Temperament and Character Inventory R (TCI R) and Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ): convergence and divergence 1

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1 Psychological Reports, 2012, 110, 3, Psychological Reports 2012 Temperament and Character Inventory R (TCI R) and Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ): convergence and divergence 1 Cristina Capanna, Francesca Struglia, Ilaria Riccardi, Enrico Daneluzzo, Paolo Stratta, and Alessandro Rossi Institute of Experimental Medicine Section of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology University of L Aquila, Italy Summary. This study evaluated the correspondence between measures of two competing theories of personality, the five-factor model as measured by the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ), and Cloninger s psychobiological theory measured by the Temperament and Character Inventory Revised (TCI R). A sample of 900 Italian participants, balanced with respect to sex (393 men and 507 women), and representative of the adult population with respect to age (range 18 to 70 years; M = 39.6, SD = 15.7) completed the TCI R and the Big Five Questionnaire. All TCI R personality dimensions except Self-Transcendence were moderately correlated with one or more of the Big Five dimensions (from r =.40 to.61), and the two instruments showed areas of convergence. However, the differences outweighed the similarities, indicating that these current conceptualizations and measures of personality are somewhat inconsistent with each other. Human personality is an area where many theories have been proposed. Two current primary theories are the five-factor model and Cloninger s psychobiological theory, each of which is based on a different approach and premises. The former is based on factor analytic results that suggest personality can be described by five main factors. However, in the latter theory Cloninger integrates social and biological components within a unified psychobiological theory of personality (Cloninger, Svrakic & Przybeck, 1993; Cloninger, Svrakic & Svrakic, 1997). Within Cloninger s framework, personality represents the result of life-long interactions between the two domains of temperament and character. To evaluate the relationship between the Temperament and Character Inventory Revised (TCI R; Cloninger, 1999) and a measure of the five-factor model of personality, we used the Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ; Caprara, Barbaranelli, Borgogni, & Perugini, 1993). This questionnaire was developed to measure the five traits posited by the five-factor model (McCrae & John, 1992) and it represents the most widely used instrument to assess the Big Five in Italy (Caprara, et al., 1993). Psychometric properties of the BFQ have been assessed on large Italian samples and 1 Address correspondence to Alessandro Rossi, M.D., Institute of Experimental Medicine, Section of Psychiatry, University of L Aquila, Via Vetoio Coppito II, L Aquila, Italy or ([email protected]). DOI / PR ISSN

2 Big Five and Cloninger s Theory 1003 in cross-cultural comparisons, indicating the questionnaire is valid when used with this population (Caprara, Barbaranelli, Bermudez, Maslach, & Ruch, 2000). There have been only a few studies investigating the relationships between these two models (De Fruyt, Van De Wiele, & Van Heeringen, 2000; MacDonald & Holland, 2002), but the studies generally show similar results. These indicate overlap between the two models, but no direct equivalence. De Fruyt, et al. (2000) used the NEO-PI R as a measure of the five-factor model s dimensions and a relatively small sample of psychiatric patients (N = 130), finding that there were moderate correlations among combinations of the factors and dimensions. MacDonald and Holland (2002) used a larger sample of undergraduate students (N = 344) and evaluated both the correlations between dimensions of the NEO-PI R and the TCI R, and also developed regression equations to describe how the scores on the different dimensions of each inventory related. They found that all but one of the Five Factor domains correlated.40 or higher with either two or three of the TCI dimensions (r =.45 to.67). Multiple regressions indicated that from 45% to 95% of the variance for each TCI dimension could be accounted for by combinations of NEO-PI R scores. Several specific factors and dimensions were related, the largest being NEO-PI R Neuroticism which accounted for 57% of the variance in TCI Harm Avoidance, NEO-PI R Agreeableness accounted for 65% of TCI Cooperativeness, and NEO-PI R Conscientiousness accounted for 60% of TCI Persistence. MacDonald and Holland noted that there were points of agreement in the models, but the evidence did not support a one-to-one agreement (p. 930). They discouraged the idea that the constructs of the two models should not be considered conceptually equivalent. The present study extended this research, specifically evaluating the correlations between the seven main dimensions of the revised version of TCI (i.e. TCI R) and the BFQ five main dimensions and facets, in order to test the relationships between the two models. As prior research used psychiatric patients and also American undergraduates, and as both models claim to represent universal cross-cultural characteristics of personality, the present study tested the prior findings by employing a large sample representative of the Italian population. Method The sample included 900 participants, balanced with respect to sex (393 men, 507 women), and representative of the adult Italian population with respect to age (range 18 to 70 years; M = 39.6, SD = 15.7). Approximately 200 psychology students recruited the participants as part of a course assignment in General Psychology at the University of L Aquila. Each student was briefed on the general aims of the research, instructed

