This document provides information about various theories and models of personality and temperament. It discusses early theories from the 1930s-1950s linking physical body types to personality. It then summarizes various trait theories from the 1920s-1970s and biological models of temperament from the 1970s-1980s. The document also describes several widely used personality questionnaires and provides an example profile from the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI).

1. Temperament and Character Inventory
2 March 2012
DOPP, MWI Bermuda
Marcel Westerlund
Consultant Forensic and Adult Psychiatrist

2. Physiognomy and personality
1930’s
Kretschmer: Physical types – Psychological disorder
Pycnic, Asthenic and Athletic types
1950’s
Sheldon:
Physical types
Ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph
Personality
Cerebrotonic, somatotonic & viccerotonic
Trait theories
1921 Allport –
Frequency, intensity & range of solutions
1922
1963
1965
Norman Cattel –
Neurotiscism, extravcersion, openness, agreeableness & conscientiousness (based on language)
Factor analysis on personality traits
1923
1970’s Eysenck -
Neurotiscm & extraversion/introversion later included psychotism
Gray Behavioural approach system (BAS) / Behavioural inhibition system (BIS) + Impulsiveness and Anxiety
Zuckerman –
Senasation seeking traits

3. Neuroscience and personality
Dopamin – Reward, pleasure and feeling good
Serotonin – Mood
Noradrenalin – Action
Behavioural genetics – Monozygotic & dizygotic twins studied according to heritability of personality traits
Evolutionary psychology – History, evoloution and genetics. Adaptation.
Temperament 40 - 60 % genetically dependant ( Loehlin 1982 )

4. Biological personality models
Temperament defined as:
1973 Sjöbring – Solidity vs impulsivity, validity vs compulsivity, stability vs moody sociability
1977 Thomas & Chess – Behavioral style rather than the content or purpose of behavior
1981 Rothbart & Derryberry – Traits relatively stable , cross situations consistent and evident throughout the age span and diverse
cultures
1984 Buss & Plumin – Components of personality are biological in origin
1990 Goldsmith & Campos – Affective components and individual differences
1986 Cloninger – Unified biosocial personality theory.
Temperament represents automatic responses in information processing and learning,
presumed to be heritable, whereas character reflects personality development in the context of
insight learning and environmental experiences.
Professor Robert Cloninger
Washington University School of Nedicine St Louis, USA

5. Personality Instruments
Year Scale
1942
1970
Abbr.
Questions Subscales
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory MMPI
Revised 1989 and 2001
Cattell Sixteen Personality Factor 16PF
1975 Karolinska Scale of Personality (rev. 2000)
211 q
KSP 91 q
567 q
10 subscales
24 subscales factors
13 subscales
•
1975 Eysenck Personality Questionnaire rev. 1985 EPQ 420 q
24 subscales
1976
1982
Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (Tellegen)
MPQ
276 q
18 subsclaes
1985
1985
Californian Psychological Inventory (Gough)
CPI 480 q
18 subscales
1976
1988 Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (Cloninger)
TPQ 100 12 subscales
1989
1994
Temperament & Character Inventory (Cloninger) TCI 240(284) 25 subscales

6. Requirements
•
•
Reliability – The accuracy with which the
questionnaire measures a given quality
•
•
Stability – Test and retest correlation.
•
•
Validity – The measure actually does assess
what it purports to assess.

7. Projections of dopamine neurons
Amfetamines, opiats,
cocaine, and alcohol
are all dopamine
agonists.
Prefrontal cortex,
central amygdala,
LC, habenula, nc of
striae terminalis, nc
accumbens,
hypothalamiska
kärnan nära
eminentia medialis

8. Projections of serotonin neurons
Septo-hippocampal area,
amygdala, Substantia
nigra, VMH, nc raphe &
accumbens, and frontal
tegmental area.

