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 Linköping University Medical Dissertations

No. 1115

Personality and its complexity

An investigation of the Swedish version of the

Temperament and Character Inventory

Sven Brändström

Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Psychiatry section,

Linköping University, SE-581 85 Linköping. Sweden

Linköping 2009

iii
The cover page is picture of Septem planetae: Temperaments and Elements by Gerard de Jode
(after Martin de Vos 1581). Reproduced with permission from the Photographic Collection,
The Warburg Institute.

"Title-page; oval cartouche for title in centre with ornamental surround with female
personifications of the four temperaments in the corners: Phlegma (holding bow), Sanguis
(semi-naked), Melancolia (in a nun's habit) and Cholera (in armour with a spear); also the four
elements between in ovals and circles represented by animals: Aer (chameleon), Aqua
(dolphin), Ignis (salamander) and Terra (bear)” (British Museum) 1 .

Linköping University Medical dissertations

Copyright © Sven Brändström 2009.

Published articles and figures have been reprinted with the

permission of the respective copyright holder:

Printed in Sweden by LiU-Tryck, Linköping, Sweden, 2009.

ISBN: 978-91-7393-656-9
ISSN 0345-0082

1
Webpage, http://www.britishmuseumshoponline.org/invt/cda00188213. 2008-09-09.

iv
 Summary

In former days the descriptions of personality were based on typologies, reflecting the view
that people do not change over time and so have a stable, life-long personality type. Later on
exclusive categories were created, but during recent times the understanding of personality
has changed due to more dimensional and dynamic thinking.
Cloninger’s personality theory integrates concepts and research findings from neuroanatomy,
neurophysiology of behavior and learning, and from developmental, social and clinical
psychology. It is postulated that the behavioural systems of temperament and character are
related to two major neural systems for the adaptation of experiences on various levels. The
continuous interaction between temperament and character affects the personality
development in both directions; temperament impacts upon character and vice versa during
life.
The development of the TCI was founded on the development of the biosocial theory of
personality, which in turn stimulated the further development of the theory. Unfortunately this
theory-based approach is not commonly used in the development of personality
measurements. The development of a personality questionnaire on the basis of the theory
must be viewed as a significant challenge, and this prompted my interest in dealing with and
learning more about this personality assessment method.

The objectives of this thesis were a critical evaluation of Cloninger’s theory; a test of its
applicability in psychiatric science; and an attempt to contribute to its development.
The main findings of our investigations can be described as follows:
The adaptation of the Swedish version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI)
was successful and the seven factor structure of Cloninger’s biopsychological theory of
personality theory was mainly confirmed by the Swedish normative data and by cross-cultural
comparisons between data from Germany, Sweden and the U.S.A.
The results concerning internal consistency and factor structure further underline that the
adult version of the TCI is unsuitable for use in adolescents before age of 17 years. For the
adolescents the junior TCI is recommended.

v
Furthermore temperament dimensions seem to be more stable over time compared to the
character dimensions. The gender and age differences found suggest that both have to be
taken into account in research and clinical application.
The results from our studies suggested that the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI)
has to be evaluated as a useful tool within the process of validation of diagnosis of a
Personality Disorder (PD), especially in clinical practice where it is often difficult to
recognise all a patient’s personality disturbances during a short time. Use of the TCI is likely
to improve understanding, classification, and subsequently the interpretations in clinical
settings.

Keywords: Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), personality, Swedish normative

data, personality disorders, cross-cultural psychology, gender, age.

vi
This work is dedicated to

my family

vii
viii
Contents

LIST OF ORIGINAL ARTICLES ......................................................................................... 1

INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................... 3
WHAT IS PERSONALITY? ................................................................................................................................... 3

A BRIEF HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCEPTIONS OF PERSONALITY ........................... 5

HIPPOCRATES (460 B.C - 370 B.C.)................................................................................................................... 5

GALEN (129-200 A.C.)....................................................................................................................................... 5

HENRIK SJÖBRING (1879 - 1956) ...................................................................................................................... 6

GORDON ALLPORT (1897 – 1967) ..................................................................................................................... 8

HANS JÜRGEN EYSENCK (1916-1997)............................................................................................................... 8

RAYMOND BERNHARD CATTELL (1905 – 1998) AND THE TRADITION OF THE BIG FIVE.................................... 9

JEFFREY ALAN GRAY (1934-2004) ................................................................................................................. 11

MARVIN ZUCKERMAN (1928 - )....................................................................................................................... 11

JAN STRELAU (1931 - )..................................................................................................................................... 12

C. ROBERT CLONINGER (1944 - ) THE PSYCHOBIOLOGICAL THEORY OF PERSONALITY. ............................ 14

Operationalissation of the psychobiological theory of personality ........................................................... 23

WHY EXPLORE CROSS-CULTURAL EQUIVALENCE OF PERSONALITY
TRAITS? ................................................................................................................................. 27
AIMS OF THE STUDIES ..................................................................................................... 31
METHODS ............................................................................................................................. 33
SUBJECTS ......................................................................................................................................................... 33

MATERIAL AND INSTRUMENT ......................................................................................................................... 35

STATISTICS ...................................................................................................................................................... 37

SUMMARY OF THE STUDIES .......................................................................................... 39

STUDY I: SWEDISH NORMATIVE DATA ON PERSONALITY USING THE TEMPERAMENT ............................. 39

STUDY II: THE SWEDISH VERSION OF THE TEMPERAMENT AND CHARACTER INVENTORY (TCI). ............. 39

STUDY III: ASSESSING PERSONALITY: THE TEMPERAMENT AND CHARACTER INVENTORY IN A CROSS-

CULTURAL COMPARISON BETWEEN GERMANY, SWEDEN, AND THE U.S.A........................................................ 40

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 STUDY IV: AGE AND GENDER DISTRIBUTION OF THE DIMENSIONS OF THE TEMPERAMENT AND CHARACTER

INVENTORY IN A CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE BETWEEN SWEDEN, GERMANY, AND THE U.S.A. ................. 40

STUDY V: FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE TEMPERAMENT AND CHARACTER INVENTORY. .................... 41

STUDY VI: PERSONALITY DISORDER DIAGNOSIS BY MEANS OF THE TEMPERAMENT AND CHARACTER

INVENTORY (TCI) ............................................................................................................................................. 42

GENERAL DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS............................................................. 43

VIEW TO THE FUTURE OR HOW CAN THE QUALITY OF THE TCI BE FURTHER IMPROVED? ......................... 49

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................... 51
REFERENCES:...................................................................................................................... 53
ORIGINAL ARTICLES........................................................................................................ 63
I ........................................................................................................................................................................ 63

II....................................................................................................................................................................... 73

III ..................................................................................................................................................................... 83

IV ................................................................................................................................................................... 101

V..................................................................................................................................................................... 115

VI ................................................................................................................................................................... 125

APPENDIX ........................................................................................................................... 133

THE SWEDISH VERSION OF THE TEMPERAMENT AND CHARACTER INVENTORY (TCI). ................................... 133

x
List of Original Articles

This thesis is based on the following articles which will be referred to in the text by roman
numerals:

I. Brändström, S., Schlette, P., Przybeck, T. R., Lundberg, M., Forsgren, T.,
Sigvardsson, S., Nylander, P. O., Nilsson, L. G., Cloninger, R. C., Adolfsson,
R. (1998). Swedish normative data on personality using the Temperament and
Character Inventory. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 39, 122-128.
II. Brändström, S., Sigvardsson, S., Nylander, P. O., Richter, J. (2008). The
Swedish Version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). A Cross-
validation of Age and Gender Influences. European Journal of Psychological
Assessment, 24, 14-21.
III. Richter, J., Brändström, S., Przybeck, T. (1999). Assessing personality: The
Temperament and Character Inventory in a cross-cultural comparison between
Germany, Sweden, and the U.S.A. Psychological Reports, 84, 1315-1330.
IV. Brändström, S., Richter, J., Przybeck, T. (2001). Distributions by age and sex
of the dimensions of Temperament and Character Inventory in a cross-cultural
perspective among Sweden, Germany, and the USA. Psychological Reports, 89,
747-758.
V. Brändström, S., Richter, J., Nylander, P. O. (2003). Further development of
the Temperament and Character Inventory. Psychological Reports, 93, 995-
1002.
VI. Richter, J., Brändström, S. (2008). Personality Disorder Diagnosis by Means
of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Comprehensive Psychiatry.
doi: 10.1016/j.comppsych.2008.09.002v

1
Abbreviations

16PF Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire

CO Cooperativeness
DSM Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
FFM Five Factor Model
HA Harm Avoidance
LOC Locus Of Control
MMPI Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
MPQ Maudsley Personality Questionnaire
NEO-PI-R NEO Personality Inventory Revised
NS Novelty Seeking
OCEAN Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and
Neuroticism
PD Personality Disorder
PEN Psychoticism, Extraversion and Neuroticism
PS Persistence
PTS Pavlovian Temperament Survey
RD Reward Dependence
SD Self-Directedness
ST Self-Transcendence
STI Strelau Temperament Inventory
TPQ Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire
TCI Temperament and Character Inventory
TCI-R Temperament and Character Inventory – Revised
TPQ Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire

2
Introduction
This thesis is based on an investigation of Cloninger`s psychobiological model of personality
and the Swedish version of its operationalisation, the Temperament and Character Inventory
(TCI). The theory has the potential to provide a comprehensive insight into human personality
at multiple levels of analysis including: genetics of personality; neurobiological foundations
of behaviour; cognitive-emotional structure and development of personality; behavioural
correlates of individual differences in personality dimensions; and personality constellations’
interactions with developmental factors in relation to the susceptibility to psychiatric
disorders.
The TCI measures both normal and deviant behaviours; it has been translated into Swedish
and adapted to Swedish culture; has been used in various cross-cultural investigations; in
several clinical studies; and is under continuous further development.

What is personality?
People differ from one another; some people are shy, others are sociable; some people are
curious about almost everything, others are not; some people are happy with life, others are
not. In one sense, describing someone’s personality is an attempt to portray both the essence
of who the person is, and what the person does and says in interactions with others.

Some psychologists have devoted their life to observing the range of human body types and
the associated human personality traits or temperament types. These constitutional typologies
consisted of ideas that physique is genetically determined (Kretschmer, 1977) and were
misused during the late 1930s in developing eugenic attitudes.
Personality is used to give a comprehensive description of a person that is relatively
consistent over time and originates from the person’s “inner world”; and it also leads to a
better understanding of treatment when people have problems with their personality, or
because of their personality.
The application of knowledge and scientific findings relating to topics of personality and
behaviour is essential in order to identify a condition or disease; its signs or symptoms; and to
derive diagnoses from the results of various diagnostic procedures, in order to be able to give
a proper treatment or support to the person’s problems. So what should be measured in order
to make a personality diagnosis? What does personality mean?

3
The term "personality" stems from the Greek persona – mask. Masks were not used to hide
the identity of a person in the ancient Greek speaking theatres, rather, the masks were used to
represent or typify the character (Changingminds, 2008). One way to understand personality
is to look at how it has been defined. In psychology, personality is regarded as a collection of
emotional, cognitive and behavioural patterns unique to a person that is relatively consistent
over time.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to find a universally accepted definition of personality, but the
following definitions provide an indication of how personality may be understood:
- The dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychophysical
systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment (Allport,
1937).
- Personality is that which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a
given situation. (Cattell, 1950)
- The ingrained patterns of thought, feeling, and behaviour characterising an
individual's unique lifestyle and mode of adaptation, and resulting from
constitutional factors, development, and social experience (WHO, 1994).
- The sum-total of the actual or potential behaviour-patterns of the organism,
as determined by heredity and environment; it originates and develops
through the functional interaction of the four main sectors into which these
behaviour-patterns are organised: the cognitive sector (intelligence), the
conative sector (character), the affective sector (temperament), and the
somatic sector (constitution) (Eysenck, 1999).

4
A brief historical perspective of psychological conceptions of personality
Providing a comprehensive historical review of the conceptualisation of personality going
back to ancient times would need hundreds of pages and falls outside the scope of this
introduction. However, this section of the introduction represents an attempt to characterise
thinking about personality and its development in order to provide a brief overview of the
complexity of personality theories, from simple typologies to more complex trait, dimensional
theories and assessment.
It is also difficult to distinguish earlier researchers’ impact on later studies, ideas and
inquiries. Nevertheless, the aim is to mention some of the ideas that have influenced
Cloninger’s psychobiological model of personality.

Hippocrates (460 B.C - 370 B.C.)

One ancient Greek theory of temperament was developed by Hippocrates. He formulated a
theory based on the four elements (air, water fire and earth ) in which he assumed qualities
and their representation in four humours: blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. “These
fluids determine the nature of his body and due to them man is healthy or ill.” (Strelau, 1998,
p. 2). According to Hippocrates, the person is healthy if these fluids are in balance; but, if they
are imbalanced due to nutrition or the seasons of the year people could become ill (Strelau,
1998).

Galen (129-200 A.C.)

Later, Galen introduced the first typology with the four temperament types based on
Hippocrates’ theory. He described the sanguine type (abundant supply of blood) as cheerful
and optimistic, pleasant to be with and comfortable with his or her work. The choleric type
(yellow bile) is characterised by a quick, hot temper, and often an aggressive nature. The
phlegmatic type (phlegm 2 ) is characterised by its slowness, laziness, and dullness. The
melancholic type (arising from black bile3 ) is represented by people who tend to be sad, even
depressed, and take a pessimistic view of the world (Strelau, 1998).

2
The mucus we bring up from our lungs when we have a cold.
3
Several authors have tried to explain the essence of black bile in the Humoral theory e.g. Jackson, S. W.
(1986). Melancholia & Depression. Yale University Press, New Haven and London.

