A Comparison of Personality Characteristics, Perceived Social Support and Interpersonal Relationships in Prisoners who Successfully Return to Society and Prisoners who Reoffend

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare personality traits, Perceived Social Support, and interpersonal relationships between two groups of prisoners: those who successfully reintegrated into society and those who re-offended.Methods: This research employed a causal-comparative method. The statistical population consisted of all individuals with a prison record in the central prison of Tehran city within the last 10 years (from 2014 to 2024). The sample size was 159 individuals (88 recidivists and 71 successfully reintegrated individuals), selected through purposive sampling in two groups: recidivists and successfully reintegrated individuals. Participants were assessed using NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), and the Barton Communication Test Revised. The data were then entered into SPSS-22 statistical software for analysis and analyzed using analysis of variance and independent t-tests.Results: The findings revealed that among personality traits, significant differences between the two groups were observed only in the two dimensions of extraversion (P < 0.001) and conscientiousness (P < 0.001), as well as in the total score of Perceived Social Support (P < 0.003) and interpersonal relationships (P < 0.003). The comparison of means indicated that the meaning of these dimensions was higher in the successfully reintegrated group.Conclusion: Based on the findings, it can be concluded that psychological variables such as extraversion and conscientiousness personality traits, as well as Perceived Social Support and appropriate interpersonal relationships, play a crucial role in successful reintegration into society and prevent re-offending.