Hypersexual Behaviors and Personality Traits in Men with Substance Use Disorders in Iran

Abstract

The present study was conducted aiming to compare the five-factor model of personality in addicted men with and without hypersexual disorder (HD). The research method was causal-comparative, and the study population included all addicted men who were residents of addiction treatment centers in Tabriz city. 216 male addicts with HD and without HD were compared in 2 groups of 108 members through the Big Five Inventory (BFI-44). Data were analyzed using independent t test, chi-square, multivariate analysis of variance, and SPSS 22 version software for Windows (IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA). The results showed that 2 groups were significantly different in the five-factor model of personality. Addicted men with HD obtained lower scores in agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience; and obtained higher scores in neuroticism personality dimension in comparison to addicted men without HD. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups in extraversion dimension. These findings indicated that there is a significant difference between the 2 groups in the five-factor model of personality, and addicted men with HD scored higher in neuroticism dimension. Therefore, this study illustrates the need to pay attention to the personality dimension of neuroticism (or emotional instability) as a variable comorbid with HD and substance-related disorders.