5
Many ancient philosophers used a set of archetypal elements to explain patterns in nature.
These ideas persisted throughout the Middle Ages into the Renaissance, deeply influencing
European thought and culture.

Henrik Sjöbring (1879 - 1956)

Sjöbring described personality in terms of independent constitutional factors subjected to
possible development and thus randomly represented in the general population. Typical traits
and symptom complexes were taken as a starting point in his investigations (Sjöbring, 1922,
1923, 1973). He also stated that pathological variation has nothing to do with the natural
variation amongst human beings; and that pathology does not constitute an extreme form of
natural variance. He assumed that the “individual’s natural genetic disposition endows the
personality with its special character and constitutes the fundamental source of its later
development” (Sjöbring, 1973, p. 121).
Although the person, “the subject”, is influenced by his environment 4 , Sjöbring believed that
people suffer from mental disorders due to pathological or lesional factors. These factors may
“consist in hereditary dispositions or be exogenous” (Sjöbring, 1973, p. 122) 5 .
He identified differences in people’s temperament and character by determining the
characteristic trait of the underdeveloped individuals 6 who, according to his hypothesis,
would be the first to suffer from these functional disorders. He then derived the factors he
called capacity, stability, solidity and validity, regarding these as orthogonal dimensions of
personality, despite although he did not see these different character traits in personality as
independent factors (Figure 1).

4
With this he included both the physical and psychological environment. The latter seen as other individuals and
social conditions.
5
Exogenous which he later referred to as disturbed development.
6
These are the extremes in a normal population.

6
Figure 1: Schematically presentation of the Sjöbring theory.
N atural dispositional factors

D evelop m en t

D evelopm ental factors

C a p acity S tab ility S o lid ity V alid ity

S u per- abstraction skilled m ature strength

M edio-

S ub- ad ap tation concrete less m atu re w eakness

Interactions am ong different factor and levels.

Person ality

By ‘Capacity’ he meant both objective intelligence and a subjective aspect that he saw as a
“greater or lesser quantity of possibilities for activity and from this it seems possible to derive
the variant traits” (Sjöbring, 1973, p. 129). This includes the individual’s capacity for
problem-solving and adapting to his environment, the quantity of possibilities for activity and
to see things from various perspectives and better fit to the context of reality. ‘Stability’ was
seen as variations in skilfulness due to habituation; the more we are accustomed to a task, the
more easily it is performed, the better and more skilfully achieved. With greater achievement,
he also included the achievement of abstraction. ‘Solidity’ refers to maturity of the human
beings; and he postulated that human beings may be more or less mature like the “Relation a
child to an adult” (Sjöbring, 1973). ‘Validity’ is described as amount of energy required in
order to perform a task or to stay at a certain activity level including to be energetic or less
energetic which he saw as the psychic strength in the individual (Figure 1). He saw these
descriptions not as a typology but “of course one arrives at types. Basically, it is a question of
continuous variation, a continuous succession of types” (Sjöbring, 1973, p. 147).
The variation in these (traits) dimensions are supposed to interact with each other continually
creating differences among variants (people) which would lead to different personalities.
However, these types would also be influenced by the mobility of thoughts and beliefs and
perception of the environment. He further emphasised the importance of the genetic
predisposition in humans but also the importance of the milieu (Sjöbring, 1973).

7
Gordon Allport (1897 – 1967)
Allport tried to classify traits in his personological trait theory, an eclectic approach
combining several schools of personality. A trait or disposition (a term synonymously used by
Allport) represents ‘biophysical facts’ or ‘psychophysical dispositions’ is defined as
theoretical construct that describes a basic personality dimension that is relatively stable
across situations and across time (Allport, 1936, Cloninger S., 2000).
By searching through an English dictionary he found 17953 terms that he considered in some
way describe human behaviour and locating every word that could describe a person he
developed a list of 3000 trait like terms (called "lexical hypothesis") which he organised into
three levels of traits. Consistency of behaviour was a central topic by Allport and he
distinguished individual traits from common traits and (a) ‘cardinal traits’ that are extremely
pervasive, dominating and shaping everything an individual does. Such traits are rarely found
because most people lack such a single theme that shapes their lives. (b) ‘Central traits’ that
pervasively affect many behaviours; and represent a general characteristic found to some
degree in everyone; and (c) ‘secondary traits’ which cause consistent behaviours but do not
affect behaviour across time or situations to the extent of ‘central traits’. He argued that the
self represents a major focus of personality growth; and assumed personality as cause of
behaviour being a function of heredity interacting with environment [personality =
ƒ(Heredity) x (Environment)]. Contrary to Cattell (see below), Allport assumed that factor
analyses are unable to represent a person’s life completely (Allport, 1936, Cloninger S.,
2000).

Hans Jürgen Eysenck (1916-1997)

Eysenck used the same terms as Jung – extraversion - introversion but gave them a different
meaning. Jung, who had first advanced the concept, used introversion to account for the
personality of schizophrenics and hysterics as prototypes of extraversion (Eysenck, 1999).
Eysenck also elaborated the Pavlovian thoughts about excitation and inhabitation and derived
a factor that he called extraversion - introversion that was seen as cortical arousal. (Cloninger
S., 2000).
In the late 1970s Eysenck developed a three factor model with Psychoticism (P), Extraversion
(E) and Neuroticism (N); and defined these as super factors comprising the personality theory
also referred to as the P-E-N model (Table 1).

8
Table 1: Structure of Eysenck´s three superfactors.

Psychoticism Extraversion Neuroticism

Aggressive Sociable Anxious

Cold Lively Dependent
Egocentric Active Guilt feeling
Impersonal Assertive Low self-esteem
Impulsive Sensaton-seeking Tense

As Strelau observed “Curiously enough, it is difficult, if not possible, to find in Eysenck’s

publications a typical definition of these factors. The three super-factors are defined in terms
of observed intercorrelations between traits” (Strelau, 1998;. p.64). Thus extraversion, as
opposed to introversion, is composed of such traits as sociability, liveliness, activity,
assertiveness, and sensation seeking (Table 1).
Neuroticism, for which emotionality is used as a synonym, has the following components:
anxiety, depression, guilt feelings, low self-esteem, and tension. The opposite pole of
neuroticism is defined as emotional stability.
Psychoticism, the opposite of impulse control, consists of such primary traits as aggression,
coldness, egocentrism, impersonality and impulsiveness (Strelau, 1998). It can also be
described as a tendency towards nonconformity and social deviance, which means a person
who scores high in psychoticism does not have to be psychotic rather s/he will just share some
common traits with them (Cloninger S., 2000).

Raymond Bernhard Cattell (1905 – 1998) and the tradition of the Big Five.
Cattell’s merit is a systematic description of personality traits based on his assumption that
“all aspects of human personality which are or have been of importance, interest, or utility
have already become recorded in the substance of language” (Cattell, 1943, p. 483). He
established his list of traits in terms of adjectives from a variety of sources assuming that in
order to apply factor analysis to personality it is necessary to sample the widest possible range
of variables; thus founding the ‘factor analytic trait theories’ of personality (Cloninger S.,
2000). He extensively focused on the measurement of personality, on personality tests in
particular, with the culmination of this work the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire
(16PF Test, Cattell, Eber & Tatsuoka, 1970) which assesses 16 bipolar conceptualised core

9
traits. According to Cattell, personality patterns should be independently confirmed by three
different types of data; (a) T-data derived by objective tests such as behavioural measures
based on experimental situations observed in laboratories or findings from projective tests; (b)
L-data, life record data, involving collecting data from the individual’s natural, everyday life
behaviours, measuring their characteristic behaviour patterns in the real world, for example
the number of parties attended every month, number of sick leaves or children the individual
has, or ratings and other evaluations by others; and (c) Q-data in terms of responses based on
introspection by an individual about his/her own behaviour and feelings derived by
questionnaires or interviews.
Subsequently, he found two second order factors based on the 16 traits by means of new
factor analyses; (a) anxiety, also labelled as neuroticism, with substantial loadings on ego
weakness, guilt proneness, paranoid tendency, and low self-sentiment; and (b) extraversion
with high loadings on liking for people, talkativeness, optimism, and adventurous boldness.

In the tradition of factor analytical trait theories and the lexical approach, Goldberg
summarises the fundamental lexical (language) hypothesis as follows:

The variety of individual differences is nearly boundless, yet most of these

differences are insignificant in people's daily interactions with others and have
remained largely unnoticed. Sir Francis Galton may have been among the first
scientists to recognise explicitly the fundamental lexical hypothesis-namely that
the most important individual differences in human transactions will come to be
encoded as single terms in some or all of the world’s languages.
(Goldberg, 1990, p. 1216).

Based on a high consistency of his results he originally developed a five factor model (FFM)
with dimensions commonly labelled as Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion,
Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN) (Goldberg, 1990) and suggested “it should be
possible to argue the case that any model for structuring individual differences will have to
encompass- at some level-something like these ‘big five’ dimensions” (Costa & McCrae,
1992, p. 159). The NEO-Personality Inventory (NEO-PI) developed by Costa &McCrae
(1985, 1989) represents the most well known method to measure these assumed basic five
factors of personality. However, because of the empirical origins of the FFM, no single theory
is best supported by its structure.

10
Jeffrey Alan Gray (1934-2004)
Gray grounded his theory on Eysenck’s but attempted to define new dimensions of
personality. He focused on two major behavioural systems Activation (approach) and
Avoidance (inhibition). These systems are assumed to be in balance during life but vary
during lifetime due to predispositions. The activation system is thought to be associated with
the neurotransmitter dopamine and the inhibition system involving the neurotransmitter
norepinephrine. “According to Gray’s theory extraverts are more influenced by reward,
introverts by punishment in different learning situations.” (Cloninger S., 2000, p. 262).
These findings later lead to the development of the dimensions impulsivity and anxiety
dimension (Figure 2). This led to a dimension with extreme impulsivity at the end of the scale
(psychopathy) and to another dimension with high anxiety (anxiety disorder) at the scale end.
Gray later assumed a third dimension the fight-flight system that produces rage and panic. He
saw this fight-flight dimension as the psychoticism (aggressive-asocial) dimension of
personality.

Figure 2: Gray´s dimensions in relation to Eysenk´s dimensions (Adapted from Corr, 2004)

Impulsivity Extraversion

Neurotic Normal (or stable)

Anxiety

Introversion

Marvin Zuckerman (1928 - )

Zuckerman was influenced by Gray’s theory and other psycho physiological models of
personality which led him to develop his four factor theory of personality (Zuckerman, 1991).

11
Zuckerman’s personality traits are derived from temperament with sensation seeking as “the
seeking of varied, novel, complex and intense sensations and the willingness to take physical,
social, legal and financial risks for the sake of such experience” (Zuckerman, 1994, p. 27). He
also argued that sensation seeking is a normal trait of personality; and that “temperament is
the biologically-based foundation of personality, based on a child’s inherited predisposition
for characteristic patterns of behaviour, including emotionality, activity and sociability”
(Cloninger S., 2000, p. 259). He developed Sensation-seeking as a trait, defining it as an
“optimistic tendency to approach novel stimuli and explore the environment” (Zuckerman,
1994; p. 385). Subsequently he extended the Sensation-seeking trait to what he called the
‘impulsive-sensation seeking’ (approach). The Impulsivity trait was described as “a style of
rapid decision making in deciding to approach” (p. 385) and Sociability was seen as a
tendency to approach known or unknown social objects. These three traits were regarded as
expressions of the approach disposition, regulated by the dopamine system (Zuckerman,
1994).

Jan Strelau (1931 - )

Strelau and co-workers developed a biological model of temperament based on the Pavlovian
temperament traits. He assumed that properties of the central nervous system (CNS) as
general traits are involved in all kinds of behaviour, such as motor action, verbal activity and
emotional reactions (Strelau, Angleitner, Bantelman, & Willbald. 1990). Pavlov’s properties
were strength of excitation, strength of inhibition, and mobility. According to Stelau strength
of excitation refers to “the functional capacity of the CNS and manifests itself in the ability to
endure intense or long-lasting stimulation without passing into protective (transmarginal)
inhibition” (Strelau et al., 1990; p. 212).” Further, he stated “Different activities which carry
varied aspects of threat, risk, and tension, and which have a direct impact in increasing the
level of activation, are of specific significance in generating stimulation” (p. 212).
The strength of inhibition refers “to conditioned inhibition, which develops during
ontogenesis. It reveals itself in the ability to maintain a state of conditioned inhibition, such as
extinction, differentiation, delay, and conditioned inhibition in its narrow meaning” (p.212).
In the development of a scale, he referred to the behaviour and reactions that are manifested
by the above-mentioned types of conditioned reflexes. Mobility of nervous processes refers to
mobility only and is regarded “as the ability of the CNS to respond adequately as soon as
possible to continuous changes in the environment” (p. 213). He later developed an inventory

12
taking the abovementioned theory into account called the Strelau Temperament Inventory
(STI, and STI-R) which Strelau and Angleitner later renamed as the Pavlovian Temperament
Survey (PTS) (Strelau, 1992, 1999) (Table 2). This inventory measures Strelau`s temperament
dimension Strength of excitation, Strength of inhibition and the Mobility of nervous process.

