Personality Temperament Research Articles

Personality Differences between Drug Injectors and Non-injectors among Substance-Dependent Patients in Substitution Treatment

Background: Understanding personality differences between injectors and non-injectors in substitution treatment may provide new insights to help improve treatment programs. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare drug injectors and non-injectors in terms of personality disorders and dimensions. Methods: Forty participants recruited from substance abuse treatment centers (23 injectors and 17 non-injectors) completed the self-report Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire 4th version and Temperament and Character Inventory. Mann–Whitney U tests were used to compare means of personality disorder traits, temperament, and character differences between injectors and non-injectors. Results: The mean (SD) age of the sample (72.5% male) was 36.5 (8.7) years. Injectors reported more borderline personality disorders and increased global personality disturbance (p < .05). Similarly, Anticipatory worry, Shyness, and Fatigability facet scores were higher among injectors (p < .01). Attachment, Purposeful, and Congruent second nature facet scores were higher among non-injectors (p < .01). Conclusion: According to the route of drug administration, drug dependents differed in terms of personality disorders and dimensions. Scientific Significance: These results may have implications for the implementation of treatment programs. New research in this area may contribute to the understanding and prevention of intravenous drug use.

Temperament and Character Domains of Personality and Depression 2012

Temperament and Character Domains of Personality and Depression 2012

W03-02 - Molecular basis of suicide with particular regards to affective temperaments

Suicide is a complex human behaviour challenging not only for medicine and psychiatry but the whole society as well. Although our knowledge is expanding concerning the underlying factors of suicidal behaviour, we still do not have sufficient knowledge concerning its biochemical, neuroanatomical and genetic background. Genetic determinants of suicidal behaviour may lead to the emergence of such personality traits and temperaments which may be long-time predictors of suicide. One of the most likely genetic candidates in the background of suicide is the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene. Although there are contradicting results, several studies and metaanalyses support that the s allele plays a role in the background of violent suicide. However, in order to be able to delineate the genetic background of suicide, different types of suicidal behaviour should be distinguished, since studies indicate that these may have different genetic factors. Also, personality traits and temperaments should be identified which may play a modulating role between genetic factors and suicidal behaviour. So far, neuroticism, affective temperaments, and impulsive aggression have been found to be associated with both the s allele and suicidal behaviour. In order to gain deeper insight to the genetic determinants of suicidal behaviour we must determine intermedier endophenotypes modulating between genetic factors and manifested suicidal behaviour.

Stability and instability of childhood traits: Implications for personality development of animals

Concepts of animal personality and human temperament are nearly identical, both emphasizing overt behaviors rather than conscious processes, and assuming a primary role of biology in shaping individual differences. A point of divergence is emphasis on development among temperament scholars. Whereas most definitions of personality and temperament emphasize differential continuity-the maintenance of individual differences in behavioral tendencies over time-several behaviors demonstrate absolute discontinuity-age-related changes in mean levels. Attention to species-wide changes in behaviors may generate insight regarding the forces that govern individual differences. Differential continuity may also be heterotypic, with an inferred genotypic attribute being manifest in different behaviors at different ages. Structural continuity-persistence of correlational patterns among variables at different ages-represents a tool for identifying coherence in the common underpinnings of these diverse behaviors. This article describes research exemplifying these forms of continuity in humans, and suggests potential implications for animal personality investigations.

