paei - structures of concern_ cloninger, c

29/12/2014 PAEI - Structures of Concern: Cloninger, C. Robert - Biosocial Theory of Personality

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Cloninger, C. Robert - BiosocialTheory of Personality

The Structure of Concern Project compares manytheoretical models from many disciplines to theAdizes PAEI model, arguing that they must all bereflecting the same underlying phenomenon. Oneconcern structure model is described below.

Cloninger is a major personality theorist, whoduring the mid-1980s produced a model ofpersonality dimensions with three corepersonality characteristics which he argued wereheritable and biologically based (Cloninger 1986a;

1986b). He later added a fourth element to this set. (Cloninger, 1994;Stallings et al., 1996). The fourth element had been a facet of one of theprevious three factors that did not prove to be correlated to the other facetsof that factor. This four-factor model gave a satisfactory account of theheritable cognitive, perceptual and affective differences underlyingtemperamental differences.

However, Cloninger felt that this four-factor model ignored thedevelopmental aspect of personality. It obscured the differences betweentwo people of similar temperaments, one of whom was self-actualized andone of whom was not. This reduced its clinical value. He thus later combinedhis four factors with three additional factors based partly on concepts of self-actualization from humanistic psychology (Cloninger, 1994; Cloninger et al.,1993). These three new factors measured character rather thantemperament. I leave them aside to focus on Cloningers fourtemperamental dimensions, listed below:



P Persistence (or Happiness Seeking): Determination and tenacity toachieve a goal, industrious, stable and resolute in the face of frustration orfatigue. Low persistence leads to underachievement.

A Harm Avoidance: Intense response to signs of impending aversivestimuli, resulting in learned tactics for minimize behaviors that may exposethem to punishment, loss or novelty. Cautious, tense, inhibited, easilyfatigued, shy and apprehensive. Low harm avoidance implies people who areoptimistic, open to experience, outgoing, trusting and energetic. Associatedwith the 5-HT system.

E Novelty Seeking: Excited and exhilarated responses to stimuli that arenovel or that signal potential reward or escape from punishment. Frequentexploration to obtain rewards and avoid structure and monotony. Basesdecisions on vague impressions. Low novelty-seeking implies preference forroutine, order, details, frugality and social stability. This behavioral trait isrelated to the DA system.

I - Reward Dependence (or Security-Seeking): Responds to stimuli thatsuggest a reward is forthcoming, particularly verbal indications of socialsuccour, approval or sympathy. More able to maintain behaviors that havebeen socially acknowledged and reinforced in the past. Low rewarddependence implies introversion, self-reliance and self-directedness.Associated with the noradrenergic system.

Bibliography1. Cloninger, C. R. (1986a). A systematic method for clinical descriptionand classification of personality variants: A proposal. Archives of GeneralPsychiatry, 44, 573-588.2. Cloninger, C. R. (1986b). A unified biosocial theory of personality and itsrole in the development of anxiety states. Psychiatric Developments, 3,167-226.: Cloninger3 :Cloninger, C. R. (1994). The Temperament and CharacterInventory (TCI): a guide to its development and use. Washington University,St Louis,Missouri: Centre for Psychobiology of Personality.3. Cloninger, C. R., Svrakic, D. M., & Przybeck, T. R. (1993). A



psychobiological model of temperament and character. Archives of GeneralPsychiatry, 50, 975-990.4. Stallings, M. C., Hewitt, J. K., Cloninger, C. R., Heath, A. C., & Eaves, L.J. (1996). Genetic and Environmental Structure of the TridimensionalPersonality Questionnaire: Three or Four Temperament Dimensions?Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70(1), 127-140.

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