NCJ Number
204747
Journal
Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health Volume: 13 Issue: 4 Dated: 2003 Pages: 241-277
Date Published
2003
Length
37 pages
Annotation
This study identified an empirically based, developmental typology of personality derived from a sample of men adjudicated during their adolescence and assessed into midlife.
Abstract
The search for an empirically sound, developmental typology of personality, especially as it concerns antisocial behavior, has been of interest to psychologists and criminologists for many decades. Most of the empirical inquiries to date have utilized a cross-sectional methodology. The current study utilizes a prospective longitudinal methodology to examine a sample of men who were adjudicated during their adolescence. Data were drawn from the Montreal Two-Sample Longitudinal Study, which began in the mid-1970’s. The sample initially consisted of 470 boys aged 13 to 18 years who were interviewed about various aspects of their lives, including delinquent behavior, school, work, family relationships, peer relationships, routine activities, and beliefs and values. Complete, longitudinal personality data were available for 122 of the original participants. Cluster analyses were performed for measures of disinhibition, negative emotionality, and extraversion. Results identified four developmental types of personality. The first personality type was characterized by average scores on the three variables in adolescence, which all decreased linearly until midlife. Thirty-nine percent of participants displayed this type of personality, which was labeled “resilients.” The second personality type, displayed by 24 percent of the sample and labeled “undercontrolled,” was characterized by high scores in disinhibition and negative emotionality in adolescence, both of which decreased rapidly during adulthood. The third personality type, labeled "overcontrolled" and displayed by 17 percent of the sample, was characterized by high scores in disinhibition and negative emotionality in adolescence, which remained stable during adulthood, while extroversion was average during adolescence and then decreased rapidly during adulthood. The fourth personality type, labeled “anomics” and displayed by 20 percent of the sample, was characterized by high scores in disinhibition and negative emotionality in adolescence, followed by cycles of decreases and increases in these variables until midlife. Overall, antisocial behavior trajectories were linked mainly with “undercontrolled,” and to a lesser extent the “overcontrolled” personalities. “Resilients” engaged in fewer criminal behaviors across the life course than the other three personality types. Advancements in the developmental-typological approach to personality can offer a better understanding of the factors that account for various antisocial/criminality trajectories. Figures, tables, notes, references