Personality and antisocial behaviour: study of temperamental dimensions

Personality variables have been considered as major determinants of delinquent behaviour in various theoretical models and numerous empirical studies. Particular attention has been paid to “temperament” variables, which are considered to have a biological basis. In the present study, we examined relationships between self-reported antisocial behaviour and a number of temperament variables (extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism, impulsivity, sensation seeking) in three subject groups: 435 school-attending male adolescents, 529 school-attending female adolescents, and 95 institutionalized delinquent male adolescents. This study design, unlike that of most previous studies of this type, allowed control for the factor of institutionalization, and included a longitudinal analysis, in that questionnaires were administered to the school-attending subjects twice with a 1-year interval. The results confirm that several temperament variables, characterized by high sensitivity to reward and/or weak response to punishment signals, are closely associated with antisocial behaviour. Our findings suggest that personality variables should be included in criminological models, and taken into account in intervention programs.