Table 2: The STI-R inventory and its facets (high expressions of the traits) developed by
Strelau (Strelau et al., 1990, see p. 212-13)

Strength of excitation Strength of inhibition Mobility of nervous process

1 Threatening situations Easily restrain from not Adequate reactions to

2 Highly stimulating
situations
3 Risky and/or demanding
activities
4 Activities under social
and/or physical load
5 Performance efficiency in
highly stimulative situations emotional expression
6 Resistant to fatigue
desired behaviour
No difficulty in waiting for
task performance
Necessary interruptions
possible after start of action
Required delay of reactions
possible
Required Hold back of
possible
unexpected changes
Quick adaptation to news
Easy switch between activities
Easy switch between opposite
moods depending upon
situation
Preference of different
simultaneous activities

7 Adequate reaction under

emotional tension

13
C. Robert Cloninger (1944 - ) The psychobiological theory of personality.
As mentioned before it is also difficult to distinguish an earlier researcher’s impact on later
studies, ideas and inquires but my aim is to mention some of the ideas that could have
influenced the psychobiological model. Therefore in order to give a brief overview of
different interactions between different theories a short history of the development of the
psychobiological model is necessary. Different theories have different meanings with terms
that only partly overlap, however some similarities are evident (Table 3).
In former days the descriptions of personality were based on typologies reflecting the
understanding that people did not change over time causing a stable life-long personality type.
Later on exclusive personality categories were developed but during recent times the
understanding of personality has changed to a more dimensional and dynamic thinking.

In the 1980s Cloninger started to collaborate with Swedish scientists including M. Bohman
and S. Sigvardsson. The research focused on interactions between genes and environment
and their impact upon personality characteristics as key constructs of psychopathological
phenomena in selected patient samples and general population samples (Cloninger et al.,
1981, 1982, 1984; Bohman et al., 1981, 1982, 1984; Sigvardsson et al., 1982, 1984). From
these results Cloninger went back to his own earlier work and wrote his first outline of a
biosocial theory of personality (1986). He found factor analytical models too simple (linear)
and maintained that development is much more complex than assumed by factor analysts as
they don’t take sufficient account of the fact that there is usually more than one genetic risk,
and that different genetic risks may not share the same "risk environment".

Studying Eysenck’s personality theory he was not satisfied with its foundation on factor
analysis and with the described phenotypic structure of personality.

14
Table 3: Interactions with other models on personality.

Different approaches to
personality

Hippocrates Earth Fire Water Air

Galen Humors Melancholic Choleric Sanguine Phlegmatic

Sjöbring Sub-valid Sub-solid Sub-stable Capacity

Allport

Eysenk´s Neurotic Neurotic - Psychotism

introverts Extroverts 1

Catell, FFM and correlations Neuroticism - Conscien- - Neuroticism Agreableness

with NEO-PI-R. - Extraversion tiousness

Gray Anxiety Impulsive

Avoidance, Approach
inhibition activation

Zuckerman Neuroticism Sensation- Activity - Agression

Anxiety Seeking Hostility
And the
interactions

Strelau

Cloningers TCI dimensions HA NS RD PS SD CO ST IQ

HA=Harm Avoidance; NS=Novelty Seeking; RD=Reward Dependence; PS=Persistence; SD=Self-Directedness; CO=Cooperativeness; ST=Self-Transcendence.
FFM Five Factor Model (NEO-PI-R).
- Indicates a negative correlation with Cloningers dimensions.
Furthermore, he could not agree with Eysenck who regarded phenotypic and genotypic
personality structures as the same (Cloninger, 1986; Cloninger et al., 1994), writing “This is
equivalent to assuming that genetic and environmental factors influence behaviour in the
same way” (Cloninger et al., 1994; p.15). This was one of the reasons for that Cloninger tried
to elaborate a general theory of personality and its neurobiological basis. In order to do this,
he referred to Sjöbring’s theory, his description of stability and his profile analysis. Cloninger
also consulted with Gray, an animal psychologist investigating basic reflexes, and developed
a learning model.

Cloninger’s new theory was grounded on a learning theory and combined knowledge from
several fields including genetics (human, animal and evolutionary studies), psychology
(learning theory, cognitive psychology, psychophysiology, personality theory), and psychiatry
(nosology, psychopharmacology, longitudinal research) finally coalescing in what Cloninger
called a neurobiologically based operant learning model (Cloninger, 1987a, b, 1991). At the
beginning, Cloninger recognised the importance of habituation (learning to disregard stimuli)
and vigilance (readiness to respond to critical external or internal events) to humans and that
both processes are inversely related.
Furthermore he concluded that perceptual sensitivity of individuals represents an important
factor of impact in the development of anxiety. People who were high or low in Harm
Avoidance (HA) reacted differently to pleasant and unpleasant stimuli. In these early studies
and by a literature search, he assumed that there are probably specific relationships between
various behavioural tendencies and monoaminergic neurotransmission processes.
His assumptions that High Novelty Seeking (NS) is associated with low basal dopaminergic
activity, high HA with high serotonergic activity, and high Reward Dependence (RD) with
low basal noradrenergic activity were confirmed by Stallings et al. (1996); Ono, Manki,
Yoshimura, Muramatsu, Higuchi, Yagi, Kanba & Asai (1997); and Ando, Ono, Yoshimura,
Onoda, Shinohara, Kanba & Asai (2002).

At the beginning of the theory-development, Cloninger hypothesised that temperament

consisted of systems for activation, maintenance and inhibition as independently varying
systems. Novelty Seeking (NS) was seen as tendency toward exhilaration in response to novel
stimuli or cues. Harm Avoidance (HA) was defined as a bias in the inhibition or cessation of
behaviour, and Reward Dependence (RD) was seen as a tendency to maintain or pursue
ongoing behaviour (Cloninger et al. 1991) (Figure 3).

16
Figure 3: Temperament cube (reproduced by permission of the Center for Psychobiology of
Personality, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri).

These temperament traits are believed to be genetically homogenous and independently

inherited. However, this does not mean that the observed phenotypic structure of temperament
directly represents the assumed underlying biogenetic structure of personality, rather the
phenotypic structure of personality is the result of interactions between social, environmental,
and genetic influences during the whole life span (Cloninger et al., 1994) which could be
confirmed by Ono et al. (1997).
Some attempts were made to search for specific relationships between the various
temperament dimensions and the number of specific personality disorder symptoms according
to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). However, whilst the
correlational results were extremely successful in describing traditional personality disorder
subtypes (Cloninger, 1987a), it was nearly impossible to determine whether an individual
person was suffering from a personality disorder, or not (Cloninger et al., 1991).
Because temperament dimensions were insufficient to explain the whole variance of human
behaviour and attitudes, the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) was

17
subsequently expanded to the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) by the
incorporation of items that additionally measure character dimensions.
Afterwards Cloninger noticed some constructs that were not explained by the temperament
dimensions of the TPQ – represented by the repression scale of the Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory (MMPI - Dahlstrom, Welsh, & Dahlstrom, 1982), the agreeableness scale
of the NEO inventory (Costa, & McCrae, 1985), and the absorption scale of the Maudsley
Personality Questionnaire (MPQ – Eysenck, 1947). Thereafter he tried to apply those
constructs to develop a concept of character. Furthermore, he was influenced by the locus of
control theory (LOC- Rotter, 1966) from which he derived purposefulness. He developed the
understanding of Cooperativeness from humanistic psychological theories (Frankl, 1962;
Maslow, 1968; Rogers, 1969, 1970) (personal communication C.R. Cloninger, 2007-01-20).
Subsequently he studied the concept of absorption and transpersonal psychology such as self-
forgetfulness, spirituality and believing in pure hearted principles. Based on his preliminary
assumptions, pure hearted principles were expected to be part of spirituality but empirically
were found to be a part of people’s cooperativeness.
The concept of two personality domains was supported by twin studies which also suggested
a separation between temperament and character, with a common environmental factor related
to the temperament, but not the character dimensions (Ono et al, 1997).

Character refers to individual differences in goals, values and self-conscious emotions like
shame, guilt and empathy that are expressed by the relationships of an individual with him or
herself, with other individuals, with groups of persons, with society and with the universe.
Character dimensions are defined to reflect individual differences in self-concepts according
the extent of identification with him/herself as autonomous individual, with other people and
with the whole universe. Whilst it was initially believed that character dimensions represented
traits that are weakly inherited and moderately influenced by social learning, later it was
discovered that they were as inheritable as temperament traits, although they differed from
temperament in that they expressed a person’s goals and values, rather than their emotional
style (Cloninger, 2004). Eventually Cloninger proposed that temperament was a manifestation
of the functioning of the brain’s habit systems (associative learning) whereas character was a
manifestation of the brain’s semantic learning of facts and propositions. Character traits can
reach various levels of maturity in a stepwise pattern. Dependent on the related area the
character dimensions are defined as Self-Directedness (SD), Cooperativeness (CO) and Self-
Transcendence (ST).

18
The SD facets refer to a person’s concept of the self as an autonomous individual. They
include the capacity to take responsibility, to behave in a goal directed manner, to be
resourceful and self-acceptant and to behave guided by meaningful values and goals
(congruent second nature).
CO refers to the individual differences in viewing of the self as an integrated part of humanity
or society. It represents its capacity for identification with and acceptance of other people and
the level of integrated conscience.
ST refers to how we view the world “outside or inside us” and to whether we see ourselves as
an integral part of the universe; a capacity to be self-forgetful that could appear as “absent
minded” or to have the possibility of transpersonal identification, and “idealistic thinking” or
spiritual acceptance (Cloninger et al., 1994). For an overview of the character dimensions
(Figure 4).

Figure 4: Character cube (reproduced by permission of the Center for Psychobiology of

Personality, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri).

19
To summarise, Cloninger’s personality theory integrates concepts and research findings from
neuroanatomy, neurophysiology of behaviour and learning, and from developmental, social
and clinical psychology (Cloninger & Gilligan, 1987; Cloninger, 1991; Cloninger, Svrakic, &
Przybeck, 1993; Cloninger, et al., 1994). It is postulated that the behavioural systems of
temperament and character are related to two major neural systems for the adaptation of
experiences on various levels. They can be described as the contrast between percept and
concept, emotion versus volition, instinct versus will, and habit versus conation/cognition
(semantic learning) (Figure 5).
The observed phenotypic expression of personality does not directly represent the underlying
genetic structure, rather its phenotype is the result of interactions between temperament
dimensions, character dimensions, social, environmental, and other genetically determined
influences during the whole life span (Cloninger, 1994). The continuous interaction between
temperament and character affects personality development in both directions; temperament
impacts upon character and vice versa.

20
Figure 5: Model of personality (adapted from Cloninger et al. 1994).

Personality

Temperament Character

Novelty Seeking Harm Avoidance Reward Persistence Self-Directedness Cooperativeness Self-

40 items 35 items Dependence 8 items 44 items 42 items Transcendence
24 items 33 items

NS1 Exploratory HA1 Anticipatory Worry RD1 Sentimentality SD1 Responsibility CO1 Social Acceptance ST1 Self-forgetful
Excitability vs. Optimism 11 items vs. Insensitiveness 10 Single scale vs. Intolerance 8 items
vs. Blaming 8 items vs. Self Conscious 11
vs. Rigidity 11 items HA2 Fear of Uncertainty items 8 items CO2 Empathy
SD2 Purposeful items
NS2 Impulsiveness vs. Confidence 7 items RD3 Attachment vs. Lack of Goal Direction vs. Social Disinterest 7 ST2 Transpersonal
vs. Reflection 10 items HA3 Shyness vs. Detachment 8 items 8 items items Identification 9 items
NS3 Extravagance vs. Gregariousness 8 items RD4 Dependence SD3 Resourcefulness CO3 Helpfulness ST3 Spiritual Acceptance
vs. Reserve 9 items HA4 Fatigability and vs. Independence 6 items vs. Apathy 5 items vs. Unhelpfulness 8 items vs. Materialism 13 items
NS4 Disorderliness Asthenia SD4 Self-acceptance CO4 Compassion
vs. Regimentation 10 items vs. Vigour 9 items vs. Self-Striving 11 items vs. Revengefulness 10
SD5 Congruent Second items
Nature 12 items CO5 PureHearted vs. Self-
Serving 9 items
Nevertheless, it is unclear whether normal and abnormal personality traits are the same or not;
and if they are qualitatively different. Some researchers, for example Birtchnell (1988) have
suggested that even an extreme form of a normal personality trait is not necessarily
pathological. It is still unclear whether PDs are best characterised as dimensional or
categorical - there is little or no evidence that they are categorical, but categories are familiar
to clinicians and provide a useful approximation when understood to be prototypes. From a
dimensional view, personality disorders differ from normal variation in personality only in
terms of degree. Based on the psychobiological theory PDs have been reported to be a
combination of extreme temperament and immature character (Svrakic, Whitehead, Przybeck,
& Cloninger, 1993; Cloninger et al., 1994). Cloninger et al. (1994) suggested that the
configuration of temperament dimensions (NS, HA, and RD) defines the so-called
temperament type and the type of PD if applicable. If a subject shows extreme expressions on
one or more temperament dimensions the average probability increases that he or she suffers
from a personality disorder, although any temperament configuration can be observed in
mature people. If an individual shows such extreme expressions on temperament dimensions
it is likely (but not certain) that the person has an immature character in terms of low Self-
Directedness and/or low Cooperativeness. In other words, he or she is unable to cope with the
emotions derived from the extreme temperament which leads to an increased probability of a
PD diagnosis. Whereas the maturity of the character determines whether an individual suffers
from a personality disorder or not, the temperament configuration determines the subtype of
personality disorders.

22
Operationalissation of the psychobiological theory of personality
The Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) (Cloninger et al. 1991) and the
Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) (Cloninger et al. 1994) are distinguishable from
other personality inventories. Their development started with the development of the biosocial
theory, which in turn stimulated the development of the items of the TPQ and subsequently of
the TCI and the TCI-R. Unfortunately, this is not a common approach in personality
diagnostics and has to be regarded as a big challenge. The development of theories based on
results of factor analyses represents the more common approach. Secondly, other tests like the
MMPI or NEO Personality Inventory are constructed exclusively with a focus upon
psychopathology.
Cloninger developed the TPQ based on his theory of temperament. This 100-item
inventory has been translated into many languages and its structure and stability have
been analysed (e.g., Czech - Kozeny, Kubicka & Prochazkova, 1989; Serbish –
Svrakić, Przybeck & Cloninger, 1991; Norwegian - Strandbygaard & Jensen, 1992;
Japanese – Takeuchi, Yoshino, Kato, Ono & Kitamura, 1993; Spanish - Canete, 1993,
Taiwanese – Chen, Chen, Chen, Chen, Yu, & Cheng, 2002; and Finnish – Miettunen,
Kantojarvi, Ekelund, Veijola, Karvonen, Peltonen et al., 2004). It has been used in
hundreds of investigations in psychology, biological psychiatry, psychiatric genetics
and in psychopharmacological trials, for example in relation to psychoactive drugs from
1990 to the present. By analysing the twin studies and its factor structure by means of
exploratory factor analyses it was found that one facet of the RD dimension, Persistence
(PS), should be regarded as a separate fourth temperament dimension (Cloninger, 1994).
PS was seen as perseverance in behaviour despite frustration and fatigue.

