Personality Correlates of Extent versus Type of Antisocial Behavior among Adult Offenders: A Mulitvariate Analysis

The performance of 250 adult male offenders on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was analyzed in relation to extent of known lifetime criminal involvement versus type of most recent offense. Although the set of personality measures was sensitive to both indices of illegal behavior, offense-type groups were discriminable only by virtue of their differing levels of recidivism. Nevertheless, MMPI scores were meaningfully related to number of convictions within offense categories, especially due to a positive association, albeit rather modest, between scale Pd and offenses against property. The results were seen to support the hypothesis that an improved perspective on the interface between personality and criminality can be achieved by a multivariate analysis of criminological data that have been quantified to reflect lifelong patterns of antisocial conduct rather than single behavioral episodes.