Abstract
Violence is an interpersonal activity influenced by a complex interplay of multiple psychosocial and neurobiological factors. In this chapter, we will describe a general psychobiological model of personality with multiple components, each of which has a distinct psychological description, neurobiological substrate, and genetic and environmental causes. This general model includes components of reactive aggression, like the impulsive-aggressive temperament traits described by Eysenck and Eysenck (1985) and Barratt and colleagues (in press), and components ofpredatary aggression, like the non-impulsive hostile attitudes described by Huesmann and others (Dodge & Newman, 1981; Heilbrun et al, 1978). First, we will describe the general model of personality briefly, and then I will relate the general model to violence and the causes of aggressive criminality in particular. The interaction of these components in the development of violence will be described as a complex adaptive system with nonlinear dynamics.
Supported in part by NIH grants MH31302, MH46276, MH46280, MH54723, and AA08403.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bayon, C., Hill, K., Svrakic, D.M., Przybeck, T.R., Cloninger, C.R. (1996). Dimensional assessment of personality in an outpatient sample: relations of the systems of Millon and Cloninger. J Psychiatric Research, in press.
Buss, A. H., & Plomin, R. (1975). A Temperament Theory of Personality Development. New York: Wiley.
Cloninger, C.R. (1987). A systematic method for clinical description and classification of personality variants. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 573–588.
Cloninger, C. R. (1994). Temperament and personality. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 4, 266–273.
Cloninger, C.R., & Gottesman, I.I. (1987). Genetic and environmental factors in antisocial behavior disorders. In S.A. Mednick, T.E. Moffitt, S.A. Stack (Eds.). The Causes of Crime: New Biological Approaches. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 92–109.
Cloninger, C.R., Sigvardsson, S., Bohman, M., and von Knorring, A.-L. (1982). Predisposition to petty criminality in Swedish adoptees: II. Cross-fostering analysis of gene-environment interaction. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 1242–1247.
Cloninger, C.R., Svrakic, D.M., Przybeck, T.R. (1993). A psychobiological model of temperament and character. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50, 975–990.
Cloninger, C.R., Bayon, C., Przybeck, T.R. (in press). Epidemiology and Axis I comorbidity of antisocial personality. In D.M. Stoff, J. Breiling, J.D. Maser (Eds.). Handbook of Antisocial Behavior. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Cloninger, C.R., Przybeck, T.R., Svrakic, D.M., Wetzel, R.D. (1994). The Temperament and Character Inventorty (TCI): A Guide to Its Development and Use. St. Louis: Washington University, Center for Psychobiology of Personality.
Costa, P.T. Jr., & McCrae, R.R. (1992). NEO PI-R: Revised NE0 Personality Inventory (NE0 PI-R). Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources Inc.
Dodge, K.A., Newman, J.P. (1981). Biased decision-making processes in aggressive boys. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 90, 375–379.
Eysenck, H.J. (1964). Crime and Personality. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Eysenck, S.B.G., & Eysenck, H.J. (1977). Personality and the classification of adult offenders. British Journal of Criminology, 17, 169–179.
Eysenck, H.J., Eysenck, M. (1985). Personality and Individual Differences. New York: Plenum Press.
Goldman, R.G., Skodal, A.E., McGrath, P.J., Oldham, J.M. (1994). Relationship between the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire and DSM-III-R personality traits. American Journal of PsychiatryAmerican Journal of Psychiatry, 151,274–276.
Goldsmith, H.H., Buss, A.H., Plomin, R., Rothbart, M.K., Thomas, A., Chess, S., Hinde, R.A., McCall, R.B. (1987). What is temperament? Four Approaches. Child Development, 58, 505–527.
Heilbrun, A.B., Heilbrun, L.C., Heilbrun, K.L. (1978). Impulsive and premeditated homicide: An analysis of subsequent parole risk of the murderer. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 69, 108–114.
Jackson, D.N. (1974). Personality Research Form Manual. Goshen, NY: Consulting Psychologists.
Kauffman, S.A. (1993). The origins of order: Self-organization and selection in evolution. New York: Oxford University Press.
Knowlton, B.J., Mangels, J.A., Squire, L.R. (1996). A neostriatal habit learning system in humans. Science, 273, 1399–1402.
Nagoshi, C.T., Walter, D., Muntaner, C., Haertzen, C.A. (1992). Validation of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire in a sample of male drug users. Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 401–409.
Nixon, S.J., Parsons, O.A. (1990). Application of the tridimensional personality theory to a population of alcoholics and other substance abusers. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 14, 513–517.
Robbins, T.W. (1996). Refining the taxonomy of memory. Science, 273, 1353–1354.
Sigvardsson, S., Bohman, M., Cloninger, C.R. (1987). Structure and stability of childhood personality: Prediction of later social adjustment. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 28, 929–946.
Svrakic, D.M., Whitehead, C., Przybeck, T.R., Cloninger, C.R. (1993). Differential diagnosis of personality disorders by the seven factor model of temperament and character. Archives of General Psychiatry, 50, 991–999.
Svrakic, N.M., Svrakic, D.M., Cloninger, C.R. (1996). A general quantitative theory of personality development: Fundamentals of a self-organizing psychobiological complex. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 247–272.
Tremblay, R.E., Pihl, R.O., Vitaro, F., Dobkin, P.L. (1994). Predicting early onset of male antisocial behavior from preschool behavior. Archives of General Psychiatry, 51, 732–739.
Wills, T.A., Vaccaro, D., McNamara, G. (1994). Novelty seeking, risk taking, and related constructs as predictors of adolescent substance use: An application of Cloninger’s theory. Journal of Substance Abuse, 6, 1–20.
Zuckerman, M., Cloninger, C.R. (in press). Relationships between Cloninger’s Zuckerman’s, and Eysenck’s dimensions of personality. Personality and Individuals Differences.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cloninger, C.R., Svrakic, D.M., Svrakic, N.M. (1997). A Multidimensional Psychobiological Model of Violence. In: Raine, A., Brennan, P.A., Farrington, D.P., Mednick, S.A. (eds) Biosocial Bases of Violence. Nato ASI Series, vol 292. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4648-8_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4648-8_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-4650-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-4648-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive