As we await a successful model of the etiology of alcoholism, research and intervention strategies founder. The author critically reviews the present etiologic models, particularly those bearing on alcoholic personality. The central shortcoming of these models is that they pay only lip service to the multidimensional etiology of alcoholism. Hereditary, environmental, and psychostructural risk factors have never been adequately integrated into any one design. The author explains the difficulties that this problem and others have introduced into the previous etiologic research. In the conclusion, he constructs a new model from the positive findings thus far. This, in turn, suggests the studies needed next and has definite diagnostic and therapeutic implications.