cluster b

The Wolf of Wall Street: Cinematic Glorification, Neuropsychological Aspiration, and the Dynamics of Trauma Bonds | Melanie Boling, Boling Expeditionary Research

The Wolf of Wall Street: Cinematic Glorification, Neuropsychological Aspiration, and the Dynamics of Trauma Bonds | Melanie Boling, Boling Expeditionary Research

This paper explores why Jordan Belfort, despite being a criminal, abuser, and drug addict, continues to inspire admiration among some men and attraction among some women. Drawing on film analysis, psychology, and neuroscience, it argues that Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street operates not only as a cautionary tale but also as a vehicle of glorification. It also constructs a psychological profile of Belfort, emphasizing traits consistent with personality disorders, particularly narcissistic, antisocial, and borderline patterns. Simultaneously, it examines the psychological mechanisms behind male aspiration toward figures like Belfort and the trauma bonds that kept his former wife entrapped, extending this analysis to the broader profiles of women drawn to men with power, wealth, and status. Finally, it situates Belfort’s psychological makeup alongside case comparisons to other financial criminals and charismatic leaders, and expands on the neuroscientific underpinnings of his manipulative charisma and followers’ susceptibility.

Haunted Identities | Melanie Boling, Boling Expeditionary Research

Haunted Identities | Melanie Boling, Boling Expeditionary Research

Individuals with Cluster B personality disorders—including Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), Histrionic Personality Disorder (HPD), and Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)—are overrepresented among stalkers and harassers of former partners. A subset of these individuals not only persist in intrusive behaviors but also engage in mimetic identity disturbance: adopting the style, appearance, and behaviors of their ex-partner’s new romantic interest. Beyond this, some attempt to reshape their new romantic partner into a facsimile of their ex, recreating lost dynamics. These behaviors reflect profound identity diffusion, unstable attachment, and neurobiological dysregulation in frontolimbic, dopaminergic, and mirror-neuron systems. Victims of such dynamics often experience trauma, identity violation, and boundary collapse. This paper integrates neuroscience, clinical psychology, and forensic evidence to analyze the dual dynamics of mimicry and partner re-creation, and outlines therapeutic and legal responses.

Cuffing Season, Cluster B Personality Dynamics, and the Predatory Risks to Mental Health | Melanie Boling, Boling Expeditionary Research

Cuffing Season, Cluster B Personality Dynamics, and the Predatory Risks to Mental Health | Melanie Boling, Boling Expeditionary Research

Cuffing season—the tendency for individuals to seek romantic partnerships during colder months—has been trivialized as a cultural quirk. However, for survivors of toxic relationships, this period represents a heightened risk of re-engagement with manipulative partners, particularly those with Cluster B personality traits (narcissistic, borderline, histrionic, and antisocial). This paper explores the neurobiological and psychological vulnerabilities that emerge during cuffing season, outlines the predatory behaviors characteristic of Cluster B individuals, and analyzes why no-contact boundaries are essential for preventing cognitive, emotional, and neurobiological harm. By synthesizing findings from neuroscience and psychopathology, the paper reframes cuffing season as a psychologically hazardous cycle rather than a harmless social phenomenon.

The Neuropsychology of Boundary Violation | Melanie Boling, Boling Expeditionary Research

The Neuropsychology of Boundary Violation: Personality Pathology, Cognitive Deficits, and the Dangers to Victims

Abstract

The ability to recognize and respect interpersonal boundaries is a cornerstone of healthy human interaction. Individuals who fail to respond to refusal cues such as no or stop represent a profound risk to others’ psychological safety and physical autonomy. This paper examines the psychological and neuroscientific underpinnings of this phenomenon, classifying such individuals across personality pathology, impulse-control deficits, learned boundary violation, and predatory psychopathy. The paper emphasizes the dangers posed to victims, highlighting trauma pathways, neurobiological consequences, and the long-term psychological toll.

Introduction

Boundaries serve as protective mechanisms for selfhood, signaling the limits of acceptable interaction (Zur, 2007). When another person disregards these signals, the interaction shifts from consensual to coercive, threatening the autonomy and safety of the victim. Failure to recognize or respect no or stop is not simply a social faux pas but an indicator of serious psychopathology, cognitive dysfunction, or predatory intent. For victims, such behavior induces high-risk trauma responses and long-lasting neurobiological dysregulation.

1. Personality Disorder Spectrum

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)

Individuals with NPD display grandiosity, entitlement, and lack of empathy (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). Neuroscientific studies show altered fronto-limbic connectivity, suggesting impaired emotional empathy and heightened self-referential processing (Mier et al., 2013). When confronted with refusal, narcissistic individuals may interpret no as narcissistic injury, escalating aggression to reassert control (Krizan & Johar, 2015).

Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)

ASPD is characterized by disregard for the rights of others and pervasive violation of social norms (APA, 2013). Functional MRI studies demonstrate reduced amygdala reactivity and impaired ventromedial prefrontal cortex function, consistent with deficient fear conditioning and moral reasoning (Glenn & Raine, 2014). For these individuals, no lacks salience as a moral boundary and is treated instead as an obstacle to be removed.

Borderline and Histrionic Traits

While often less predatory, individuals with borderline or histrionic features may override boundaries during affective dysregulation or dramatic displays (Linehan, 1993). Hypersexuality and emotional manipulation are used to prevent abandonment or secure attention, but the effect on victims can still be coercive and destabilizing.