Subsequently, the TPQ was expanded to the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI)
operationalising both temperament and character dimensions. The TCI (version 9) is a 240-
item self-administered, true-false format, paper-and-pencil test which requires about 40
minutes to complete. It measures the four temperament dimensions and three character
dimensions: NS and HA, both composed of four lower-order subscales; RD, composed of
three subscales; PS as a single-scale dimension; and SD as well as CO, both composed by five
lower-order subscales and ST with three subscales (Table 4).

23
Because of some limitations of the TCI (version 9) (Richter, Brändström, & Przybeck, 1999),
a revised version was developed by Cloninger et al. – the TCI-R. It also consists of 240 items.
However, it has to be answered on a 5-point Lickert-scale (from 1 = definitely false to 5 =
definitely true); and each temperament dimension is represented by four subscales and the
character dimensions SD and CO, comparable to the TCI, each by means of five subscales
and ST by three subscales.

Table 4: Comparison of subscales of the TCI and TCI-R

TCI TCI-R TCI TCI-R
Temperament Dimensions

Novelty Seeking 40 35 Harm Avoidance 35 33

Exploratory 11 10 Anticipatory Worry vs. 11 11
Excitability vs. Optimism
Rigidity
Impulsiveness vs. 10 9 Fear of Uncertainty vs. 7 7
Reflection Confidence
Extravagance vs. 9 9 Shyness vs. 8 7
Reserve Gregariousness
Disorderliness vs. 10 7 Fatigability and 9 8
Regimentation Asthenia vs. Vigour
Reward Dependence 24 30 Persistence 8 35
Sentimentality vs. 8 Eagerness vs. * 9
Insensitiveness Laziness*PS 1
Openness vs. * 10 Work Hardened vs. * 8
Aloofness *RD 2 Spoiled*PS 2
Attachment vs. 6 Ambitious vs. * 10
Detachment Underachieving*PS 3
Dependence vs. 6 Perfectionist vs. * 8
Independence Pragmatist*PS 4
Character Dimensions

Self Directedness 44 40 Cooperativeness 42 36

Responsibility vs. 8 8 Social Acceptance vs. 8 8
Blaming Intolerance
Purposefulness vs. 8 6 Empathy vs. Social 7 5
Lack of Goal Direction Disinterest
Resourcefulness vs. 5 5 Helpfulness vs. 8 8
Apathy Unhelpfulness
Self-Acceptance vs. 11 10 Compassion vs. 10 7
Self-Striving Revengefulness
Congruent Second 12 11 Pure Hearted vs. Self- 9 8
Nature Serving
Self-Transcendence 33 26
Self-Forgetful vs. Self- 11 10
Conscious
Transpersonal 9 8
Identification
Spiritual Acceptance 13 8
vs. Materialism
TCI = Temperament and Character Inventory
TCI-R = Temperament and Character Inventory Revised.
* In TCI-R a fourth subscale of Reward Dependence (RD 2) and four subscales of Persistence
were created (PS 1-PS 4).

24
The TCI-method family represent a wide range of different instruments that could be used to
gain better understanding of people and are designed for various types of informants (self
report, informant ratings, interviewers) (Cloninger et al., 1994 - Table 5)

Table 5: Instruments based on the psychobiological model developed by

Cloninger

Abbreviation Name No. of Items

TPQ Tridimensional Personality Questionarie 100
TCI Temperament and Character Inventory 240 *
TCI 125 Short version of TCI 125
TCSI Temperament and Character Structured Interview 125
JTCI Junior Temperament and Character Inventory 108
TCI-R Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised 240
* In Sweden 238 items

The TCI’s high construct validity has been demonstrated in many studies according to
established personality theories and in different groups of subjects (Cloninger, et al., 1994).
The psychometric properties of original TCI in the USA yielded a moderate to a high
reliability (internal consistency) and the factor pattern (validity) confirmed the theory with
seven dimensions although with some interactions among some of the facets (NS, RD and
SD). Correlational analyses based on the dimensions consistently showed relationships
between HA and SD and between CO and RD and SD.

It has been translated into several languages and the psychometric properties of these versions
have been separately investigated (Cloninger et al., 1994; Pelissolo, Veysseyre & Lépine,
1997; Tanaka, Kijima & Kitamura, 1997; Brändström et al., 1998, 2008; Richter, Eisemann,
Richter & Cloninger, 1999; Kijima, Tanaka, Suzuki, Higuchi, & Kitamura, 2000; Sung, Kim,
Yang, Abrams & Lyoo, 2002; Nery, Hatch, Glahn, Nicoletti, Serap Monkul, Najt et al. 2002;
Parker, Cheah & Parker, 2003; Pélissolo & Lépine, 2000; Arkar, Sorias, Tunca, Safak, Alkin,
Binnur Akdede, et al., 2005; Richter, Brändström, Emami, & Ghazinour, 2007).

25
The Temperament and Character Inventory has been used in research in various fields
focusing on normal and abnormal behaviour and on treatment effects, for example:
- Bipolar Disorder (e.g., Engström, Brändström, Sigvardsson, Cloninger, & Nylander,
2003, 2004a, 2004b; Nery, Hatch, Glahn, Nicoletti, Serap Monkul, Najt, et al., 2007;
Loftus, Garno, Jaeger, & Malhotra, 2008).
- Depressive disorders (e.g., Hansenne, Reggers; Pinto, Kjiri, Ajamier, & Ansseau,
1999; Sato, Narita, Hirano, Kusunoki, Goto, Sakado, & Uehara, 2001; Pelissolo, &
Corruble, 2002; de Winter, Wolterbeek, Spinhoven, Zitman, & Goekoop, 2007).
- Whiplash (e.g., Pettersson, Brändström, Toolanen, Hildingsson, & Nylander, 2004).
- Gambling (e.g., Nordin C, & Nylander PO, 2007).
- Eating disorders (e.g., Fassino, Amianto, Gramaglia, Facchini, & Abbate-Daga,
2004; Abbate-Daga, Gramaglia, Malfi, Pierò, & Fassino, 2007; Grucza, Przybeck,
Cloninger, 2007; Dalle Grave, Calugi, Brambilla, & Marchesini, 2008.
- Personality disorder (e.g., Svrakic, Draganic, Hill, Bayon, Przybeck, & Cloninger,
2002; Conrad, Schilling, Bausch, Nadstawek, Wartenberg, Wegener, Geiser,
Imbierowicz, & Liedtke, 2007; Alonso, Menchón, Jiménez, Segalàs, Mataix-Cols,
Jaurrieta, Labad, Vallejo, Cardoner, & Pujol, 2008; Pelissolo, Ecochard, & Falissard,
2008.
- Treatment settings (e.g., Anderson, Joyce, Carter, McIntosh, & Bulik, 2002; Dalle
Grave, Calugi, Brambilla, Abbate-Daga, Fassino, & Marchesini, 2006; Mörtberg,
Bejerot, & Aberg Wistedt, 2007; Dalle Grave et al., 2008)
- Investigating established personality theories (e.g., Heath, Cloninger, & Martin,
1994; Cloninger et al., 1994; Bayon, Hill, Svrakic, Przybeck, & Cloninger, 1996).
- Neurobiological parameters (e.g. Kim, Cho, Kang, Hwang, & Kwon, 2002; Suzuki,
Kitao, Ono, KIijima & Inada, 2003; van Heeringen, Audenaert, Van Laere, Dumont,
Slegers, Mertens, & Dierckx, 2003; Serretti, Calati, Giegling, Hartmann, Möller,
Colombo, & Rujescu, 2007).
- Psychiatric genetics (e.g., Heath, et al., 1994; Stallings, et al, 1996; Ono et al., 1997;
Ando et al., 2002; Ando, Suzuki, Yamagata, Kijima, Maekawa, Ono, & Jang, 2004;
Heiman, Stallings, Young, & Hewitt 2004).

26
Why explore cross-cultural equivalence of personality traits?
In order more deeply to understand psychological phenomena like variations of personality
and other psychological disorders or of various effects of psychological treatments, the impact
of cultural factors upon these phenomena and processes has to be investigated. Without taking
into account such cultural determinants, we are in danger of over interpreting theories and
findings derived from Western culture either in terms of inter-individual differences or
relationships between variables that might be triggered by cultural factors (Spielberger, 2004).
It is an important area and some related problems have to be mentioned. Methods should be
available that truly measure the same topic in different cultures. Test adaptation between
different languages and cultures includes many problems. Some of the issues involved are a)
translation and adaptation of measurements; b) methodological problems like design of a
study; c) development and application of appropriate statistical techniques; and d) culturally
meaningful interpretation of findings (Table 6).

There are some considerations to take into account;

a) Words might have a wide range of connotation in different languages, for example, the
term enemy is widespread used in daily life by people in U.S.A., a word that probably would
never be similarly used by Swedish people in daily life as long as it is not related to war.
Other problems in measuring personality across cultures are not just questions of translation
into another language according to Brislin (1976) and account must be taken of the translation
equivalence. Measurement artefacts at item level have to be controlled and diminished; and
difference in response style between cultures should not be neglected. For example, people
from collectivistic cultures may differently interpret or have a different understanding of
terms, situations, and grammatical constructions such as double negatives compared to more
individualistic cultures.

27
Table 6: Dimensions of equivalence in cross-cultural research*
Stage in the research process
1. Problem definition
2. Research design
3. Method of data collection
4. Sampling
5. Data collection
6. Data preparation
7. Data analysis
8. Testing and establishing
measurement equivalence
* de Beuckelaer. Adapted from a presentation at the workshop at ZUMA, Mannheim, “Cross-cultural Survey Design and Analysis”, June 2007.
Type of equivalence
Functional equivalence
Conceptual equivalence
Category equivalence
Equivalence in terms of
operationalisation
Equivalence of instruments
Translation equivalence
Equivalence of data collection
methods
Sampling equivalence
Equivalence of research
administration
Equivalence of data handling
Equivalence of statistical
methods used
Calibration invariance
Configural invariance
Scalar invariance
Source of bias
The product, object / stimulus or behaviour does not serve the same
purpose.
The interpretation of objects and stimuli differs across cultures.
The categories in which relevant objects or other stimuli are placed
differ across cultures.
The type of study or the questions differ across cultures.
Items and/or response formats are not cross-culturally neutral.
Questions / items do not have across equivalent meaning across
cultures.
Data collection methods (face-to-face, telephone, e-surveys) and /or
stimuli used differ across cultures.
The target group and/or sampling frame differ across studies.
Data collection procedures, interviewer selection process, and/or the
time frame used differ across studies.
Data editing and/or data coding procedures are dissimilar across
studies.
Statistical methods used to analyse the data are different across
studies.
The measurement units used differ (or have a different meaning)
across studies.
The rough factor structure of items across cultures are identical (i.e.
pattern of zero and non-zero loadings)
Scalar invariance implies the equivalence of factor loadings and
indicator intercepts across groups.
b) Samples and equality between them is also an issue affecting for example, necessary
sample size, representativeness related to age, gender, genes, education systems and
equivalence (indicating the absence of bias) of school achievements, the health care system,
and parental rearing tradition. These all probably affect the issue under investigation, are
context-dependent and have to be taken into account. Measured substantial cross-cultural
differences can be caused by a mixture of true differences between cultures and various biases
(a generic term for all nuisance factors threatening the validity) can be of impact upon
methods.

c) It is not sufficient to establish high agreement on reliability or validity between

measurement-versions from various cultures; or as van de Vijver stated “The high agreements
on reliability in cultural groups does not imply the universality of the underlying theoretical
constructs” (1997, p. 134). The problem is not just to achieve item and scale equivalence; but
scale and score equivalence in order to enable meaningful and realistic interpretations.

Why is cross-cultural research of importance in personality assessment?

- To measure the core of personality. This will enable us to gain a deeper understanding
of current and former processes within an individual allowing more adequate
treatment or personal decisions.
- Because behaviours that comprise personality traits are usually not clearly defined, it
is important to cross-validate these findings in other cultures.
- To ensure that a shared understanding of phenomena and processes is present.
- To be able create assessment methods that can lead to truly comparable research
(Spielberger 2004).
“The aim of cross-cultural studies is both to explore and to explain cross cultural differences”
(van de Vijver, 1997, p 142). Cross-cultural research is essential in establishing
generalisability of theories and empirical findings. The International Test Commission (ITC,
2001) discovered the high importance of cross-cultural approaches and developed guidelines
for translating and adapting personality tests7.

7
Webpage. http://www.intestcom.org/guidelines/index.php. 2008-02-10.

29
In order to improve equivalence these suggested steps should become routine procedure in
developing and testing theories and instruments:
1. Problem and research identification: what is the meaning of and how do people
interpret and respond to the items?
2. Method and sampling: how is the sampling or the data collection made?
3. How are the data analysed and what appropriate methods have been used?

