CONSTRUCT-VALIDITY OF THE DIMENSIONS OF CLONINGER TRIDIMENSIONAL PERSONALITY QUESTIONNAIRE

Cloninger (1986, 1987) has recently proposed a theory purporting that personality is made up of three dimensions termed Novelty Seeking, Har m Avoidance, and Reward Dependence. The Tridimensional Personality Que stionnaire (TPQ) is a self-report inventory designed to assess these t hree dimensions. The present study tested the construct validity of th e dimensions of the TPQ by assessing their relationships with a series of established personality questionnaires in a sample of 807 universi ty students. Correlational and principal-component analyses indicated that the Novelty Seeking and Harm Avoidance scales possess a good degr ee of construct validity, however, findings regarding the Reward Depen dence scale were inconclusive. Although the Reward Dependence scale ma y require revision, the TPQ demonstrates promising applicability for b oth research and clinical purposes.