THE DRAMA QUEEN LEADER: THEATRICALITY AND INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR

Friendly, dramatic, and attention-seeking, they are difficult to miss. You may find them entertaining in social settings, but what happens when you have to work with them? In this article, Adrian Furnham explains how to understand and deal with people with Histrionic Personality Disorder.

Adrian Furnham

We have all had dealings with the Drama Queen Manager: flirtatious, mercurial, show-offs. In psychiatric terminology, they often have clinical or subclinical Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD), sometimes referred to as Dramatic Personality Disorder. The HPD term is derived from the Latin word for actor, but the original term was hysterical from the Latin root meaning uterus. This disorder is found more frequently in women. These people are attracted to “limelight” jobs and strive for attention and praise, but setbacks can easily lead to serious inner doubts and depression. Histrionics are certainly emotionally literate: they are open with all their emotions. But these emotions can change very quickly and unexpectedly. Most of us have encountered these characters at school, university or work. They tend to have a pattern of excessive attention-seeking…

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The European Business Review (Digital) - 1 Issue, March/April 2025

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