30
Aims of the studies
The objectives of this thesis were a critical evaluation of Cloninger’s theory, a test of its
applicability in psychiatric science, and an attempt to contribute to its development. However,
human personality is too complex to be handled by statistical models available today.
Nevertheless, I hope that this thesis will make the contours of some pieces of the huge
personality jigsaw puzzle a little bit sharper.
The aims were to develop and to evaluate the Swedish version of the TCI, to compare related
results with other language versions and to test the applicability of the Swedish TCI version.
The more specific aims of study I and II were to establish norms for the Swedish version of
the TCI and to cross-validate results on age and gender influences. Furthermore, it should be
investigated whether the TCI is meaningfully applicable to adolescents in personality
assessment as a basis for further research and clinical studies.
The aims of study III and IV were cross-cultural comparisons of the psychometric properties
between the German, Swedish and American versions of the TCI in order to verify the
reliability and validity of the measurement and its underlying theory as well as to identify
possibilities for the further development of the questionnaire. Additionally, the impact of age
and gender on the inventory was to be investigated from a cross-cultural perspective.
The aim of study V was to assess the structural equivalence of the German and the Swedish
versions of the TCI and the TCI-R from a cross-cultural perspective as a part of the
development of the instrument.
The aim of study VI was to investigate the application of the TCI in psychiatric patients
(depressive) and healthy controls with the focus on occurrence of a PD in order to explore the
relationships between both the temperament and character and the related expression of
personality traits.

31
Table 7: Aims of the different studies.

To introduce a Swedish version of the TCI, establish its psychometric properties and
Study I collect normative data based on a large sample of individuals from the Swedish
population, thus laying the groundwork for epidemiological, psychological and
clinical studies of personality from the perspective of a global psychobiological model
of personality.
To establish new norms for the Swedish version of the TCI; to cross-validate results
Study on age and gender influences on the TCI dimensions and to investigate if the TCI can
II be meaningfully applied to adolescents in personality assessment as a basis for further
research and clinical studies.
To cross-culturally compare the psychometric properties of the TCI (descriptive
Study parameters, internal consistency, and the factor-structure of the higher-order
III dimensions) between the German, Swedish, and American versions.

To investigate if behaviour tendencies as described by the TCI are stable throughout

Study life span and to investigate significant differences between men and women.
IV The hypothesis was that: Temperament and character dimensions are relatively stable
during adulthood, with some increase in Harm Avoidance, Self-Directedness, and
Self-Transcendence, and a decrease in Novelty Seeking.
Study To assess the structural equivalence of the German and Swedish versions of the TCI
V and the TCI-R from a cross-cultural perspective.

To explore the relations between extreme expressions on temperament to an immature

Study character. Do individuals with extreme scores on temperament dimensions have a
VI higher probability to score low on Self Directedness and Cooperativeness and to
suffer from a PD?

32
Methods

Subjects
In study I and II the participants were randomly selected from the same area from the
Västerbotten county population register. Inclusion criteria for these cohorts were as follows: a
resident of Västerbotten county and a Swedish citizen.
The subjects of the younger cohorts in study II were recruited from junior (13-15 years) and
senior (16-19 years) high school classes from five high schools in order to get some
dispersion of the sample, but without taken citizenship and ethnicity into account. They were
all investigated during ordinary lessons under supervision of a teacher. The parents of the
adolescents up to the age of 18 years gave informed consent for their child’s participation in
the investigation and the older subjects gave a written informed consent prior to the
investigation.

Study III and IV the samples for these data analyses are from Sweden, Germany, and the
U.S.A. The Swedish sample was randomly recruited by the population register volunteers
representing controls for the normal population in Sweden. The U.S. sample was a
community sample with subjects being solicited for completing the questionnaire as they
entered a shopping mall. The German sample was recruited during courses at an educational
institute for vocational training. It was selected according to availability and it is neither
biased by self-selection of the subjects or by payment. Most of the questionnaires were
administered during group sessions. All three samples were individually matched for age-
cohort and gender based on the American sample because of its smaller size.

Study V consisted of healthy volunteers who were selected according to availability for this
exploratory study in Germany. They signed a written informed consent prior to investigation
and were not paid for their participation. The subjects were asked to complete the TCI and its
revised version TCI-R in one session.

In Study VI psychiatric inpatients from Sweden (Psychiatric Hospital Kalmar) and psychiatric
inpatients from Germany (Clinic of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Rostock)
were investigated. The samples from the normal population were matched by gender and age-

33
categories. Both samples were chosen consecutively by availability and are not to be regarded
as representative. All subjects signed a written informed consent prior to the investigation.
The patients were individually assessed prior to admission.

Table 8: Description of the sample in different studies.

Study Total Male Female

n 1300 650 650

Age 50.1 ± 18.6 50.1 ± 18.6 50.1 ± 18.6
Test retest
n 217 105 112
Age 60.6 ± 13.0 60.2 ± 12.9 60.86 ± 13.1

II

n 2209 1020 1189

Age 31,1 ± 17.2 30,9 ± 17.1 31.2 ± 17.3
III
n 900 450 450
Age 34.1 ± 12.7 32.7 ± 11.7 35.5 ± 13.4
IV
n 900 450 450
Age 34.1 ± 12.7 32.7 ± 11.7 35.5 ± 13.4
V
n 482 182 300
Age 36.9 ± 15.1 36.3 ± 14.9 37.7 ± 15.4
VI
n 2000 740 1260
Age 37.9 ± 12.9 ? ±? ?±?

34
Material and instrument
The Swedish version of TCI was developed in several steps, including translation, back-
translation, and population testing at different levels according to Brislin’s (1976)
recommendations.
The version used in this study was first tested on a small sample and the results were
compared with the American version and necessary corrections of version 1 were made
(Figure 6). The next step was a ”blind” back translation into American English by an
American doctor working in a psychiatric clinic in Sweden. Version 2 was then compared
with the original American version and, following revision of items, was again evaluated. The
language was once again revised and then reviewed by a Swedish teacher of English, who
compared the original American version with the Swedish second version. Finally, in version
3 the language of some items was changed to a more colloquial Swedish style. Followed by
further evaluation of response patterns, minor linguistic errors which resulted in version 3.1
were corrected. This version is the one used in Sweden today.

35
Figure 6: Adaptation of the TCI to Swedish conditions according to translation.

Because of some limitations of the TCI (version 9) in terms of low reliability (Richter,
Brändström, & Przybeck, 1999), a revised version was developed by Cloninger et al. – the
TCI-R. In this version the response format was changed into a 5-point Likert scale and a
fourth subscale of Reward Dependence and four subscales of Persistence were created.

36
Statistics
Mean scores and standard deviations were calculated when appropriate related to the scale
level of the data. Otherwise, percentages were provided. T-tests for dependent or independent
samples, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)s including Bonferroni correction, or
multiple ANOVA (MANOVA)s were performed in order to test for mean score differences
between various groups or relationships between variables, respectively. Discriminant
analysis was applied in order to explore discriminative power of variable sets (TCI
dimensions or subscales). Pearson Chi-square tests were applied to test for relationships
between variables on ordinal or nominal scale level. Correlation analysis was performed with
Pearson’s correlation coefficients. The internal consistency of TCI dimensions and subscales
was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha. Principle axis factor analysis with OBLIMIN rotation was
calculated for the temperament and character subscales. OBLIMIN factor rotation was
preferred because of the modest empirical correlations between the dimensions. The
replicability of the factors in the inventory was evaluated by orthogonal Procrustes rotation
method (McCrae, Zonderman, Costa jr., Bond & Paunonen, 1996). Factors for which
calculated coefficients have been found to be .80 or larger are virtually the same and tend to
be judged as equal (ten Berge, 1977).

Table 9: Summaries of the statistical analyses performed in each study.

Arithmetic mean scores & standard deviations

T-tests for paired samples

Study I Reliability, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients, Test-retest reliability

Pearson's correlation coeffcients

Principal component analysis by oblimin rotations

Arithmetic mean scores & standard deviations

Pearson’s correlation coefficients

Study II
One-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) including Bonferroni correction

and polynomial contrasts

37
 Reliability, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients

Principal component analysis with oblique (OBLIMIN) rotations

Multiple analyses of variance (MANOVA).

Arithmetic mean scores & standard deviations

One-way analyses of variance (ANOVA)

T-tests for dependent samples

Pearson’s correlation coefficients

Study III
Reliability, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients

Factor analyses, principal component analysis with oblique (OBLIMIN)

Orthogonal Procrustes rotation method was used to evaluate the

replicability of the factors

Chi square-test

T-tests for dependent and independent samples

Study IV
Pearson’s correlation coefficients

One-way analyses of variance (ANOVA).

Arithmetic mean scores & standard deviations

Reliability, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients

Study V Principal component analysis with oblique (OBLIMIN) rotations

Orthogonal Procrustes rotation method was used to evaluate the

replicability of the factors in the inventory.

Arithmetic mean scores & standard deviations

Study VI One-way analyses of variance (ANOVA)

Multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA).

38
Summary of the studies

Study I: Swedish Normative Data on Personality Using the Temperament

and Character Inventory.
The results of this study of 1300 volunteers showed that the Swedish TCI is a successful
translation of the American version. It could be demonstrated that the two instruments have
very similar psychometric properties, including the mean and standard deviations for the
scales, reliability of the scales, correlations between scales, the factor structure of the test, and
test-retest reliability.
The results of this study confirm the theory of temperament and character as a seven-factor
model of personality. The minor differences between the two versions of the instrument might
be the result of several factors. Differences in some of the scales could represent evidence for
cultural differences between Sweden and the United States of America. This interpretation is
supported by the fact that only the mean values of the dimension differ between the United
States of America and Sweden, while the internal consistency and factor structure are very
similar. However, there were some inter-factor correlations that were marginal and probably
due to dual loading items.

Study II: The Swedish Version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI).
This study was performed to evaluate age and gender influences on the TCI dimensions.
Furthermore, we also studied whether the adult version of the TCI is meaningfully applicable
to adolescents in the assessment of personality traits. Moreover we calculated new norms for
the Swedish version.
In relation to age and gender, both categories showed independent effects on the personality
dimensions. The temperament dimensions seem to be more stable over time compared to the
character dimensions (less variation in the calculated scores, no cubic contrasts). This could
possibly be explained by the assumed largely genetic background of the temperament
dimensions. The character dimensions seem to mature incrementally up until the age group
23-27, thereafter they are more stable. The time of early adolescence has to be regarded as a
period of rapid development of social skills that probably causes the difference found in
character traits. This indicates that in evaluating personality by means of the TCI, both age
and gender have to be taken into account.

39
The results of the analyses concerning internal consistency showed that the scores were, as
expected, weaker in the younger cohorts (aged 13-16 years) than in the older ones (17-80).
The younger age cohorts (below the age of 15) are also characterised by inconsistency in the
correlation structure reflected by deviations in the factor structure. The results concerning
internal consistency and factor structure further underline that the use of the adult version of
the TCI cannot be supported before the age of 17, for these age groups the junior TCI is
recommended.

Study III: Assessing personality: The Temperament and Character Inventory in a cross-
cultural comparison between Germany, Sweden, and the U.S.A.
In this study the American, Swedish, and German versions of the Temperament and Character
Inventory were compared based on samples of 300 healthy volunteers each, which have been
matched for age cohorts and gender.
The analyses indicated a high agreement for scores on the temperament and character
dimensions and subscales across the samples. Exceptions include minor differences that
appear to be due to cultural variations, differences in sampling methods, and of some minor
difficulties with two subscales (Exploratory excitability and Self-acceptance), as well as
defining the Persistence factor as an independent dimension of temperament. It is likely that
cultural differences between the three samples are also reflected by the results of the
discriminant analysis. The frequency of correctly classified subjects of the American sample
was significantly higher compared to those of the Swedish and German samples. More
Swedish subjects are classified as Germans and vice versa than as Americans. Further,
character may be more influenced by sociocultural variables than temperament.
The subscales yielded similar internal consistencies, correlation structure, factor structures,
and high factor congruence coefficients. Although there were some intercorrelations between
the dimensions Reward Dependence and Persistence, they are viewed as independent.
Possibly, the problems with Persistence arise exclusively from its small number of items.
The results indicated a cross-cultural transferability of the temperament and character
dimensions of the inventory. Additionally, the validity and stability of the seven-factor model
of personality, as suggested by Cloninger, was confirmed.

Study IV: Age and gender distribution of the dimensions of the Temperament and
Character Inventory in a cross-cultural perspective between Sweden, Germany,
and the U.S.A.

40
The samples consisted of 300 German subjects, 300 Swedish subjects and 300 U.S. subjects
matched by age cohort and gender. The stability of the measured personality dimensions was
evaluated across samples, as was their age- and gender-distribution.
We found significant effects of age, gender, and culture in univariate and multivariate
comparisons on the personality dimensions. However, several significant differences in the
personality dimensions for both European samples appear to be similar compared with those
of the U.S.-sample. Because of the comparable differences between female and male
individuals in all samples we are able to conclude that females generally ascribe themselves
as more careful, fearful, insecure, and negativistic; as more sympathetic, sentimental, and
understanding; as more empathetic, compassionate, and supportive as well as more
unpretentious, selfless, and spiritual compared with males. These differences might on one
hand result of genetically determined influences for Harm Avoidance and Reward
Dependence, or they might occur from rearing influences directing to female and male
behavioural stereotypes and the interaction of these factors during life-span on the other hand.
The found differences between the countries for both gender suggest that they may represent
differences between the national cultures by means of generalised social stereotypes or/and
stereotypes in completing self-regarded questions. Even though differences in the mean scores
between female and male subjects occurred for several dimensions of the TCI, there were
fewer differences between the distributions of the scores between the genders then between
the countries. We have to conclude that gender and age specific norms for the dimensions of
the Temperament and Character Inventory are necessary because of the established significant
differences. For the application of the TCI in research it appears that the use of the raw-scores
is reasonable. In comparing groups, the use of mean scores is not sufficient and comparisons
of distributions of the scores should also be calculated. Finally, when testing for relationships
with other variables age and gender should be controlled for.