3 1004 C. Capanna, et al. how to administer the questionnaire, and asked to collect data from six people equally distributed across gender and age. Measures were the Temperament and Character Inventory Revised (Cloninger, 1999) and Big Five Questionnaire (Caprara, et al., 1993). The TCI R contains seven domain scales 2 : four temperament scales (i.e., Novelty Seeking, Harm Avoidance, Reward Dependence, Persistence) and three character scales (i.e., Self-Directedness, Cooperativeness, Self-Transcendence). The BFQ was developed to measure the five traits posited by the five-factor model. The BFQ contains five domain scales: Energy (Extraversion), Friendliness (Agreeableness), Conscientiousness, Emotional Stability (vs Emotional Instability/Neuroticism), and Openness, as well as 10 facet scales, two for each domain scale (Caprara, et al., 1993). Results As reported in Table 1, Novelty Seeking (NS) negatively correlated to the Conscientiousness facet of Scrupulousness and positively with the Openness facet of Openness to Experiences. Harm Avoidance (HA) was strongly negatively correlated to both Dynamism and Dominance facets of the Energy dimension and to the Emotional Control facet of Emotional Stability. Reward Dependence (RD) was strongly positively correlated to both facets of Friendliness, Cooperativeness, and Politeness. Persistence (PE) was strongly positively correlated to both the Dynamism and Dominance facets of the Energy dimension and to the Persistence facet of the Conscientiousness dimension. Self-Directedness (SD) was also strongly positively correlated to the facet Persistence of the Conscientiousness dimension and to the Emotional Control facet of Emotional Stability. Cooperativeness (CO) was strongly positively correlated to both Cooperativeness and Politeness and Friendliness facets. No significant correlations greater than or equal to.40 were found between Self-Transcendence and the five main BFQ dimensions. Discussion Analyzing correlations between seven TCI R dimensions and the Big Five, we found that six of seven TCI R dimensions correlated significantly with at least one Big Five domain. Several correlations were in the expected direction (i.e., Novelty Seeking negatively correlated with Conscientiousness and positively with the Openness facet). Harm Avoidance is highly negatively correlated to emotional stability, which can be considered as the opposite side of neuroticism. Reward Dependence showed a strong positive correlation with Friendliness: consistent with the idea that people with higher Reward Dependence values are socially attached and dependent on other s approval, so they possibly tend to be gentle and 2

4 TCI R TABLE 1 Pearson Correlations Among the Seven Temperament and Character Inventory Revised (TCI R) Personality Dimensions and the Five Main Dimensions and 10 Big Five Questionnaire (BFQ) Facets (N = 900) Big Five Questionnaire Facets E Dy Do C Sc Pe ES Ec Ic F Co Po O Oc Oe NS * HA * * RD *.24 PE SD C ST * * Note. Correlations.40 are reported in boldface. In Columns: E = Energy; Dy = Dynamism; Do = Dominance; C = Conscientiousness; Sc = Scrupulousness; Pe = Perseverance; ES = Emotional Stability; Ec = Emotion control; Ic = Impulse control; F = Friendliness; Co = Cooperativeness; Po = Politeness; O = Openness; Oc = Openess to Culture; Oe = Openess to experiences. In Rows: NS = Novelty Seeking, HA = Harm Avoidance, RD = Reward Dependence, PE = Persistence; SD = Self-Directedness, CO = Cooperativeness, ST = Self-Transcendence. *p <.01. p <.001, two-tailed. Big Five and Cloninger s Theory 1005

5 1006 C. Capanna, et al. cooperative to obtain social reward. Persistence is positively correlated to the Conscientiousness dimension and in particular to the Persistence facet and to the Energy dimension and the two Dynamism and Dominance facets. The Self-Directedness character dimension is positively correlated to Conscientiousness and Emotional Stability. People scoring higher in Self- Directedness tend to be self-confident and goal-oriented, with a realistic estimation of resources before achieving their goals. Cooperativeness is strongly correlated with Friendliness: highly cooperative people are prone to work in groups and to be collaborative and empathic (De Fruyt, et al., 2000; MacDonald & Holland, 2002). As with the two prior studies comparing the two models using the NEO-PR I rather than the BFQ, there are areas of convergence but the differences outweigh similarities. Further studies in clinical samples may add more information about the impact of the two models on personality research. References Caprara, G. V., Barbaranelli, C., Bermudez, J., Maslach, C., & Ruch, W. (2000) Crosscultural replication and further exploration of the five factor model: a comparison of different approaches. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 31, Caprara, G. V., Barbaranelli, C., Borgogni, L., & Perugini, M. (1993) The Big Five Questionnaire: a new questionnaire for the measurement of the five factor model. Personality and Individual Differences, 15, Cloninger, C. R. (1999) Temperament and Character Inventory Revised. St. Louis, MO: Center for Psychobiology of Personality, Washington University. Cloninger, C. R., Svrakic, D. M., & Przybeck, T. R. (1993) A psychobiological model of temperament and character. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50, Cloninger, C. R., Svrakic, N. M., & Svrakic, D. M. (1997) Role of personality self-organization in development of mental order and disorder. Development and Psychopathology, 9, De Fruyt, F., Van DE Wiele, L. & Van Heeringen, C. (2000) Cloninger s psychobiological model of temperament and character and the five-factor model of personality. Personality and Individual differences, 29, MacDonald, D. A. & Holland, D. (2002) Examination of the relations between the NEO personality inventory-revised and the temperament and character inventory. Psychological Reports, 91, McCrae, R. R., & John, O. P. (1992) An introduction to the five-factor model and its applications. Journal of Personality, 60, Accepted April 12, 2012.