristic of charming people into attending to her (Hooley et al., 2021, p. 362). This can be seen when Regina showered Cady with compliments during their first interaction. When those with HPD are not the center of attention they do something dramatic to ensure that the focus is on them (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 667). This is evident when Regina feels threatened by Cady’s beauty and therefore makes a conscious effort to befriend her to prevent her from diminishing Regina’s popularity. Furthermore, after getting to know that Cady likes her ex-boyfriend, Regina deceived Cady into thinking she would set the two of them up. However, she tells him Cady’s a stalker and gets back together with him to eliminate the threat to her social status. Her coping mechanism to problems is to humiliate others and make them feel inferior.

Regina’s appearance and behaviour is “inappropriately sexually provocative or seductive” which is the second criteria for HPD (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 667).  Regina uses sex as a tool to manipulate the boys in her class and appear desirable. Regina displays seductive behaviour in inappropriate social situations, such as her school’s talent show. Her dance performance in the talent show featured sexually provocative steps and she was wearing a promiscuous costume. What is appropriate, however, is culturally specific. Although it may be agreed that seductive performances are inappropriate in school settings, the extent to which we can determine the appropriateness of Regina’s talent show performance is subjective. 

Furthermore, Regina also exhibits criteria three: shallow, changeable emotions  (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 667). Her lack of empathy shone clear as day when she described the incident wherein she spread a rumour about an old friend of hers. Suspecting that her friend was gay, she did not invite her to an all girls pool party and humiliated her to the extent that she dropped out of school because she became a social pariah.  She also refocused the attention of the conversation towards herself by saying “why are you so obsessed with me?!” (Waters 2004, 33:24). The nonchalant way in which she talked about this incident, without any remorse, as if her actions did not severely affect her friend, highlights her shallow expression of emotions. Additionally, immediately after narrating this incident to Cady, she smiled and complimented someone walking by on their skirt. As soon as that girl left, she turned back to Cady and mocked the skirt. This shows how rapidly her emotions change. 

Moving on to the fourth diagnostic criteria, people with HPD fish for compliments and are overly concerned with drawing attention to themselves by using their appearance (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 667). Regina spends immense amounts of time on her physical appearance and beauty. Throughout the movie you see her try new ways of losing weight and gain validation based on compliments from others.       

Regina’s eating habits hint towards criteria six. Regina shows “self-dramatization, theatricality, and exaggerated expression of emotion” (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 667). An example of this is when Regina burst into a tyrannical fit at a store when a dress would not fit her. This criteria is also noticeable when Regina sobs while handing a ‘burn book’ to the principal, pretending to be a victim. She is able to display exaggerated emotions and turn them on and off quickly. 

Although Regina may appear to be the stereotypical high school queen bee, she meets most of the DSM-5 criteria for HPD. Regina has difficulty accepting anyone having more attention than her and has trouble maintaining stable relationships (poor interpersonal functioning), shows no remorse for causing others harm and displays dramatic reactions to situations (exaggerated affectivity) and is preoccupied with thoughts about her appearance (cognition). 

Regina George’s character matches the diagnostic criteria for HPD. Although the portrayal is accurate, the movie does not acknowledge the disorder and this, therefore, gives the audience the impression that Regina is just another spoiled, rich mean girl and not someone with a personality disorder that could be treated with Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy. Since most misdiagnoses occur with personality disorders, accurate media protrayal can go a long way in spreading correct information (Hooley et al., 2021, p. 354). Thus, it is crucial for media depictions to not only get the representation right, but to also acknowledge the presence of the disorder. 









References


American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596 


Brody, R. (2014, April 30). Why “Mean Girls” Is a Classic. The New Yorker. Retrieved April 10, 2022, from https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/why-mean-girls-is-a-classic 


Hooley, J. M., Nock, M. K., & Butcher, J. N. (2021). Abnormal Psychology (18th Edition). Pearson Education. https://www.pearson.com/us/higher-education/program/Hooley-Abnormal-Psychology-RENTAL-EDITION-18th-Edition/PGM100003097225.html 


Professor Caleb Lack. (2012, May 2). Regina George - Histrionic Personality Disorder [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lxk5IRLysI 


Suny, W. (n.d.). Histrionic Personality Disorder | Abnormal Psychology. Lumen Learning. Retrieved April 10, 2022, from https://courses.lumenlearning.com/abnormalpsychology/chapter/histrionic-personality-disorder/ 


Waters, M. (Director) (2004). Mean Girls [Film]. Lorne Michaels Productions. 


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