Study V: Further Development of the Temperament and Character Inventory.

Due to some limitations of the TCI (version 9) a revised version, the TCI-R was developed.
The structural equivalence of both versions was demonstrated from a cross-cultural
perspective. 482 healthy volunteers from Sweden and Germany completed both versions of
the TCI in one session. In testing for the replicability of the factors across both samples as
well as across both versions, an orthogonal Procrustes rotation method was used.
The reliability coefficients of the TCI-R were higher than those of the TCI in both samples.
All reliability coefficients of the subscales of the TCI-R were above .82, suggesting

41
satisfactorily reliability for profile interpretations. The improvement of the Reward
Dependence and the Persistence dimensions by changing items and developing new subscales
represents a successful procedure. The factor structure of the inventory remained highly
equivalent across cultures and across versions. The results indicated a cross-cultural
transferability of the temperament and character dimensions. The stability and the validity of
the seven-factor model of personality were supported. The Temperament and Character
Inventory-Revised represents an important and useful method for the assessment of
personality. However, the interpretations of the findings are limited by the small sample sizes.
The high correlation coefficients between corresponding dimensions and subscales of the two
versions can be interpreted as one indicator of the equality of the scales. However, there are
some limitations besides the expected effect that the correlations for Reward Dependence and
Persistence are smaller than those of the other dimensions. In these dimensions, the most
important changes were performed. The relatively low correlations for some of the subscales
(mostly within Persistence and Cooperativeness) necessitates detailed analysis at the item and
subscale levels of the revised questionnaire in order to further improve the reliability of the
revised version. This investigation is one of the aims of ongoing normative studies for the
TCI-R in Germany and in Sweden.

Study VI: Personality Disorder Diagnosis by Means of the Temperament and Character
Inventory (TCI)
Personality disorders criteria are still in development. Cloninger’s biosocial theory of
personality contributed to this discussion. The aim of the study was to explore the
relationships between extreme expressions on temperament and an immature character
according to these assumptions. 800 healthy volunteers and 200 psychiatric inpatients from
both Sweden and Germany were consecutively recruited and completed the Temperament and
Character Inventory, which measures four temperament and three character dimensions.
Patients differed from controls on temperament and character dimensions. The combination of
low and very low character scores with extreme scores in either Novelty Seeking, Harm
Avoidance, or Reward Dependence were found more often among patients with PD compared
to patients without PD and controls, this finding was more pronounced with an increasing
number of extreme temperament scores. Both temperament and character dimensions are
important in describing PDs, and the two domains interact in non-linear ways during
development across the life-span.

42
To summarise, our study suggest that the Temperament and Character Inventory has to be
evaluated as a useful tool within the process of validation of diagnosis of a PDs, especially in
clinical practice where it is often difficult to comprehensively recognise all a patient’s
personality disturbances during a short time.

General Discussion and Conclusions

The development of the TCI is founded on the development of the biosocial theory of
personality, which in turn stimulated the further development of the theory. Unfortunately
this theory-based approach is not commonly used in the development of personality
measurements. The approach of developing a personality questionnaire on the basis of the
theory must be viewed as a significant challenge. That was one reason for me to become
interested in dealing with and learning more about this personality assessment method.

The main findings of our investigations can be stated as follows:

- The adaptation of the Swedish version of the TCI was successful.
- The seven factor structure of Cloninger’s biopsychological theory of personality
theory was mainly confirmed by the Swedish normative data and by cross-cultural
comparisons between data from Germany, Sweden and the U.S.A.
- The adult version of the TCI should not be used in adolescents under 17 years.
- The found gender and age differences suggest that TCI norms should be developed
dependent of age and gender; and that age and gender have to be taken into account in
research and clinical application.
- There are several difficult items in the TCI due to grammatically complicated item
formulations (for example double negatives).

The analysis of psychometric properties in terms of Cronbach’s alpha coefficients and the
second-order facture structure of the Swedish version of the inventory showed similar
findings compared to that from other western cultures (American and German data). These
results also revealed greater cultural similarities between European (Sweden, German)
opposite to the American findings especially on the character dimensions The greater cross-
cultural variability of character suggests that sociocultural influences may be more important

43
for character than for temperament, even though the heritability of temperament and character
dimensions has been found to be the same in twin studies.
To some degree, the found differences may reflect true cultural differences; item biases; small
numbers in one dimension; or intercorrelations between dimensions and subscales (cross
loadings). Similar intercorrelations were also found in genetic studies (Ando et al., 2002). Our
results confirmed the suggested seven dimensions proposed by the psychobiological theory of
Cloninger with some restrictions related to the factor structure of temperament (..Are there
three or four temperament dimensions?).
The shortcomings became more obvious in one of our other studies comparing the Farsi, the
German, and the Swedish version of the TCI, versions derived from highly different cultures
and languages (Richter et al., 2007) although the main factor structure could be confirmed in
this comparison.

Age and gender are of impact upon all TCI dimensions with age particularly impacting upon
character that incrementally changes during adolescence up to the age of 25 (Figure 8),
whereas temperament was found to be more stable over time (Figure 7). In our studies, we
could also confirm the age and gender differences in temperament and character dimensions
across cultures.

44
Figure 7: Mean values of temperament dimensions relativity to the number of items in the
dimension for males and females (range 0-1), n=2209. 8

8
In order to be able to compare the dimensions due to different numbers of items in all dimensions, we divided
the scores on each dimension by the number of items in the dimension, which gave a range from zero to one
(Figure 7-8).

45
Figure 8: Mean values of character dimensions relativity to the number of items in the
dimension for males and females (range 0-1), n=2209.

Gender was of independent and modest impact upon some personality dimensions, perhaps
due to differences at the genetic level, or by generalised social and gender-role stereotypes
affecting the socialisation process, nevertheless, age appeared be to of higher impact in
personality development. The overall character development across life-span can be regarded
as similar across the genders despite differences at mean score level.
With respect to the applicability of the TCI to younger age-groups, many items do not meet
their life situation, conditions and tasks. For example, they are not allowed “to drive a car”
(item no. 26, 189) even though many of them would like to do so; or make “real personal
sacrifices in order to make the world a better place”. Even if they are idealistic, it is to be

46
hoped that they lack the experience of attempting to “prevent war, poverty and injustice”
(item no. 163).
Some of the shortcomings of the version 9 of the TCI were eliminated by expanding the RD
and PS dimension to four subscales while keeping constant the total number of items of the
questionnaire when developing the TCI-R. This caused an improvement of its psychometric
properties; especially of the RD and PS dimension, confirmed in cross-cultural comparisons
between data from Germany and Sweden (Brändström, Richter, & Nylander, 2003).
Furthermore, our results supported the structural similarity between the Temperament and
Character Inventory and its revised version and across cultures. However, changing the
response format from true-false to a 5-point Likert type scale format (totally agree to totally
disagree) did not work as well as expected with individuals from European countries because
of many grammatically complicated formulations with double negatives, multiple conditional
clauses etc. This is evidenced by the very high number of mid-point answers causing a very
small distribution of item-difficulty. These shortcomings combined with the theoretically
unexpected and unwanted correlations between some subscales and dimensions require
detailed analyses and revisions of the TCI-R on item- and subscale level to be carried out,
based on cross-cultural data in order to further improve the psychometric properties.

However, despite the fact that the TCI and its successor, the TCI-R, are still characterised by
several shortcomings our findings suggest that the questionnaires represent a useful method
for assessing personality in terms of temperament and character both in clinical practice and
research; and that the changes which were made to the TCI in order to improve the
questionnaire were partly successful.

The role of personality in origin, course, recovery, and recurrence of the various
psychological disorders have represented an ongoing topic in psychiatric and clinical
psychological theories, discussions, and research for many years and includes many
unanswered questions (for example; Kraepelin, 1921; Sullivan, 1949; Krueger & Markon,
2006; Lara, Pinto, Akiskal & Akiskal, 2006; Nigg, 2006).

One attempt to contribute to a deeper understanding of the association between personality

and one particular disorder, personality disorders (PDs), was undertaken by our group.
Personality represents the crucial and central subject-matter of PDs by definition. Thus,
Cloninger and colleagues suggested, based on their personality theory, that PD-type is

47
determined by temperament pattern, even though the currently found specificity cannot yet be
regarded as satisfactory, whereas the occurrence of a PD is a consequence of character. We
investigated the latter hypothesis in a cross-cultural data-set consisting of individuals from the
normal population and depressive inpatients (Richter & Brändström, 2008). The psychiatric
inpatients are generally characterised by lower NS, higher HA, lower SD and lower CO than
healthy controls. Patients with a PD showed more pronounced deviations in HA and SD than
those without PD. The lower CO scores of patients with PD emerged as their exclusively
qualitative indicator compared to both other sub-samples. Extreme temperament expressions
occurred more often among psychiatric patients compared to controls. Furthermore, extreme
expressions on HA are of a particularly vulnerable impact upon suffering from a PD. The
combination of extreme expressions (high or low) on temperament dimensions combined with
an immature character in terms of low SD and CO indicates a high risk of suffering from a
PD. If the state of character development is immature the probability of suffering from a PD
increases with the number of extreme expressions on the three temperament dimensions NS,
HA, and RD, a finding also supported by earlier research (Svrakic et al., 1993, Mulder &
Joyce, 1997). These results support the applicability and usefulness of the dimensional
approach by means of the TCI in PD diagnostics and represent a validation of parts of the
unified biosocial theory of personality. Both temperament and character are important in the
development of PDs underlining the role of their interaction during life-span. In summary, our
study suggested that the Temperament and Character Inventory has to be evaluated as a useful
tool within the process of validation of the diagnosis of a PD, especially in clinical practice
where is often complicated to comprehensively recognise all a patient’s personality
disturbances during a short time. Its use would probably improve understanding,
classification, and subsequently the interpretations of personality disorders in clinical settings.

The above mentioned central position of high HA that was found in patients suffering from a
PD was reported from patients suffering from almost any psychological disorders (Svrakic et
al., 2002). Seemingly, high HA represents a global vulnerability factor related to the
development of any psychological disorder, whereas high SD can be regarded as a global
resilience factor protecting against the occurrence of a psychological disorder, or at least to
enable the individual to cope more easily and effective with the consequences of a disorder.

48
View to the future or how can the quality of the TCI be further improved?
Even though we predominantly could confirm the international findings of acceptable
psychometric properties of the TCI and to a greater degree those of the TCI-R, improvements
are required in order to create a satisfactory, cross-culturally equivalent personality
questionnaire. First of all, detailed analysis and revision is needed of the TCI-R items based
on their difficulty and discrimination index as well as in accordance with established
requirements to item formulations. This will include omission of several items currently
containing grammatically complicated constructions like double negatives or multiple
conditions and the creation of new items probably asking for theoretically relevant behaviour,
motivation, or emotional expressions in daily life.
The formation of the international research team should enable these revisions to be based
upon cross-cultural comparison topics from the beginning. Any revised version must be
tested in individuals from the various cultures and different groups (normal population,
psychiatric patients) applying different response formats (alternative true – false; 5-point
Likert scale format or 4-point Likert scale) in order to decide which answer format is most
suitable to the items, the individuals, and less biased by cultural influences. In this process the
various types of equivalence mentioned above (Table 10) have to be ensured.

49
Table 10: Measurement equivalence tests and their conceptual meanings*
Measurement Statistical test Conceptual meaning Implications
equivalence
model
(Factor) Form Equivalent pattern of salient and non-salient There are no cross-country differences in All factors are measured by an
equivalence factor loadings across countries. To set a respondents’ frame-of-reference when identical set of indicators in all
model metric for the factor, the loading of one completing the instrument countries
indicator per factor (i.e. the reference
indicator) is constrained to one in all
countries
Metric All factor loadings are constrained to be There are no cross-country differences in Structure-level comparisons (i.e.
equivalence identical across countries respondents’ calibration of the intervals on dealing with cause-effect
model the measurement scale. Differences in relationships) across countries are
Extreme Response Style (ERS) across meaningful
countries are not likely
Scalar All factor loadings and indicator intercepts Differences in Acquiescence Response Structure-level comparisons and
equivalence are constrained to be identical across Style (ARS) (i.e. agreement bias) across level-oriented comparisons (e.g.
model countries countries are not likely based on estimated construct
means) across countries are
meaningful
* Reproduced from De Beuckelaer, Lievens, & Swinnen., 2007; p. 577
 Acknowledgements

Writing a thesis may be hazardous for one’s mental health. I realised this when I tried to get
something done on my spare time without much success. Sometimes I took a year before I
was able to concentrate on my own work again. But let me assure, it is worth the risk.
It gives you an exquisite opportunity not only as a learning process but also as a way to gain a
better insight in interesting areas.
During this time I also realised the importance of social support not only in daily life but also
in the academic process and the importance of choosing your friends/colleagues wisely. I
want to thank all of you who were available in some way and made the whole process
possible. And to those I have not mentioned in this acknowledgment by name, I hope you
understand that it is due to some error in the research process (which should merit further
research).
There are so many people to whom I owe thanks, but some people have made such a
difference to my research that they should be mentioned by name. First of all let me thank
Assistent Professors Per-Olof Nylander and and Sören Sigvardsson who introduced me to the
realm of the academic process and the psychobiological theory. Sören, the founder of the
research group has always been supportive of my research. Completing the thesis has been a
nice journey and I have learned at lot about the research process from you and thanks to
Christer Engström for all the laughs we had together during the research and for just being
you.
My late co-supervisor Prof. Conny Nordin is deserving of special mention. He provided fast
and thorough feedback and was always on hand to motivate and encourage me whenever I
doubted my ability to complete this project. He will be sadly missed.
Thanks are due to Prof. Robert C. Cloninger for our collaboration of the Swedish extension of
his work, his enduring support together with the valuable knowledge and insights from many
fields he shared with me.
Tom Przybeck shared his methodological and statistical expertise which broadened my scope,
but also his empathy and reliability proved invaluable in assisting me to complete this work. I
am grateful for all the support he has given me and proud to call him my friend.
To Samantha Halliday I would really like to give my appreciation for an excellent language
revision.