Temperament and Character Domains of Personality and Depression

Depression Research and Treatment has issued a second compendium of papers focused on temperament, character, and depression. The psychobiology theory of personality proposed by Cloninger is a currently prevailing theory of personality that has been extensively investigated in the context of many different types of mental and personality disorders. This special issue reports up-to-date research findings on the psychobiology theory and depression from different countries. The current issue consists of six reports. Miettunen and colleagues in Finland present findings from a longitudinal birth cohort study (N = 4941). Participants with depression at 31 years of followup had higher rates of harm avoidance (HA) than participants without any psychiatric disorders. Participants without any psychiatric history were followed for another 12 years. Those who subsequently developed depression had high HA in 1997. The authors hypothesize that high HA is a potential indicator for subsequent depression. This study only used temperament scales and thus no information was available on the association between character and depression. Students in senior high schools (N = 1234) who were invited to participate in an internet-based intervention program for depression were studied by Christian and colleagues in Norway. High HA and low self-directedness (SD) emerged as strong predictors of adolescent depression. Interestingly, use of the internet intervention program was associated with low reward dependence (RD) in addition to depression severity. Garcia and colleagues studied an adolescent population (N = 304) in Sweden. Based on positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) scores derived from the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule, the participants were categorized into four groups: self-fulfilling (high PA and low NA), high affective (high PA and high NA), low affective (low PA and low NA), and self-destructive (low PA and high NA). The self-fulfilling group was characterized by higher persistence (PS), SD, and cooperativeness (CO) than the three other groups. The self-destructive group was characterized by high HA and RD. The authors claim character maturity (expressed as high SD and CO) is important for psychological well-being. In Japan, Lu and colleagues followed graduate students (N = 184) on two occasions separated by a five-month interval. In a structural regression model, they posited that trait anxiety and depression constructs were linked to high HA and low SD. Although trait anxiety and depression scores were moderately correlated with each other, these two constructs showed different associations with Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) subscale scores. Thus, trait depression was linked to high self-transcendence (ST) whereas trait anxiety was linked to low RD, PS, and CO. The authors claim that character maturity is linked to trait rather than state aspects of depression and anxiety. Directly exposed survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing randomly selected from a bombing survivor registry (N = 151) were examined by North and colleagues in the USA. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after the bombing was associated with low SD and CO together with high ST and HA. Postdisaster major depression (MD) was more prevalent among those with PTSD than those without it, but low SD and CO could not be predicted by post-disaster MD. The authors emphasized the importance of developing and validating measures of resilience. A unique measure of temperament, the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego (TEMPS), was used by Tei-Tominaga and colleagues to study job stress among employees in one Japanese company (N = 728). Depression was predicted by high levels of cyclothymic and anxious temperament traits even after controlling for the effects of work-related stressors such as demanding work conditions and overcommitment. These articles all indicate the importance of temperament and character traits in the development of depression among a variety of populations across different countries. Despite some differences between the studies, a common theme may be that low SD and high HA are predictors of depression either directly or being mediated by third variables. Toshinori Kitamura C. Robert Cloninger Andrea Fossati Jorg Richter

Exemplary public library branch managers: their characteristics and effectiveness

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to revisit a study that identifies the characteristics that contribute to perceptions by local politicians, library board members, library leaders and colleagues of what makes a public library branch manager “exemplary”.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is an in‐depth study that draws upon a survey questionnaire and 120 interviews with multiple stakeholders, supervisors, peers and branch managers from two large public library systems in the Greater Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada) area and peer members of the Ontario (Canada) Library Association. Branch managers also completed the Myers‐Briggs Type Indicator assessment instrument for personality type and temperament profiling.FindingsSurvey results collectively described the exemplary branch manager as a flexible individual with best‐practice management know‐how and the emotional intelligence needed to motivate and bring others along. The exemplary branch manager has a strong tendency toward extraverted behaviors.Practical implicationsKnowledge can be leveraged to improve graduate school curriculum, career planning, recruitment, and staff training and development to enhance the effectiveness of public library branch managers as perceived by community and library leaders.Originality/valueThe paper provides perceptual, behavioral and psychometric evidence that incorporates perspectives of community leaders, colleagues and staff needed to identify core competencies for public library branch managers.

Cloninger's Temperament and Character Dimension of Personality in Patients with Asthma

Psychosocial factors have been implicated as being important in the onset and/or exacerbation of asthma. This study was performed to evaluate the personality profiles of asthma patients. Ninety-five asthmatic, 98 psoriatic patients, and 96 healthy controls completed the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The relationships between asthma illness duration, asthma severity score, depression, anxiety, and temperament and character personality variables were evaluated. Asthmatic patients had significantly higher mean scores on the BAI, Harm Avoidance, Persistence, and Self-transcendence dimensions and lower scores on the BDI, Novelty Seeking, and Reward Dependence dimensions of the TCI than the psoriatic patients. Significant group effect was found for the BDI and BAI scores in between groups. Significant differences in TCI scores were found across groups except for Persistence and Self-transcendence. Post hoc tests revealed significantly lower Novelty Seeking, higher Harm Avoidance, lower Reward Dependence, and higher Self-transcendence scores in patients with asthma. Regression analysis revealed a significant effect between duration of illness and Persistence and Self-transcendence. Illness severity had a significant effect on the Harm Avoidance. Anxiety scores had significant effect on the Harm Avoidance, Self-directedness, and Self-transcendence. Depression scores had no significant effect on any of the TCI dimensions. Asthmatic patients can be distinguished by a specific pattern of temperament (low NS) and character (high ST) dimensions and compared with both psoriatic patients and healthy controls. Illness duration is associated with ST scores, and illness severity is associated with HA.