9. Projections of noradrenalin neurons
LC, Tegmental
area,
hypothalamus,
and limbic
system.

10. Actions of neuro-transmittors on stimulus-response
Neur onal
syst em
•
•
Monoam inerg m od.
Relevant st im uli
Behaviour al r esponse
Behavioral
activation
Dopamine
Curiosity.
Explorative habit
Potential reward
Potential release from
punishment and
monotony
Hunger
Avoidance, flight
Serotonin
Learning to inhibit
behavior to avoid
punishment.
Passive avoidance
Extinction.
Bonding *
Noradrenalin
Reward and maintain
or resist behavior
previously associated
with rewards or relief
from punishment.
Vigilance *
Novelty seeking
Behavioral
inhibition
Harm avoidance
Behavioral
maintenance
Reward
dependance
* Added by MW
From ” Neurogeneteic mechanisms of learning: A phylogenetic perspective
Cloninger & Gilligan

11. Stress
Inhibition
DA
Inhibition
5-HT activation
Ach/5-HT
5-HT
Downregulation of HPA
NA
CRF
Stimulation
Cortisol
HPA
Inhibition
DA/NA
Inhibition
ACTH
Inhibition
-endorfin
Stress-induced analgesia
Chatecholamin activation
Sedation
Active avoidance
Behavior activation
Increased visual discrimination & activation
Tyrosinhydroxylas activated
Sustained stress reduce type-II
glucoc.receptors in Hippocampus =
dexometason does not affect
glucocorticoider

12. Temperament
Associative learning
Unconscious automatic
reactions
Personality
Novelty Seeking
Dopamine
Exploratory excititment vs stoic rigidity
Impusiveness vs reflection
Extravagance vs reserve
Disorderliness vs regimentation

13. Temperament
Associative learning
Unconscious automatic
reactions
Personality
Harm Avoidance
Serotonin
Worry vs unhibited optimism
Fear of uncertainty vs confidence
Shyness vs gregariousness
Fatigability vs vigour

14. Temperament
Associative learning
Unconscious automatic
reactions
Personality
Reward Dependance
Noradrenaline
Sentimentality vs insensitiveness
Attachment vs detachment
Dependance vs independance

15. Temperament
Personality
Associative learning
Habitual system
Novelty Seeking
Harm Avoidance
Reward Dependance
Persistence
Passive activation
Passive avoidance
Social attachment
Partial reinforcement
Dopamin
Serotonin
Noradrenalin
Noradrenalin

16. Character
Conceptual insight
Conscious planning
Self-directedness
Individual
Responsibility
Purposefulness
Resourcefulness
Self-acceptance
Congruent second nature

17. Character
Conceptual insight
Conscious planning
Cooperativeness
The Environment
Social acceptance
Empathy
Helpfulness
Compassion
Integrated conscience

18. Character
Conceptual insight
Conscious planning
Self-Transcendence
The World
Self-forgetfulness
Transpersonal identity
Spiritual acceptance

19. Character
Personality
Conscious planning
Cognition
Self-directedness
Cooperativeness
Individual
Social environment
Self-Transcendence
The World

20. TCI
Personality
Associative learning
Unconscious automatic reactions
Conceptual insight
Temperament
Character
Habitual system
Novelty Seeking
Passive activation
Harm Avoidance
Passive avoidance
Conscious planning
Cognition
Reward Dependence
Social attachment
Persistence
Partial reinforcement
Self-directedness
Individual
Cooperativeness
Social environment
Self-transcendence
The World