51
I owe special thanks to Professor Jörg Richter who introduced me to conferences, the
publication process and the doctoral process itself. Whenever I lost touch with reality he was
always willing to pull my feet back down to earth, to motivate me and to creatively think
about new lines of research together with me. Fast and thorough feedback was always
forthcoming and I want to thank you for all the nice times we have spent together whilst
completing this work.
Last but not least, sincere thanks are due to my family, who have always supported me in my
work even if they have had to share most of their time with a doctoral student. Thank you all
for the support, understanding, patience and love you have given me.

Even if I haven’t experienced it, they say there is a life after one’s doctoral thesis too!

52
References:

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62
Appendix

The Swedish Version of the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI).

133
134
 TCI
Copyright: © 1987, 1992 C R, Cloninger.

Namn................................................................................…….......

Ålder................….. Kön………...……...

Yrke/utbildning..............................................................……..........

Undersökningsdatum år, månad, dag......................................

Instruktioner:

Detta häfte innehåller ett antal påståenden som handlar om känslor och åsikter.
Läs igenom varje påstående och ta ställning till om Du tycker att det stämmer in
på Dig.

Om Du tycker att ett påstående stämmer in på Dig så ringar Du in "S" (=SANT).

Tycker Du att det inte stämmer så ritar Du en ring runt "F" (=FALSKT).

Exempel:

Jag förstår hur jag skall göra S F

Om Du tror att Du förstår hur Du skall göra så sätter Du alltså en ring runt "S".

Besvara på detta sätt alla de 238 påståendena. Fundera inte för länge på varje
uppgift.
OBS! Många påståenden är formulerade så att det kan vara svårt att välja mellan
"S" och "F". Ringa då in det alternativ som Du tycker är "minst dåligt".

- RINGA INTE IN BÅDE "S" OCH "F"

- SÄTT INTE RINGEN MELLAN "S" OCH "F"
- BESVARA ALLA PÅSTÅENDEN

Det finns inga svar som är "rätt" eller "fel". Du kan således inte bli bättre eller
sämre än någon annan.

Orginalversion TCI. Copyright © 1987, 1992, C R, Cloninger.

Omarbetat till Svensk version 3.1, TCI 1993, 2006 av Brändström S, Nylander P-O, Psykiatriska Institutionen NUS, Sigvardsson S,
Inst. för Socialmedicin Umeå Universitet, med tillstånd från Prof. C R Cloninger, Washington University School of Medicine
Department of Psychiatry 4940 Children's Place, St Louis, MO 63110.
 TCI SANT FALSKT

1. Jag prövar ofta nya saker för att det är roligt eller S F
spännande, även om de flesta tycker att det bara är
slöseri med tiden.

2. Jag känner mig vanligtvis säker på att allt kommer S F

att gå bra, även i situationer som skulle oroa dom
flesta.

3. Jag blir ofta djupt rörd av ett vackert tal eller fin S F
poesi.

4. Jag känner ofta att jag är ett offer för S F

omständigheterna.

5. Jag kan vanligtvis acceptera andra människor som S F

dom är, även om dom är mycket olika mig.

6. Jag tror att under kan ske. S F

7. Jag njuter när jag får hämnas på dom som sårar S F

mig.

8. Ofta märker jag inte att tiden går när jag S F

koncentrerar mig på någonting.

9. Jag känner ofta att mitt liv varken har mål eller S F
mening.

10. Jag tycker om att hjälpa till att hitta lösningar på S F

problem så att alla klarar sig bra.

11. Jag skulle förmodligen kunna prestera mer än vad S F

jag gör, men jag kan inte se meningen med att
anstränga sig mer än vad som är nödvändigt för att
klara sig.

12. Jag känner mig ofta spänd och orolig i obekanta S F

situationer även när andra tycker att det inte finns
så mycket att oroa sig för.

13. Jag gör ofta saker och ting utifrån hur jag känner S F
för tillfället utan att tänka på hur man gjort tidigare.

14. Jag gör vanligtvis saker och ting på mitt eget vis, S F
hellre än att ge efter för vad andra vill.

1 Svensk version 3.1 TCI. 1993, 2006: Brändström S, Sigvardsson S, Nylander P-O.
 TCI SANT FALSKT

15. Jag känner ofta så stark förening med människor S F

omkring mig att det är som om ingenting skiljer oss
åt.

16. I allmänhet tycker jag inte om personer som har S F

andra uppfattningar än vad jag har.

17. Mitt naturliga sätt att reagera är i de flesta S F

situationer grundat på goda vanor som jag
utvecklat.

18. Jag skulle kunna göra nästan vad som helst inom S F
lagens ram för att bli rik och berömd, även om jag
skulle förlora många av mina gamla vänners
förtroende.

19. Jag är mycket mer reserverad och behärskad än de S F

flesta.

20. Jag måste ofta avbryta det jag håller på med S F

eftersom jag börjar oroa mig för att någonting skulle
kunna gå på tok.

21. Jag tycker om att öppet diskutera mina upplevelser S F

och känslor med vänner i stället för att behålla dem
för mig själv.

22. Jag känner mig kraftlösare och tröttare än de flesta. S F

23 Man säger ofta att jag är tankspridd eftersom jag S F

blir så upptagen av det jag håller på med att jag
glömmer allt annat.

24. Jag känner mig sällan fri att välja det jag vill göra. S F

25. Jag tar ofta lika mycket hänsyn till en annan S F

människas känslor som till mina egna.

26. För det mesta skulle jag föredra att göra något S F
riskfyllt (t ex köra bil fort på slingrande vägar med
branta stup), framför att behöva hålla mig lugn och
sysslolös några timmar.

27. Jag undviker ofta att träffa främmande människor S F

eftersom jag saknar självförtroende när jag är
tillsammans med dom jag inte känner.

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 TCI SANT FALSKT

28. Jag försöker att vara till lags i så stor utsträckning S F

som möjligt.

29. Jag föredrar gamla beprövade metoder framför S F

"nya och bättre".

30. På grund av tidsbrist kan jag inte prioritera saker S F

efter hur viktiga de är för mig.

31. Jag gör ofta saker för att skydda djur och växter S F
från att utrotas.

32. Jag önskar ofta att jag var klyftigare än alla andra. S F

33. Det är ett nöje att se mina ovänner lida. S F

34. Jag tycker om att ha ordning och reda och sätta S F

upp regler för andra när helst jag kan.

35. Jag har svårt att uppehålla intresset för samma sak S F
en längre tid eftersom min uppmärksamhet ofta
fångas av något annat.

36. Lång träning har gett mig goda vanor som är S F

starkare än övertalning eller ögonblickets ingivelser.

37. Jag brukar vara så envis att jag fortsätter att arbeta S F
långt efter det att andra har gett upp.

38. Jag är fascinerad av mycket i livet som inte kan S F

förklaras på ett vetenskapligt sätt.

39. Jag har många dåliga vanor som jag önskar att jag S F
kunde bryta.

40. Jag väntar ofta att någon annan ska hitta en S F

lösning på mina problem.

41. Jag gör ofta av med pengar tills jag är utan S F

kontanter eller råkat i skuld.

3 Svensk version 3.1 TCI. 1993, 2006: Brändström S, Sigvardsson S, Nylander P-O.
 TCI SANT FALSKT

42. Jag tror att jag kommer att ha mycket tur i S F

framtiden.

43. Jag återhämtar mig långsammare än dom flesta S F

från lindrigare sjukdomar eller påfrestningar.

44. Det skulle inte bekymra mig att jämt vara ensam. S F

45. När jag kopplar av får jag ofta oväntade "aha"- S F

upplevelser.

46. Jag bryr mig inte så mycket om ifall andra tycker S F

om mig eller mitt sätt att vara.

47. Jag brukar försöka få just det jag önskar själv S F

eftersom det i alla fall är omöjligt att tillfredsställa
alla.

48. Jag har inget tålamod med dem som inte S F

accepterar mina åsikter.

49. Det verkar inte som jag förstår andra speciellt bra. S F

50. Man behöver inte vara oärlig för att ha framgång i S F

livet.

51. Jag känner ibland en sån stark samhörighet med S F

naturen att allt tycks vara en enda levande
organism.

52. Jag är mycket bättre på att lyssna än att prata när S F

jag är i samspråk med andra.

53. Jag tappar humöret lättare än dom flesta. S F

54. När jag måste möta en grupp främmande S F

människor är jag blygare än dom flesta.

55. Jag är känslosammare än de flesta andra. S F

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 TCI SANT FALSKT

56. Jag tycks ha ett "sjätte sinne" som gör att jag ibland S F
vet vad som kommer att hända.

57. När någon sårar mig på något sätt brukar jag S F

försöka ge igen.

58. Mina attityder påverkas till stor del av sådant som S F

ligger utanför min kontroll.

59. Varje dag försöker jag ta ett nytt steg mot mina mål. S F

60. Jag önskar ofta att jag var starkare än alla andra. S F

61. Jag tycker om att tänka igenom saker och ting en S F

lång stund innan jag bestämmer mig.

62. Jag arbetar hårdare än dom flesta. S F

63. Jag behöver ofta ta en tupplur eller en extra S F

vilopaus eftersom jag blir så lätt trött.

64. Jag tycker om att stå andra till tjänst. S F

65. Oavsett vilka tillfälliga problem som jag måste klara S F

av tror jag alltid att det kommer att gå bra.

66. Jag har svårt för att spendera pengar på mig själv, S F
t.o.m. när jag sparat mycket.

67. Jag förblir vanligen lugn och trygg i situationer som S F

de flesta skulle uppleva som fysiskt farliga.

68. Jag håller helst mina problem för mig själv. S F

69. Jag är ofta bekymrad över att jag har svårt att S F
umgås med andra.

70. Jag föredrar att stanna hemma framför att resa eller S F
utforska nya platser.

5 Svensk version 3.1 TCI. 1993, 2006: Brändström S, Sigvardsson S, Nylander P-O.
 TCI SANT FALSKT

71. Jag tycker inte det är smart att hjälpa svaga S F

människor som inte kan hjälpa sig själva.

72. Jag kan inte känna mig lugn till sinnes om jag S F
behandlar andra människor orätt, även om dom är
ojusta mot mig.

73. Folk brukar berätta för mig hur dom känner sig. S F

74. Jag önskar ofta att jag kunde förbli ung. S F

75. Ibland blir jag upprörd. S F

76. Ibland har jag känt mig vara en del av något som är S F
obegränsat i tid och rum.

77. Jag känner ibland en själslig samhörighet med S F

andra människor som jag inte kan förklara i ord.

78. Jag försöker ta hänsyn till andra människors S F

känslor, även om dom tidigare har varit orättvisa
mot mig.

79. Jag tycker om när man kan göra vad man vill utan S F
bestämda regler och föreskrifter.

80. Om jag mötte en grupp främmande människor S F

skulle jag förmodligen vara lugn och öppen även
om man sagt att de är ovänliga.

81. Jag oroar mig vanligtvis mer än dom flesta för att S F
något kan gå på tok.

82. Jag brukar tänka igenom alla fakta i detalj innan jag S F
fattar ett beslut.

83. Jag tycker att det är viktigare att vara sympatisk och S F
förstående mot andra än att vara hård och tuff.

84. Jag känner ofta att jag är en del av omgivningen. S F

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 TCI SANT FALSKT

85. Jag önskar ofta att jag hade speciella krafter, som S F
Stålmannen.

86. Andra människor kontrollerar mig för mycket. S F

87. Jag vill dela med mig till andra det jag vet. S F

88. Religiösa erfarenheter har hjälpt mig att förstå den S F

verkliga meningen med livet.

89. Jag lär mig ofta mycket av andra människor S F

90. Upprepad träning har gjort att jag blivit bra på S F

många saker som hjälper mig att vara
framgångsrik.

91. Jag kan som regel få andra att tro på vad jag säger, S F
även när jag själv vet att jag överdriver eller talar
osanning.

92. Jag behöver mycket extra vila, stöd eller S F

uppmuntran för att återhämta mig från lindrigare
sjukdomar eller påfrestningar.

93. Jag vet att det finns levnadsprinciper som ingen S F

kan bryta mot, utan att få lida för det i längden.

94. Jag vill inte vara rikare än någon annan. S F

95. Jag skulle gladeligen riskera mitt eget liv för att S F
göra världen till en bättre plats att leva på.

96. Jag reagerar mera känslomässigt än S F

förnuftsmässigt även om jag tänkt på något en
längre tid.

97. Ibland har jag känt att mitt liv styrts av en andlig S F
kraft som är större än någon mänsklig varelse.

98. Vanligtvis njuter jag av att vara elak mot den som S F
varit elak mot mig.

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 TCI SANT FALSKT

99. Jag har rykte om mig att vara mycket praktisk och S F
att inte handla känslomässigt.

100. Jag har lätt att hålla ordning på mina tankar medan S F
jag pratar med någon.

101. Jag har inte nått så långt i livet som jag skulle vilja S F
på grund av att jag är den typ av människa jag är.

102. Jag blir djupt rörd av känslosamma vädjanden (som S F

t ex om man ber mig hjälpa handikappade barn).

103. Jag brukar anstränga mig mer än andra eftersom S F

jag vill göra mitt allra bästa.

104. Jag har så många fel och brister att jag inte tycker S F
om mig själv särskilt mycket.

105. Jag har för lite tid för att söka långsiktiga lösningar S F
på mina problem.

106. Jag kan ofta inte handskas med problem för jag vet S F
bara inte vad jag ska göra.

107. Jag önskar ofta att jag kunde få tiden att stanna. S F

108. Jag avskyr att fatta beslut som enbart är grundade S F

på mina första intryck.

