- After an introduction on the dimensional approach in personality diagnosis and on its use as an attempt at solving some of the problems of categorical diagnoses (such as those of DSM-III and DSM-IV), the main dimensional models of personality are presented, namely: 16 PF Questionnaire by Cattell, Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), Five-Factor Model (FFM) by Costa & McCrae (Big Five), Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) by Cloninger, Schedule for Nondaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP) by Clark, Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology - Basic Questionnaire (DAPP-BQ) by Livesley, Structural Analysis of Social Behavior (SASB) by Benjamin, the "fundamental polarity (anaclitic and introjective) of personality" by Blatt, Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure (SWAP). Finally, advantages and disadvantages of dimensional models are discussed, with particular emphasis on borderline disorder.key words: personality, dimensional models, categorical model, borderline, diagnosis