Cloninger's Psychobiological Model of Personality and Strelau's Regulative Theory of Temperament - analysis of their associations in a Polish sample

The present study explores the relationship between Cloninger scales and Strelau's Regulative Theory of Temperament (RTT) traits. Cloninger's psychobiological model identifies four dimensions of temperament (Novelty seeking, Harm Avoidance, Reward Dependence and Persistence) and three dimensions of character (Self-Directedness, Cooperativeness and Self-Transcendence). RTT proposes the traits of Briskness, Perseveration, Sensory Sensitivity, Emotional Reactivity, Endurance and Activity as the basic dimensions underlying individual differences. The relationships between the dimensions of Cloninger's Temperament and Character and Strelau's Regulative Theory of Temperament are investigated in a sample of 282 participants. Data analysis demonstrated some significant correlations between the two models. The strongest associations were found between the dimension of Harm Avoidance from Cloninger's concept and Strelau's RTT traits (positive correlations from r = .73 for Emotional Reactivity to r = .48 for Perseveration, and negative correlations from r = -.57 for Endurance to r = -.51 for Briskness). However, there is not enough evidence to suggest that the two models offer an alternative way of explaining individual differences. According to RTT, temperamental traits are expressed in formal characteristics of behavior (energetic and temporal) and every kind of behavior (irrespective of its content) can be described in the same formal categories. In the Psychobiological Model of Personality the traits are characterized rather by the content or goals of behavior. In this model, in addition to underlining the biological variation of heritable traits, the social, cultural and phenotypical levels of behavior are reflected.