2. Impulse-Control and Cognitive Deficits

Impulse Dysregulation

Deficits in prefrontal cortex functioning contribute to poor inhibitory control and difficulty respecting social rules (Aron, Robbins, & Poldrack, 2014). While not inherently malicious, these deficits increase the likelihood of boundary-crossing behavior, particularly under stress or intoxication.

Social Cognition Deficits

Certain conditions, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, may impair recognition of subtle social cues. However, unlike Cluster B pathology, individuals with ASD typically cease behavior once explicit refusal is understood (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). The distinction lies in willingness to learn and respect boundaries, versus intentional disregard.

3. Learned and Conditioned Boundary Violators

In environments characterized by authoritarianism, militarism, or systemic abuse, individuals may internalize the normalization of boundary violation (Bandura, 1999). Here, no is interpreted as negotiable or weak. Repeated reinforcement of dominance through aggression conditions behavior that perpetuates cycles of abuse.

4. Predatory Psychopathy

Perhaps the most dangerous group, psychopathic individuals understand boundaries cognitively but disregard them strategically (Hare, 2003). Functional imaging reveals hypoactivity in paralimbic structures, including the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex, resulting in blunted affect and heightened instrumental aggression (Kiehl, 2006). For these individuals, ignoring no is a tool for manipulation, exploitation, or sadistic gratification.

5. Impact on Victims

Neurobiological Trauma Pathways

Victims exposed to repeated boundary violations experience hyperactivation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, leading to chronic cortisol dysregulation and hippocampal atrophy (McEwen, 2007). Such neurobiological changes are implicated in PTSD, complex trauma, and impaired emotional regulation (Yehuda et al., 2015).

Psychological Consequences

Victims often develop learned helplessness (Seligman, 1975), dissociation, and distorted self-concept. Repeated violations erode the victim’s ability to trust their perceptions, especially when accompanied by gaslighting or coercive control (Stark, 2007).

Long-Term Risk

Exposure to predatory individuals significantly increases risks of depression, substance misuse, suicidal ideation, and revictimization (Courtois & Ford, 2013). For victims, the danger is not confined to the boundary violation itself but extends into lasting disruptions of neural, psychological, and social functioning.

Conclusion

The inability—or refusal—to understand no or stop is rarely benign. Whether arising from Cluster B psychopathology, impulse-control deficits, conditioned dominance, or psychopathy, such behavior places victims at extraordinary risk of trauma and long-term harm. Psychologically and neurologically, boundary violations are assaults on autonomy that restructure the brain’s stress and memory systems, leaving victims vulnerable long after the event. From a public health perspective, these individuals represent a critical danger, and protecting victims requires both recognition of perpetrator profiles and systemic interventions to prevent abuse.

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

  • Aron, A. R., Robbins, T. W., & Poldrack, R. A. (2014). Inhibition and the right inferior frontal cortex. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 18(4), 177–185.

  • Bandura, A. (1999). Moral disengagement in the perpetration of inhumanities. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3(3), 193–209.

  • Courtois, C. A., & Ford, J. D. (2013). Treating complex trauma: A sequenced, relationship-based approach. Guilford Press.

  • Glenn, A. L., & Raine, A. (2014). Neurocriminology: Implications for the punishment, prediction, and prevention of criminal behaviour. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 15(1), 54–63.

  • Hare, R. D. (2003). Without conscience: The disturbing world of the psychopaths among us. Guilford Press.

  • Kiehl, K. A. (2006). A cognitive neuroscience perspective on psychopathy: Evidence for paralimbic system dysfunction. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 142(2–3), 107–128.

  • Krizan, Z., & Johar, O. (2015). Narcissistic rage revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 108(5), 784–801.

  • Linehan, M. (1993). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. Guilford Press.

  • McEwen, B. S. (2007). Physiology and neurobiology of stress and adaptation: Central role of the brain. Physiological Reviews, 87(3), 873–904.

  • Mier, D., et al. (2013). Altered neural correlates of empathy in narcissistic personality disorder. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 213(2), 115–121.

  • Seligman, M. E. P. (1975). Helplessness: On depression, development, and death. Freeman.

  • Stark, E. (2007). Coercive control: How men entrap women in personal life. Oxford University Press.

  • Yehuda, R., et al. (2015). Post-traumatic stress disorder. Nature Reviews Disease Primers, 1, 15057.

  • Zur, O. (2007). Boundaries in psychotherapy: Ethical and clinical explorations. American Psychological Association.

The Effects of Women Enablers and the Perpetuation of Cluster B Personality Disorder Abuse | Melanie Boling, Boling Expeditionary Research

The Effects of Women Enablers and the Perpetuation of Cluster B Personality Disorder Abuse | Melanie Boling, Boling Expeditionary Research

Drawing from neuroscience, psychology, and psychopathology, we explore how the dysregulated brain circuits of Cluster B individuals (including hyperactivation of the amygdala, hypoactivity in the prefrontal cortex, and disruptions in the mirror neuron system) interact with the psychological vulnerabilities of enablers. Neurobiological stress responses in victims, including chronic dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and maladaptive fear conditioning, are analyzed as mechanisms by which enablers inadvertently reinforce maladaptive behaviors.

We also consider the dynamics of institutional betrayal, particularly in law enforcement and organizational settings, where women in enabling roles may normalize, minimize, or dismiss abuse. This interdisciplinary synthesis emphasizes the need for a paradigm shift in both clinical and societal responses to Cluster B-related abuse, recognizing enablers as critical actors in maintaining cycles of harm.