A comparative study of personality profile among violent and non-violent convicts: A cross sectional study

The conviction-prone personality sees events as external forces and not according to their own or another’s emotion, cognition, or inner forces. This study compared the personality traits and psychopathology of both violent and non-violent convicts. The total number of samples were 60 (30 violent and 30 non-violent) which were recruited from the Central jail of Jaipur (Rajasthan). A pro forma was used to collect sociodemographic variables. The 16-personality factor questionnaire was applied after receiving permission from the concerned authorities. Student t-test was applied to compare violent and non-violent convicts. Violent convicts had high scores for factors E (dominance), H (social boldness), L (vigilance), Q2 (social reliance), and Q4 (tension) and low scores for C (emotional stability) and G (rule consciousness). Whereas non-violent convicts had high scores for factors L (vigilance) and N (privateness) and low score for A (warmth), F (liveliness), O (apprehension), Q2 (self-reliance), and Q4 (tension). All results are statistically significant (P-value was 0.001), except factor I (P-value was 0.745) and M (P-value was 0.314). So, the violent convict group were significantly more dominant, bossy, competitive, bold, self-reliant, individualistic, tense, frustrated, high-energy driven, and self-indulgent as compare to non-violent convicts.