The paper concerns the issue of temperament and character personality traits in people with alcohol addiction and pathological gambling. The aim of the study was to examine the personality of addicted people and compare it with the control group. Temperament and character was assessed with Temperament and Character Inventory-Revised (TCI-R). The research sample consisted of 30 alcohol addicts, 35 pathological gamblers and 65 controls matched by age and gender. We observed several differences between clinical groups and the control group. We found significant differences between pathological gamblers and the control group in Novelty seeking (NS) and Harm avoidance (HA) dimensions, where pathological gamblers scored higher than the control group, and in Reward dependence (RD), Persistance (PS) and Self directedness (SD), where they scored lower than the control group. Significant differences between alcohol addicts and the control group were observed in HA with higher score in the addicted group, and in SD, where they scored lower. Statistically significant differences between pathological gamblers and alcohol addicts were observed in NS, with higher score in the pathological gamblers group and in PS and Self-Transcendence ST, where their scores were lower. The personality of an addicted person is probably different in several personality traits from people without an addiction.

Key words: temperament – character – TCI-R – alcohol addiction – pathological gambling