Objective

2

To explore the correlation between body constitution and personality of college students based on Traditional Chinese Medicine （TCM） constitution types.

Methods

2

The Classification and Judgment Criteria of TCM Constitution and Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor （16-PF） questionnaire were used to evaluate the body constitution and personality of college students recruited from Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from November 16th， 2020 to January 9th， 2021. Besides special diathesis， there were seven pathological constitution types including excess constitution （dampness-heat，

qi

-depression， phlegm-dampness， blood-stasis） and deficiency constitution （

qi

-deficiency，

yang

-deficiency，

yin

-deficiency）. The scores of 16-PF were compared between gentleness type and eight pathological constitution types， as well as excess types and deficiency types.

Results

2

A total of 913 valid questionnaires were calculated. There were 278 cases （30.45%） of gentleness constitution， 215 cases （23.55%） of

yang

-deficiency constitution， 113 cases （12.38%） of dampness-heat constitution， 81 cases （8.87%） of

qi

-depression constitution， 81 cases （8.87%） of phlegm-dampness constitution and 58 cases （6.35%） of

yin

-deficiency constitution， 49 cases （5.37%） of

qi

-deficiency constitution， 21 cases （2.30%） of special diathesis constitution， and 17 cases （1.86%） of blood-stasis constitution. The scores of warmth， emotional stability， rule-consciousness， social boldness， perfectionism， mental health factors， and professional achievement factors in the groups of seven pathological constitution types （except for special diathesis constitution group） were significantly lower than those of gentleness constitution group， while the score of apprehension， tension， and environmental adaption and anxiety factors were significantly higher. The groups of seven pathological constitution types （except for special diathesis constitution group） had significantly higher or lower 16PF scores than gentleness constitution group on certain factors （

P

＜0.05 or

P

＜0.01）. The score of dominance， liveliness， and introversion/extroversion factors were significantly higher in the groups of excess constitution types than in deficiency constitution types （

P

＜0.01）.

Conclusion

2

There is a certain correlation between the nine TCM constitution types and 16PF personality. There is a certain “deviation” of personality among pathological constitution types， and

qi

-deficiency，

qi

-depression and

yang

-deficiency constitution have higher risk of deviated personality. Among the people with pathological constitution， the excess type is more extroverted and active than the deficiency type.