109. Jag gör hellre av med pengar än sparar dem. S F

110. Jag brukar vara bra på att tänja på sanningen för S F

att göra en historia roligare eller för att skoja med
någon.

111. Då och då händer det att jag pratar om folk bakom S F

ryggen på dem.

112. Om jag blir generad eller förnedrad kommer jag S F

över det mycket snabbt.

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 TCI SANT FALSKT

113. Jag har väldigt svårt att ändra på mitt vanliga S F

beteende eftersom jag blir så spänd, trött eller
oroad.

114. Jag brukar kräva tungt vägande praktiska skäl S F

innan jag är beredd att ändra på mitt gamla sätt att
utföra saker och ting.

115. Jag behöver en massa hjälp från andra för att träna S F
upp goda vanor.

116. Jag tror att man kan ha ett sjätte sinne dvs. att man S F
är mottaglig för bland annat telepati, föraningar osv.

117. Jag skulle vilja ha nära och kära vänner omkring S F

mig nästan jämt.

118. Ett kärnvapenkrig vore inte så dumt. S F

119. Jag håller mig nästan alltid lugn och obekymrad, S F

även om många andra är rädda.

120. Jag tycker att sorgsna sånger och filmer är ganska S F

tråkiga.

121. Jag tvingas ofta av omständigheterna att handla S F

mot min vilja.

122. Det är svårt för mig att tolerera människor som är S F

annorlunda än jag.

123. Jag tror att det mesta som kallas under, bara är ren S F
tur.

124. Jag är hellre vänlig än hämndlysten när någon S F

sårar mig.

125. Jag blir ofta så fascinerad av det jag håller på med S F

att jag förlorar mig i ögonblicket - som om jag vore
avskild från tid och rum.

126. Jag tycker inte att det finns någon mening med mitt S F
liv.

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 TCI SANT FALSKT

127. Jag försöker samarbeta med andra så mycket som S F

möjligt.

128. Jag är nöjd med vad jag uträttar och har ingen S F
större lust att prestera mera.

129. Jag känner mig ofta spänd och nervös i obekanta S F

situationer, även när andra tycker att det inte är
någon fara alls.

130. Jag följer ofta min instinkt, mina infall eller min S F
intuition utan att tänka igenom alla detaljer.

131. Andra tycker ofta att jag är för självständig eftersom S F

jag inte gör som dom vill.

132. Jag upplever ofta en stark andlig eller känslomässig S F

samhörighet med alla människor omkring mig.

133. Jag brukar ha lätt att tycka om människor som har S F

andra värderingar än mina.

134. Andra människor tycks ofta bli besvärade över S F

saker som jag gör eller säger.

135. Goda vanor är så självklara för mig så att de S F

kommer automatiskt och spontant nästan hela
tiden.

136. Det gör mig inget att andra ofta vet mer än jag i S F
olika frågor.

137. Jag brukar försöka tänka mig själv in i andras S F

situation för att verkligen kunna förstå dom.

138. Sådana principer som rent spel och ärlighet spelar S F

liten roll i vissa aspekter av mitt liv.

139. Jag är bättre på att spara pengar än dom flesta. S F

140. Jag har aldrig ljugit. S F

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 TCI SANT FALSKT

141. Även när de flesta andra inte tycker att det är så S F

viktigt, envisas jag ofta med att saker ska göras
noggrant och ordentligt.

142. Jag känner mig mycket trygg och säker på mig själv S F
i nästan alla sociala situationer.

143. Mina vänner tycker att det är svårt att veta hur jag S F
känner det, eftersom jag sällan pratar med dem om
mina innersta tankar.

144. Jag avskyr att ändra på mitt sätt att göra saker och S F
ting, även om många talar om att det finns andra
och bättre sätt att göra det.

145. Jag tycker att det är oklokt att tro på saker som inte S F
kan förklaras vetenskapligt.

146. Jag tycker om att fantisera om att mina ovänner S F

lider.

147. Jag har mer energi och tröttnar inte lika fort som de S F
flesta.

148. Jag tycker om att noga ge akt på detaljerna i allt jag S F

gör.

149. Jag avbryter ofta det jag håller på med därför att jag S F
blir orolig, även om mina vänner säger åt mig att allt
kommer att bli bra.

150. Jag önskar ofta att jag var mäktigare än alla andra. S F

151. Jag är vanligen fri att välja vad jag vill göra. S F

152. Jag blir ofta så engagerad av det jag håller på med S F

att jag för ett ögonblick glömmer var jag är.

153. De som ingår i en arbetsgrupp får sällan sin S F

rättmätiga del.

154. För det mesta skulle jag hellre hålla på med något S F
riskfyllt (t ex drakflygning eller fallskärmshoppning)
än behöva hålla mig lugn och sysslolös några
timmar.

11 Svensk version 3.1 TCI. 1993, 2006: Brändström S, Sigvardsson S, Nylander P-O.
 TCI SANT FALSKT

155. Eftersom jag så ofta spenderar alltför mycket S F

pengar på impulsköp har jag svårt att spara, även
till speciellt planerade saker som t ex semester.

156. Jag viker inte undan för att vara andra till lags. S F

157. Jag är inte alls blyg tillsammans med främmande S F

människor.

158. Jag ger ofta efter för vänners önskemål. S F

159. Jag använder det mesta av min tid att göra sådant S F
som tycks vara nödvändigt men ändå inte riktigt
viktigt för mig.

160. Jag tycker inte att religiösa eller etiska principer om S F

vad som är rätt och fel ska ha någon större
betydelse i affärsmässiga beslut.

161. Jag försöker ofta åsidosätta mina egna omdömen S F

för att bättre kunna förstå andra människors
upplevelser.

162. Många av mina vanor gör att det är svårt för mig att S F
uppnå meningsfulla mål.

163. Jag har gjort verkliga personliga uppoffringar för att S F

göra världen till en bättre plats - t ex försöka
förebygga krig, fattigdom och orättvisor.

164. Jag är aldrig orolig för att något hemskt skulle S F

kunna hända i framtiden.

165. Mina känslor får mig aldrig att tappa kontrollen över S F
mig själv.

166. Jag ger ofta upp ett arbete om det tar mycket S F
längre tid än jag trodde att det skulle göra.

167. Jag föredrar att börja ett samtal hellre än att vänta S F
på att andra ska tilltala mig.

168. För det mesta har jag lätt för att förlåta vem som S F
helst som behandlar mig orättvist.

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 TCI SANT FALSKT

169. Mina handlingar påverkas i hög grad av sådant som S F

jag inte har kontroll över.

170. Det sätt på vilket jag uppför mig gör att jag ofta får S F
svårigheter på jobbet, i skolan eller hemma.

171. Jag föredrar att vänta tills någon annan tar initiativet S F
när det gäller att få saker och ting gjorda.

172. Jag respekterar vanligtvis andras åsikter. S F

173. Jag har haft upplevelser som gjort min roll i livet så S F
tydlig för mig att jag känt mig mycket upprymd och
glad.

174. Jag tycker att det är roligt att köpa saker åt mig S F
själv.

175. Jag tror att jag själv har haft föraningar, upplevt S F
telepati eller liknande.

176. Jag tror att min hjärna inte fungerar normalt. S F

177. Mitt beteende bestäms i hög grad av vissa mål som S F

jag satt upp för mitt liv.

178. Det är vanligtvis dumt att arbeta för att andra ska S F
ha framgång.

179. Jag önskar ofta att jag kunde leva för evigt. S F

180. Jag föredrar vanligtvis att vara avvaktande och S F

hålla en viss distans till andra människor.

181. Jag gråter lättare åt en sorglig film än dom flesta S F

andra.

182. Jag återhämtar mig snabbare än dom flesta från S F

lindrigare sjukdomar eller stress.

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 TCI SANT FALSKT

183. Jag bryter ofta mot regler och föreskrifter om jag S F

inte riskerar att bli upptäckt.

184. Jag behöver mycket mer träning i att utveckla goda S F

vanor innan jag kan lita på mig själv i många
frestande situationer.

185. Jag önskar att andra inte pratade så mycket som S F

dom gör.

186. Var och en bör bli bemött med värdighet och S F

respekt, även dom som inte lyckats i livet.

187. Jag tycker om att fatta snabba beslut så att jag kan S F
fortsätta med vad som måste göras.

188. Jag har vanligtvis tur med allt jag försöker göra. S F

189. Jag känner mig vanligtvis säker på att lätt klara av S F

sådant som de flesta andra skulle tycka vara farligt
( som t ex att köra bil fort på en blöt och isig väg ).

190. Jag är bekymrad över att jag är som jag är. S F

191. Jag tycker om att hitta nya sätt att göra saker och S F
ting på.

192. Jag har mer glädje av att spara mina pengar än att S F
spendera dem på att få uppleva underhållning och
spänning.

193. Individens rättigheter är viktigare än gruppens S F

behov.

194. Jag har haft personliga upplevelser då jag känt att S F

jag varit i kontakt med en gudomlig och underbar
andlig kraft.

195. Jag har haft ögonblick av stor glädje då jag plötsligt S F

haft en klar och djup känsla av att vara ett med allt
som existerar.

196. Goda vanor gör det lättare för mig att göra saker S F
och ting på det sätt som jag önskar.

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 TCI SANT FALSKT

197. De flesta människor tycks ha mera resurser än jag. S F

198. Mina problem beror ofta på andra människor och S F

omständigheter.

199. Jag finner nöje i att hjälpa andra, även om dom har S F
behandlat mig illa.

200. Jag känner mig ofta som en del av den andliga S F

kraft som allt liv är beroende av.

201. Till och med när jag är tillsammans med vänner S F

föredrar jag att inte vara alltför öppenhjärtig.

202. Jag kan vanligtvis hålla igång hela dagen utan att S F
behöva anstränga mig.

203. Jag tänker nästan alltid igenom alla fakta i detalj S F

innan jag bestämmer mig, även när andra kräver ett
snabbt beslut.

204. Jag är inte speciellt bra på att hitta på undanflykter S F

när jag ertappas med att ha gjort något fel.

205. Jag är mera av perfektionist än dom flesta andra. S F

206. Om något är rätt eller fel är bara en fråga om vilken S F

åsikt man har.

207. Jag tror att mitt naturliga sätt att reagera numera för S F
det mesta överensstämmer med mina principer och
långsiktiga mål.

208. Jag tror att allt liv är beroende av en andlig ordning S F

eller kraft som man inte helt kan förklara.

209. Jag tror att jag skulle känna mig säker och avspänd S F
när jag möter främmande människor, även om jag
fått höra att dom var arga på mig.

210. Folk tycker att det är lätt att komma till mig för att få S F
hjälp, medkänsla, värme och förståelse.

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 TCI SANT FALSKT

211. Det tar längre tid för mig än för dom flesta andra att S F
tända på nya idéer och aktiviteter.

212. Jag har svårt för att ljuga, även om avsikten är att S F
undvika att såra någon annans känslor.

213. Det finns en del människor som jag inte gillar. S F

214. Jag har ingen önskan att vara mer beundrad än S F

någon annan.

215. Ofta när jag ser på något alldeles vanligt inträffar S F

något underbart - jag får en känsla av att jag ser det
med fräscha ögon.

216. Dom flesta jag känner tar bara hänsyn till sig själva S F
oavsett om andra kan bli sårade.

217. Jag känner mig vanligtvis spänd och orolig när jag S F
måste göra något nytt och obekant.

218. Jag anstränger mig ofta tills jag är helt utmattad S F

eller försöker göra mer än jag verkligen kan.

219. En del tycker att jag är för snål och försiktig med S F
mina pengar.

220. Rapporter om mystiska upplevelser är förmodligen S F

bara önsketänkande.

221. Min viljestyrka är för svag för att motstå mycket S F

starka frestelser, även om jag vet att jag får lida för
det efteråt.

222. Jag avskyr att se att någon annan lider, vem det än S F
är.

223. Jag vet vad jag vill göra i mitt liv. S F

224. Jag brukar ta mig tid att tänka över om det jag gör S F
är rätt eller fel.

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 TCI SANT FALSKT

225. Det går ofta på tok för mig ifall jag inte ser upp S F
mycket noga.

226. Om jag känner mig upprörd känns det vanligtvis S F

bättre att vara tillsammans med vänner än att bli
lämnad ensam.

227. Jag tror inte att det är möjligt för någon annan S F
människa att förstå hur det känns om man inte har
upplevt samma sak.

228. För andra förefaller det ofta som om jag vore i en S F

annan värld eftersom jag är så fullständigt
omedveten om vad som pågår runt omkring mig.

229. Jag önskar att jag såg bättre ut än alla andra. S F

230. Jag har inte varit helt ärlig i detta frågeformulär. S F

231. Jag brukar undvika sociala sammanhang där jag S F

måste möta främmande människor, även om jag
vet att de är vänliga.

232. Det är lika roligt att träffa en gammal vän igen som S F
att se de första blommorna på våren.

233. Jag ser vanligtvis en svår situation som en S F

utmaning eller en möjlighet.

234. Människor som har att göra med mig måste lära sig S F
hur man gör saker och ting på mitt sätt.

235. Oärlighet är bara ett problem ifall man åker fast. S F

236. Jag känner mig vanligtvis mycket säkrare och mer S F

energisk än dom flesta, även efter lättare
sjukdomar eller påfrestningar.

237. Jag vill läsa igenom allt när jag ombeds att skriva S F
min namnteckning på något papper.

238. När det inte händer något nytt börjar jag leta efter S F
något spännande.

17 Svensk version 3.1 TCI. 1993, 2006: Brändström S, Sigvardsson S, Nylander P-O.
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