Associations Between Personality Traits And Aggression Among Malay Adult Male Inmates In Malaysia ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 15 (2), July - December 2014: 176-185 ORIGINAL ARTICLE ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN PERSONALITY TRAITS AND AGGRESSION AMONG MALAY ADULT MALE INMATES IN MALAYSIA Mohammad Rahim Kamaluddin*, Nadiah Syariani Md Shariff*, Azizah Othman**, Khaidzir Hj Ismail***, Geshina Ayu Mat Saat* *Forensic Sciences Programme, School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia: **School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kubang Kerian, Kelantan, Malaysia; ***School of Psychology and Human Development Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia. Abstract Objective: A sizable body of criminology literature has suggested that personality factors are critical to the development of aggressive behaviour. While research on personality focusing on aggression often revolves on "Eynseck Three Factor Model" and "Big Five Model", research on "Alternative Five Factor Model" (AFFM) is rather inadequate. Objective: The present study aimed to examine the association between five types of personality traits and subscales of aggression. Methods: This observational cross-sectional study was conducted in two prisons in Peninsular Malaysia among 198 Malay adult male inmates. The participants were selected based on the purposive sampling method from those who were convicted for various types of crime. Two psychometric instruments adapted to the Malaysian context were used: Malay version of Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire-40-Cross Culture (ZKPQ-M-40-CC) and Aggression Questionnaire (AQ-M). Pearson correlation coefficient test was conducted to determine the association between five types of personality traits and subscales of aggression. Results: The results showed that there was a significant association between certain types of personality traits and subscales of aggression. The results were discussed in relation to theory and the context of crime. Conclusion: There is evidence that personality traits are linked to aggressive behaviour which may lead a person to commit offenses. ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, Vol. 15 (2): July – December 2014: 176-185. Keywords: Aggression, Alternative Five Factor Model, Inmates, Personality Traits Introduction Human aggression and violence are perceived as major public health problems [1] capable of tearing the structure of communities and eroding the well-being of society. Many national and global researches on violence have evidenced the impact of violence, notably domestic violence and child abuse, on health and social indicators. Examples include a study on the types of violence present worldwide [2], country-specific economic estimations of injuries due to interpersonal violence [3], and the impact of violence on low and middle income countries [4]. Violence which is perceived as a social mirror [5] is often addressed as the product of aggression [6-8]. In the context of social application, theories categorise violence as 176