Associations of working models of the self and other with Cloninger's personality dimensions

The present study examined the associations of working models of the self and other, one of the key concepts of Bowlby's attachment theory, with the seven dimensions of Cloninger's personality model. The subjects were 542 healthy Japanese volunteers. Working models of the self and other were assessed by the Relationship Scales Questionnaire, and the seven dimensions of personality were evaluated by the Temperament and Character Inventory. In the correlation analysis, the self-model was correlated most strongly with self-directedness (SD) (r = 0.50, P < 0.001) and second strongly with harm avoidance (HA) (r = −0.43, P < 0.001), while the other-model was correlated most strongly with cooperativeness (C) (r = 0.43, P < 0.001) and second strongly with reward dependence (RD) (r = 0.41, P < 0.001). In the principal component analysis, the self-model formed a group with SD and HA, while the other-model formed a group with C and RD. The present study suggests that the self-model is reflected in SD and HA, while the other-model is reflected in C and RD.