A controlled study of the Big Five personality dimensions in sex offenders, non-sex offenders and non-offenders: relationship with offending behaviour and childhood abuse

Although personality traits such as those measured by the Five Factor Model are influenced by childhood abuse history, these associations have often been hindered by a lack of clinical controls. This study examined the independent influence of childhood abuse on the personality of sex offenders, non...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe journal of forensic psychiatry & psychology Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 233 - 246
Main Authors Becerra-García, Juan Antonio, García-León, Ana, Muela-Martínez, José Antonio, Egan, Vincent
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Colchester Routledge 01.04.2013
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Child
Child abuse
Child abuse & neglect
Childhood abuse
childhood abuse history
Clinical psychology
Criminology
Five Factor Model
Forensic psychiatry
Medical sciences
Neuroticism
non-sex offenders
Offenders
Openness
Personality tests
Personality traits
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Sex crime
Sex offenders
Social behavior disorders. Criminal behavior. Delinquency
Victimology
Human
Five Factor Model
Delinquency
Infantile experience
Personality
non-sex offenders
sex offenders
Victimology
History
childhood abuse history
Child abuse
Sexual behavior disorder
Big Five personality model
Sex offense
Social behavior disorder
Comparative study
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Summary:Although personality traits such as those measured by the Five Factor Model are influenced by childhood abuse history, these associations have often been hindered by a lack of clinical controls. This study examined the independent influence of childhood abuse on the personality of sex offenders, non-sex offenders and control participants. We found Neuroticism higher in offenders generally, whereas non-sex offenders and control participants had higher Extraversion than sex offenders; Agreeableness differed between control and non-sexual offenders. Participants with abusive childhoods were higher in Neuroticism and Openness than individuals with non-abusive childhoods. This study improves on limitations of previous studies examining these questions. These findings suggest offence type is useful for differentiating offenders, and that Neuroticism and Openness traits are most influenced by a history of childhood abuse.
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ISSN:1478-9949
1478-9957
DOI:10.1080/14789949.2013.764463