Eysenck’s theory

• Hans Eysenck (1916-1998) spent 50 years identifying

personality traits from literature.
• Eysenck focused on normal and pathological populations
He believes that the most fundamental personality
characteristics are largely inherited.
SEEDS- Example
Also, Eysenck believes that all behavior is learned--he advocates
learning theory and the behavior therapies.
.• He used factor analysis to identify traits.
 Terms
• Personality: a person’s internally based characteristic way of acting and
thinking.
• Character: Personal characteristics that have been judged or evaluated.
• Temperament: Hereditary aspects of personality, including sensitivity,
moods, irritability, and distractibility
• Personality Trait: Stable qualities that a person shows in most situations
• Personality Type: People who have several traits in common
 Sheldon's Relationships Among
components of Physique and Temperament
 Hans J. Eysenck: Personality as Traits
• Personality is “the sum-total of the actual or potential behavior-patterns of
the organism, as determined by heredity and environment.
• It originates and develops through the functional interaction of the four
main sectors into which these behavior-patterns are organized:
• the cognitive sector (intelligence)
• the conative sector (character)
• the affective sector (temperament)
• and the somatic sector (constitution)
• Eysenck => Hierarchy of Traits
• A. Specific Responses and Behaviors.
• B. Habits --> Cluster of Specific Behaviors
(Gregariousness).
• C. Traits --> Collection of Related Habits
(Friendliness).
• D. Superfactor / Type --> (Extraversion).
• 1. Eysenck generally studies this type of factor.
• 2. Proposes 3 Factor Model --> "Big Three”:
• a. Well Replicated Factors.
• b. "Bipolar" Factors: Hi and Lo scores meaningful.

• HI Lo
 Super-
Factors

Traits

Habits

Specific Behaviors
 Extraverts
• Are sociable
Can lose their temper
• Take risks
Are assertive
• Don’t persevere Are carefree
• Are unreliable
 Extraversion - Introversion:
• Introversion: tough mindedness; introspectiveness; seriousness;
performance interfered with by excitement; easily aroused but restrained,
inhibited; preference for solitary vocations; sensitivity to pain.
• Extraversion: tender mindedness; impulsiveness; tendency to be outgoing;
desire for novelty; performance enhanced by excitement; preference for
vocations involving contact with other people; tolerance for pain.
• Relationship to Brain Arousal: Extravert: Low Cortical Arousal – Under
stimulated.
• Introvert: High Cortical Arousal – Over stimulated.
• Extraverts: Cortical excitation levels are low in extraverts: Such people tend
to seek stimulation.
• Introverts: Excitation levels are high in introverts :Such people tend to avoid
additional stimulation.
 Neurotics
• Feel anxious
Feel tense
• Feel depressed Feel moody
• Feel guilty Get emotional
 Neuroticism
• Below average (emotional Stable) - They feel more able to cope with
stressful events and set less stringent demands of themselves; good
emotional control, experience negative affect only in the face of very major
stressors — are calm and collected under pressure.
• Type of maladjustment related to other traits:
• High N, High E --> Possibly Antisocial.
• High N, Low E --> Anxiety Disorder, Phobias.
• Disorders are not "Automatic”:
• traits yield 'tendencies"
• specific environmental triggers required.
 Neuroticism and extraversion
Unstable
Moody, anxious, rigid, sober, Touchy, restless, aggressive,
pessimistic, reserved, excitable, changeable,
unsociable, quiet impulsive, optimistic, active

Introverted Extraverted
Passive, careful, thoughtful, Sociable, outgoing, talkative,
peaceful, controlled, reliable, responsive, easygoing, lively,
even-tempered, calm carefree, leadership

