Personality types based on dimensions of revised Gray’s model

The results of most typological studies in personality psychology suggest that three robust personality types exist: Resilient, Over-controlled and Under-controlled. However, these typological studies are most often conducted using dimensions of Five-factor model. Few studies have been focused on personality types based on constructs of Gray's model, and no systematic research has been conducted in this field. Therefore, the goals of this study are to describe personality types based on dimensions of revised Gray's model, and to examine the criterion validity of such types. The choice of psychopathy as the criterion was based on previous typological studies, in which various measures of anti-social behavior were often used for external validation of personality types. The study was conducted on a sample of 224 participants (69% female), aged 18 to 70 (average age 36.60 years, SD=13.05). Constructs of the revised Gray's model (BIS, BAS, Fight, Flight, and Freezing) were measured by the 29-item RSQ questionnaire. Psychopathy was measured by the 40-item PAQ questionnaire, containing four scales: Interpersonal relationships, Psychopathic affect, Lifestyle and Antisocial behavior. Clustering procedure which included several measures of cluster stability and homogeneity showed that a three-cluster solution, extracted using k-means method, was optimal. The clusters were designated as Approaching (scoring high on BAS and Fight and low on other dimensions, N=59), Avoidant (high scores on BIS, Flight and Freeze, and low on BAS and Fight, N=76) and Controlled (average scores on BAS, and low on other dimensions, N=89). Results of MANOVA suggested that clusters differ significantly on all dimensions of psychopathy except Antisocial behavior. The differences were largest on Psychopathic affect (ή 2 = .17, p=.00), and lowest on Lifestyle (ή 2 = .07, p=.00). Members of the Approaching cluster scored high on Interpersonal relationships, Psychopathic affect, and Lifestyle, while members of the Avoidant cluster scored low on these dimensions. Members of the Controlled cluster had average scores on all dimensions. The results are in accordance with the results of previous typological studies, and support the findings regarding relations between the constructs of Gray’s model and psychopathy.