The profile of a criminal offender depicted by HEXACO personality traits

- HEXACO traits were used to predict criminal behavior in the sample of convicts.
- Criminal behavior was measured by self-report, rating and biographical data.
- Low Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were related to criminality.
- Low Agreeableness turned to be the best predictor of criminality in the regression analyses.

Due to the operationalization of its factors, the HEXACO personality model could have explanatory potential in describing the personality of criminal offenders. Previous data and theory have suggested that the offenders profile should be based on decreased levels of the Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness traits. This profile is tested in the present research. We explored the relations between personality traits operationalized by HEXACO-PI-R and criminal behavior measured by self-reports, ratings and biographical data in the sample of male convicts (N = 256). Obtained data largely supported the hypothesized profile: these four traits correlated negatively with the criteria measures gathered by self-reports and ratings; Agreeableness and Conscientiousness were negatively associated with the third criterion. Lower levels of these four traits were also related to the common variance of all three criteria measures. Regression analyses showed that low Agreeableness is the best predictor of criminal behavior, since it had independent contribution to the prediction of all criteria. The findings provide further contribution regarding the personality roots of criminal behavior.