21. TCI profile
Validitetsskalor
Råvärde Normal T-värde Percentil
Namn:
Missing
0
0
47
35
Ålder:
Vaksam/Kontrollerande
22
20
56
70
SLI Kön:
Pedantisk
12
10
57
75
SUI Karaktär:
Icke önskvärt
9
3
101
99
RareTemptyp:
Spänstig/Uthållig
130
111
70
97
RunsBDI:
Erkännande
122
101
66
94
Tru BAI:
NUMTRUE REV
73
69
59
80
Trev Self-Dir:
Eftergiven/Medgörlig
8
6
61
85
Acq DSQ-40:
INTERmediacy
13
12
48
40
Intm
Praktisk
8
9
43
20
PrevMogen
Nyckfull/Oberäknelig
6
9
37
10
Up2
Tvivlande
2
4
36
8
Dou
Narcissistisk/Självtillfredställd
0
4
31
3
Tri
ANTRARE
5
5
48
40
Ant
INTPREV
8
10
41
15
Inpr
INTDOUBLE
5
5
51
55
Indo
Oberoende
0
2
34
5
Intr
Ledare
6
10
32
3
Insu
RAREUP
12
12
48
40
Rup
Proaktiv
9
10
43
25
Rne
Impairment
2
1
65
93
Imp EMBU
L-scale
2
1
71
98
L-s
Variance of T
2387
Novelty Seeking (NS)
Excitabilitet/upprymd (NS1)
Impulsivitet (NS2)
Extravagans (NS3)
Oorganiserad (NS4)
22
5
4
8
5
19
6
4
5
4
54
44
48
66
59
65
25
40
94
80
Harm Avoidance (HA)
Oro &Pessimism (HA1)
Rädsla för osäkerhet (HA2)
Blyghet (HA3)
Lätt uttröttbar & Asteni (HA4)
13
4
3
2
4
14
4
4
3
3
48
51
40
46
58
40
50
15
30
75
Reward Dependence (RD)
Social Känslighet (RD1)
Anknytningsförmåga (RD3)
Osjälvständighet (RD4)
13
6
5
2
15
7
5
4
35
42
44
35
6
20
25
7
Persistence (P)
1
4
33
4
Self-Directedness (SD)
Ansvarsfullhet (SD1)
Målmedvetenhet (SD2)
Resursmogen (SD3)
Självaccepterande (SD4)
Kongruent karaktär (SD5)
23
2
4
5
9
3
33
6
6
4
8
9
33
22
43
57
55
24
4
1
25
75
65
1
Cooperativeness (C)
Socialt accepterande (C1)
Empati (C2)
Stödjande (C3)
Barmhärtighet (C4)
Principfasthet (C5)
27
7
5
5
2
8
34
7
5
6
8
7
26
46
47
33
9
56
1
30
35
4
0
70
Self-Transcendence (ST)
Tankspridd (ST1)
Transpersonell ident. (ST2)
Andligt accepterande (ST3)
24
7
4
13
13
4
3
5
66
61
55
68
Neurotisk
Immature
Immature
Father Rejecting
Father Emotional WarmthMother Emotional Warmth
TCI Profil
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
NS
HA
RD
PE
SD
CO
ST
Åter
CRI Profil
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
94
85
65
96
SD+CO
50
På fråga 230: "Jag har inte varit helt ärlig i detta formulär"
svarar respondenten:
SANT
45
k
Disorganized
Disorganized
Anti-social 6,1/10,2
Ingen depression
Ej suicidrisk
Ingen ångest
Sannolikhet
Immature
SD+CO %
60
Kognitiv
Emotionell
Fysisk
EMBU Profil
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
T-Värde
Far
T-Värde
Mor
Normal
Åter

22. Reliability and validity
Rarity scale: Sum of the least frequently endorsed item response from each of the
25 subscales. Endorsement across all indicates a deliberate effort
to
depict oneself in a highly unlikely way or careless disregard for the
content of items being endorsed.
Runs:
Number of sequences of consecutive true/false answers.
Average 120. Fewer than 5 % have as many as 134 or as few as
100 of all 240.
Number of true endorsements:
Tendencay to answer yes more or less frequently than
usual.
Scale of like items and Scale of Unlike Items
Extent of which respondent is consistent in responding.

23. Cronbach Alpha
Cronbach's alpha measures how well a set of items (or variables) measures a single
unidimensional latent construct. It is a reliability test.
Most variables show values around or above 0.70 but persistence and
empathy generally shows poor values.

24. Lack of evidence
Does the Dimensions of the Temperament and Character Inventory Map a
Simple
Genetic Architecture? Evidence From Molecular Genetics and Factor Analysis
Jeffrey H. Herbst, Ph.D., Alan B.
Zonderman, Ph.D., Robert R. McCrae, Ph.D. and Paul T. Costa, Jr., Ph.D.
Am J Psychiatry 157:1285-1290, August 2000

25. TCI profile
TCI Profil
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
NS
HA
RD
PE
SD
CO
ST

26. A tool in your pocket

27. TCI in 3 dimensions
Passion vs Histrionic
Sensitive vs Narcissistic
Adventurous vs
Antisocial
Y
Explosive vs Borderline
Stable vs Cyclothymic
Z
Avoidant vs Schizoid
Cautious vs Passive-dependant
X
Methodical vs Obsessional

28. Now assess this person!

29. And this leader!

30. What about our next leader?

31. Results
George W Bush
Dalai Lama
David Cameron