Cloninger's Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire: psychometric properties and construct validity in Taiwanese adults.

ABSTRACT

Despite the wide use of the Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ) in Western populations as a useful tool integrating both genetic and environmental influences on personality, some of its constructs remain questionable. In this study, we examined the psychometric properties of the TPQ and its relationship with aggression in Taiwanese adults. The subjects were 201 Taiwanese adults of wide ranges in age and educational level. Subjects were assessed using a Chinese version of the TPQ and the Brown-Goodwin Aggression Inventory. The internal consistency of the Chinese version of the TPQ scales is found to be mostly in the acceptable range except for the reward dependence (RD) scale and its subscales. The results of factor analysis of the 12 TPQ subscales partially support the four-factor model rather than the original three-factor model. The construct validity of the novelty seeking (NS) and harm avoidance (HA) dimensions is supported by the findings that the NS is negatively correlated with age, the NS1 subscale is slightly negatively correlated with all the HA subscales, and the NS is positively correlated with aggression. We conclude that both the HA and NS scales of the TPQ are cross-culturally robust, while the RD scale needs to be refined.