Road Safety Research in China: Review and Appraisal

Objective: This study explored two major problems of China's traffic and reviewed the human factors research in road safety published in Chinese journals. Methods: A comprehensive search of Chinese journals related to road safety was conducted. Forty-three studies were found and reviewed in this article. Results: One problem is pedestrians and bicyclists crossing streets and their interactions with vehicle drivers. The other is aggressive driving, such as frequently changing lanes, tailgating, moving forward, and obstructing the path of others. All the reviewed studies were classified into 4 categories according to the research topics: driver capacity, driving style, driver fatigue, and traffic accidents. Driver capacity research studied Chinese drivers’ physical and mental abilities, including information processing, vision, reaction, attention distribution, and mental workload, and their differences between accident and non-accident drivers. Driving style research explored the influence of drivers’ personality traits, psychological stress, temperament types, and mood on their behavior and accident involvement. It was found that accident and non-accident drivers were significantly different in sympathy, perseverance, aggressiveness, cooperativeness, and anxiety. In studies of driver fatigue, researchers investigated the impact of driving time, time of a day, road environment, age, and driving experience on drivers’ capacities and performance. The characteristics of China's traffic accidents and road alignment of accident-prone roads were analyzed in the traffic accident research. Conclusions: We determined the gap between existing research and the two salient problems of China's traffic and pointed out directions for future research.

Posner’s Pragmatism and the Turn Toward Fidelity

It is no secret that formalist methodologies like originalism are not nearly as scientific as they pretend to be. Banking on this fact, pragmatism offers a prescriptive alternative: instead of expending intellectual energy attempting “fidelity” to antecedent “authority” (precedent, Framers’ intent, etc.) judges should embrace their inevitable roles as de facto policy makers, and focus on producing the best social results they can through the cases they decide. This article discusses the current state of legal pragmatism, with a focus on the archetypal species espoused by Judge Richard Posner, and asks whether it has proven itself capable of contributing anything useful to modern adjudication. Through a dissection of the essentials of Posner's pragmatism, the article demonstrates that pragmatism serves only as a method of justifying outcomes that comport with the personal temperament and intuitions of those applying it. The article then explores how the increasing obviousness of pragmatism's failings has renewed interest in a concept central to formalist approaches: to exalted principles of political theory. Thus, the article concludes that a primary legacy of pragmatism will be its contribution to the advent of soft formalism, characterized by an insistence that indeterminacy and subjectivity in law does not excuse the abandonment of fidelity as a central hallmark of legitimate adjudication.

Community college supervisors and their subordinates: A quantitative investigation of personality temperament and leader‐member exchange

AbstractCommunity college leadership is facing a crisis fueled by leaders retiring and student enrollment that outpaces budget growth. The purpose of this study was to better understand the leadership dynamics of community college supervisors and direct subordinates by examining the relationship bgetween leader‐member exchange (LMX) and personality temperament. Data from the Supervisor Leader‐Member Exchange Multidimensional Model (SLMX‐MDM) survey was used to determine LMX total within four subscales: affect, loyalty, contribution, and professional respect. Participants' temperaments were determined by the Keirsey Temperament Sorter II (KTS‐II). Research questions focused on whether differences in LMX existed among groups of supervisor–subordinate dyads that were categorized according to temperament similarity: 1) identical temperament (e.g., both supervisor and subordinate are SJ), 2) one letter (e.g., SP and SJ), or 3) no letters in common (e.g., NF and SP). The 50 participating dyads were selected through proportionate stratified sampling. Results from one‐way ANOVAs showed significant differences among groups with respect to total LMX, contribution, and professional respect.

Psychotropic Drug Use Among the Elderly: Risk Factors Involved in Long-Term Use

This study explores the environmental, clinical, and personality factors that are associated with increased chronic psychotropic drug consumption in elderly patients. We collected data from 88 elderly individuals living in nursing homes, home-dwellings, and residential homes between December 2003 and June 2004. We assessed each subject's (1) current (previous four weeks) and chronic (>90 days) psychotropic drug consumption, (2) mood and anxiety (GHQ), and (3) personality (Temperament and Character Inventory). We found that 63% of the elderly subjects studied had used psychotropic drugs at least once and that one out of three elderly chronically consumed psychotropic drugs. Personality factors like harm avoidance and low level of persistence seem to be associated with chronic consumption.

