Personality and Aggressive Behavior: The Relation between the Five-Factor and Aggression Models in a Domestic Violence Suspects Sample

: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the relationship between the ﬁve-factor model of personality and its association with aggression in 30 men and eight women who are suspects of domestic violence. The results show a positive correlation between neuroticism and hostility, a negative correlation between openness to experience and overall aggression, a negative correlation between agreeableness and physical aggression and anger, and a negative correlation between conscientiousness and anger. These results show us the need for personality assessment in domestic violence suspects and future research about personality and aggression.


Introduction
The five-factor model argues that personality is based on five core factors: neuroticism (calm, confident vs. anxious, pessimistic); extraversion (reserved, thoughtful vs. sociable, fun-loving); openness to experience (prefers routine, practical vs. imaginative, spontaneous); agreeableness (suspicious, uncooperative vs. trusting, helpful); and, finally, the conscientiousness (impulsive, disorganized vs. disciplined, careful) [1]. This model has been used to study offenses in general, antisocial behaviors, aggression, and violence [2]. Some studies [3][4][5] found that more neuroticism and less kindness and conscientiousness leads to problems related to antisocial personality and aggressive behaviors. Specifically, high neuroticism is associated with both increased aggression and mental distress in violent offenders [5].
Data were collected from lawsuits, semi-structured interviews, collateral information, and clinical and forensic assessment tools (e.g., NEO-PI-R; BPAQ).

Results and Discussion
The results show that suspects of domestic violence have moderate neuroticism (M = 61.21; sd = 25.24). In the aggression assessment, the results show that domestic violence suspects had a greater tendency for hostility (M = 18.23; sd = 30.05). Table 1 shows the correlations between the five-factor model (NEO-PI-R) and aggression (BPAQ). The results show us a positive correlation between neuroticism and hostility, a negative correlation between openness to experience and overall aggression, a negative correlation between agreeableness and physical aggression and anger, and a negative correlation between conscientiousness and anger. Results are discussed in terms of why personality should be considered in assessments of domestic violence suspects, and for that purpose, it is necessary for future research to be conducted. These results show us the need for personality assessment in domestic violence suspects and the need for a reasonable articulation in Forensic Psychology and Law.

Institutional Review Board Statement:
This study is part of a protocol established among the Portuguese Public Prosecutor's Office and Egas Moniz -Higher Education School to assess and analyze the characteristics of victims and offenders in the field of Violence. The strictness of ethical and deontological principles are safeguarded once criminal records have been restricted access by law (including judicial secrecy). Therefore, all assessed subjects gave their informed consent, and their data were processed anonymously.
Informed Consent Statement: All ethical issues were considered due to the sensitive nature of the detailed data, the respective informed consent, confidentiality limits, and information about the ethics and technician's impartiality.
Data Availability Statement: Data sharing not applicable because part of information derives from criminal records.

Conflicts of Interest:
The authors declare no conflict of interest.