Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI)

The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) is an instrument for personality assessment that was developed by C. Robert Cloninger to provide a comprehensive biopsychosocial model of personality as it develops within individuals (Cloninger, Svrakic & Przybeck, 1993). It deconstructs personality into seven dimensions that vary widely in the general population, rather than focusing only on pathology or abnormal traits (Cloninger, 2004). Nevertheless, it was designed to be equally applicable to clinical populations without being stigmatizing or pathologizing. The TCI is based on a biopsychosocial model of complex interactions among genetic, psychological, social, cultural, and spiritual constructs, rather than assuming that personality can be decomposed into independent dimensions (Cloninger & Cloninger, 2011; Cloninger & Garcia, 2015).