STRUCTURAL MODELS OF PERSONALITY AND THEIR RELATION TO ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR: A META‐ANALYTIC REVIEW*

The authors argue that the concept of personality has much to offer the field of criminology. To this end, they used meta-analytic techniques to examine the relations between antisocial behavior defined relatively broadly and four structural models of personality: Eysenck's PEN model, Tellegen's three-factor model, Costa and McCrae's five-factor model (FFM), and Cloninger's seven-factor temperament and character model. A comprehensive review of the literature yielded 59 studies that provided relevant information. Eight of the dimensions bore moderate relations to antisocial behavior; the dimensions could all be understood as measures of either Agreeableness or Conscientiousness from the FFM. The implications of these findings for future research are considered.