Dominant temperament traits among the inmate population: a comparative study

BackgroundMultiple studies document specific personality traits,relatively homogeneous in the structural aspect. Weattempt to extrapolate a purely psychological examina-tion approach, applying the clinical conceptualizationsof H. Akiskal. This study aims to asses the existence ofstatistically significant differences between the TEMPS-A scale ratings of subjects serving a prison sentence anda control group.Materials and methodsWe examined a total of 148 patients divided into2 groups, balanced in quantity and gender: an experi-mental (prison inmates) (N = 74) and a control group(N = 74). The experimental group included subjectsserving sentences in penitentiary institutions within theRepublic of Bulgaria’s territory. The control group wasrandomly selected. The TEMPS-A scale was applied tosubjects in both groups.ResultsWe found statistically significant differences between theaverage values in the two groups regarding all scalesexcept for the Hyperthymic temperament.ConclusionsThe Hyperthimic temperament does not have a specificprognostic value regarding criminal behavior. Thistemperament can be expected to reflect the degreeof adaptation. A question stands as to whether theTEMPS-A scales describe the temperament of premor-bid personality or can register changes in the structureof personality as a consequence of substance abuse.

Interaction between serotonin 5-HT2A receptor gene and dopamine transporter (DAT1) gene polymorphisms influences personality trait of persistence in Austrian Caucasians

We examined 89 normal volunteers using Cloninger's Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Genotyping the 102T/C polymorphism of the serotonin 5HT2A receptor gene and the ser9gly polymorphism in exon 1 of the dopamine D3 receptor (DRD3) gene was performed using PCR-RFLP, whereas the dopamine transporter (DAT1) gene variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) polymorphism was investigated using PCR amplification followed by electrophoresis in an 8% acrylamide gel with a set of size markers. We found a nominally significant association between gender and harm avoidance (P=0.017; women showing higher scores). There was no association of either DAT1, DRD3 or 5HT2A alleles or genotypes with any dimension of the TCI applying Kruskal–Wallis rank-sum tests. Comparing homozygote and heterozygote DAT1 genotypes, we found higher novelty seeking scores in homozygotes (P=0.054). We further found a nominally significant interaction between DAT1 and 5HT2A homo-/heterozygous gene variants (P=0.0071; DAT1 and 5HT2A genotypes P value of 0.05), performing multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Examining the temperamental TCI subscales, this interaction was associated with persistence (genotypes: P=0.004; homo-/heterozygous gene variants: P=0.0004). We conclude that an interaction between DAT1 and 5HT2A genes might influence the temperamental personality trait persistence.

From the Guest Editor

From the Guest Editor

Interaction of life quality with alexithymia, temperament and character in male alcohol-dependent inpatients

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of life quality with alexithymia, temperament and character dimensions of personality. Participants were 156 consecutively admitted male alcohol dependents. Patients were investigated with the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Temperament and Character Inventory, the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form 36-item health survey. Among alcohol-dependent inpatients 30.1% were considered as alexithymic. Severity of alcohol related problems was higher in alexithymic group, whereas quality of life (QoL) was lower. Alexithymia, novelty seeking (NS) and harm avoidance (HA) were negatively, reward dependence, self-directedness and cooperativeness were positively correlated with QoL scores. 'Difficulty in identifying feelings' (DIF) factor of alexithymia and HA were the determinants of physical dimension of Life Quality in Linear Regression model, whereas DIF, HA and NS were the predictors of mental dimension score. Among alcohol-dependent men, DIF factor of alexithymia and personality dimensions, particularly HA and NS are associated with impairment of QoL. Direction of this relationship and factors that may mediate this relationship is unclear.

Migrating personality theories Part 1: creating agentic trait psychology?

PurposePluralities of personality schemas reside across different Maruyama universes suggesting incommensurability and isolation. Schemas may migrate across Maruyama universes given appropriate means. As illustration, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) schema for personality temperament is migrated into a sociocognitive schema through the intermediary of knowledge cybernetics (KC). MBTI is a type approach that operates with polar opposites; however, conceptually there is no reason for it not to be associated with a trait space. Supposing that MBTI has traits at some horizon of meaning, then since traits are responsible for the creation of enduring states, sociocognitive explanations should be able to explain the stable states consistent with a variation of the McCrae and Costa proposition. As a result this paper aims to formulate for the first time a link between the MBTI type schema, a trait space, and a capacity for sociocultural descriptions.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses the meta‐framework of KC, part of the relevantial universe identified by Maruyama, to formulate a representation of MBTI. This also appears to be the first serious use of the Maruyama universe concept, and the first time that MBTI has been explored from a relevantial perspective. A consequence is the possible development of a more sophisticated trait theory that is capable of providing more complex information about personality.FindingsThe findings indicate that a more complex form of type theory is possible than has been provided by MBTI.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper is limited to the investigation of MBTI. However, it offers a generic approach that can be applied to other solitary theories like MBTI. It also postulates a trait basis for the MBTI type approach.Practical implicationsThe paper leads to the possibility of improved explanatory power for a type theory than is currently possible.Originality/valueThe paper adopts for the first time a relevantial meta‐framework approach to explore a development of MBTI. It has value to those researchers who may wish to explore the potential of more complex forms of type personality theory than are currently available.

On the structure of personality: Are there separate temperament and character factors?

The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) is a widely used measure of psychobiological aspects of personality. Theoretically, the TCI is defined as comprising four temperament and three character factors. Most previous examinations of the factor structure have used exploratory factor methods with mixed results. We used confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) to examine the TCI in a sample of 2423 adults aged 35–90 years (1093 women, 1330 men) from the Betula study. Support for the seven TCI factors was mixed. Models including second-order factors provided no evidence that the seven first-order TCI factors reflect higher-order temperament and character constructs. Our findings provide no support that individual differences on the seven first-order TCI factors reflect distinct temperament or character dimensions of personality. Whereas more complex modeling strategies rejected separate character and temperament models, the simultaneous (seven-factor) model, and the use of second-order factors; the harm avoidance, self-directedness, and cooperativeness factors were acceptable examined individually. Results for novelty seeking were marginal and self-transcendence, reward dependence and/or persistence factors were not acceptable.

Novelty seeking among adult women is lower for the winter borns compared to the summer borns: replication in a large Finnish birth cohort

Objective Earlier general population studies have shown that novelty seeking (NS) of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) of personality is lower for persons born in winter compared to those born in summer, particularly for women. Here, we investigate if this result can be replicated in another population. Method The Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort, comprising 4968 subjects (2725 women, 2243 men), was investigated with regard to the temperament dimensions of the TCI and the season of birth. Results Novelty seeking and reward dependence (RD) showed significant variations according to the month of birth. We found that women born during winter have significantly lower levels of NS compared to women born during summer, with a minimum for the birth month November and maximum for May. These results are similar to those found in a previous Swedish study. Furthermore, our study showed that men born during spring had significantly lower mean scores of RD compared to men born during autumn, with a minimum for birth month March. This was in contrast to the Swedish study, where the minimum of RD was obtained for the birth month December. Conclusion Women born in winter have lower NS as adults compared to women born in summer. Because NS is modulated by dopamine, this study gives further support to the studies in the literature that show that dopamine turnover for those born in winter is higher than for those born in summer.

Cloninger's temperament and character dimensions of personality in patients with major depressive disorder

In this present study, we examined the relationship between the Cloninger's dimensional psychobiologic model of personality and depression in an outpatient population with major depressive disorder. Eighty-one depressed outpatients (67 women, 14 men) and 51 healthy controls (35 women, 16 men) filled out the Turkish version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Depression severity was evaluated by using the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory. Depressed patients exhibited statistically significant higher scores for harm avoidance and lower scores for self-directedness compared to healthy controls. Sentimentality (RD1) and dependence (RD4) subscale scores of reward dependence and spiritual acceptance (ST3) subscale of self-transcendence were significantly higher; attachment (RD3) subscale of reward dependence, responsibility (SD1), purposefulness (SD2), resourcefulness (SD3), and congruent second nature (SD5) subscales of self-directedness were significantly lower in the depressed group. In the depressed patient group, main effects of sex were significant for reward dependence and cooperativeness; the scores of both dimensions were higher for women. The Beck Inventory was positively correlated with harm avoidance and negatively correlated with novelty seeking and self-directedness dimensions ( P < .05). The duration of depression (16.33 ± 20.18 months) or the mean onset age of depression (28.68 ± 8.11 years) did not show significant correlations with TCI scales. This study confirms the relationship between harm avoidance and depression and suggests a relationship between self-directedness and depression.

The Ransoming of Prisoners in Medieval North Africa and Andalusia: An Analysis of the Legal Framework

This chapter examines the practice of fi dā, the seizing and ransoming of non-Muslims in medieval North Africa and Andalusia. It focuses on discerning how Muslim jurists in the western Islamic lands used formal legal opinions to define the scope of fidāʾ. The opinions of a number of jurists come in for examination, and it emerges that they spoke not with a unified voice, but offered instead a range of often conflicting views. The chapter argues that such diversity of opinion regarding the practice of fidāʾ stems not only from the jurists' personal temperament, but is strongly tied to the changing fortunes of Islam in the western Mediterranean during the medieval period, most notably as the tide of Christian reconquest in Iberia gained momentum. The practice of holding non-Muslim prisoners for ransom, or fidāʾ in Arabic comes for detailed discussion in Islamic legal literature.Keywords: fidāʾ; medieval Andalusia; medieval North Africa; non-Muslim prisoners; western Mediterranean