Stable
Psychotics
• Aggressive Lacking empathy
• Cold & impersonal Creative
• Self-centred Tough-minded
• Impulsive
• Psychoticism:
Poor concentration, poor memory; insensitivity; lack of caring for others;
cruelty; disregard for danger and convention; occasionally originality
and/or creativity; liking for unusual things; considered peculiar by others.
• High Psychoticism:
• Egocentric, Impulsive, Non-conforming.
• Suspicious, Sometimes antisocial.
• Low Psychoticism (Tender Minded)
• Warm, Caring, Cooperative.
• Conforming to social norms.
• Men vs. Women: Who is Higher on P???
• Right! Males tend to show higher psychoticism than females:
• Eysenck: Link to Testosterone levels?
 Psychoticism Extraversion Neuroticism
Aggressive Sociable Anxious
Assertive Irresponsible Depressed
Egocentric Dominant Guilt Feelings
Unsympathetic Lack of reflection Low self-esteem
Manipulative Sensation-seeking Tense
Achievement-oriented Impulsive Moody
Dogmatic Risk-taking Hypochondriac
Masculine Expressive Lack of autonomy
Tough-minded Active Obsessive

*L – Lie/Social Desirability
 Nervous System Arousal
*Stable people-well-modulated nervous systems
*Neurotic people-very reactive nervous systems Tests: EEG,
Electrodermal measure (lie detector)
Eysenck hypothesized that some people have a more responsive
sympathetic nervous system than others. Some people remain very
calm during emergencies;
- some people feel considerable fear or other emotions; and some
are terrified by even very minor incidents.
- He suggested that this latter group had a problem of sympathetic
hyperactivity, which made them prime candidates for the various
neurotic disorders.
3 Type Theory –Biological Determinism-Heredity in
Everything
• E – Extraversion – linked to ascending reticular activating
system (ARAS)-reticular formation of Brain Stem
• N – Neuroticism – linked to limbic system-brains emotional
center regulates sex, fear & aggression
• P – Psychoticism – linked to endocrine gland-especially
which controls sex drive
  The ARAS is responsible for making the
brain alert and the neurotransmitter that does
this is dopamine. Colin DeYoung (2010) used MRI
scans to study the brain and reports a correlation
between E scores and dopamine pathways in the
brain, which is what Eysenck's theory would predict.
 Serotonin inhibits (restrains) mood and emotion
and DeYoung reports a negative correlation between
serotonin and N-scores - in other words, high N scores link
with low serotonin levels.
 There's no specific neurotransmitter for psychoticism, but
high levels of dopamine and low levels of serotonin would
encourage the sort of impulsive personality that Eysenck
describes.
 The combination of high-E and high-N along with high-P
https://www.psychologywizard.n
might be a "perfect storm" for drug-taking and this ties in
et/personality-ao1-ao2-ao3.html
with Eysenck's idea that criminals are neurotic extroverts
with psychotic tendencies.
Yerkes Dodson Model
• Eysenck: Disorders of the first kind
• People who are both highly emotionally reactive
(neurotic on the normality-neurotic dimension) and
highly cortically excitable (introverted on the
introversion-extraversion dimension).
• For example, phobias, compulsions, obsessions.
• Eysenck: Disorders of the second kind
• People who are highly emotionally reactive but who
have low levels of cortical excitation (extraverted on the
introversion-extraversion dimension).-For example, the
psychopath.
• Heredity has a strong role in neuroticism, extraversion, and
psychoticism.
• Nonetheless, Eysenck maintains that all neurotic behavior
is learned!
• According to Eysenck, the core phenomenon in neurosis is
a conditioned fear reaction.
• Since behaviors are learned, they can be unlearned, using
behavior therapies.
• Measures: Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI); Eysenck, &
Eysenck, (1964).
• Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) Eysenck &
Eysenck (1975) & EPQ-R (1985)
 Summary

• The stable and consistent nature of personality can be

organised according to types and traits.
• To give scientific validity trait theories have been organised
according to explicitly constructed and standardised
meanings.
• Two types of nomothetic approaches to describing and
identifying personality have been constructed by Cattell and
Eysenck.
McCrae and Costa’s Five Factor Trait Theory