Hans Eysenck theorized personality to be genetically embedded. He narrowed personality to 3 types Psychoticism, Neuroticism and Extroverted

1. Hans Eysenck
Rebel with a cause
Trait Theory

3. Objectives
 At the end of this lesson you should be able to:
 Know and expound on Hans Eysenck life.
• Understand & explain the meaning of personality ‘type’, ‘trait’ &
‘dimension’
• Describe & explain ‘extroversion’, ‘introversion’, ‘neuroticism’ &
‘normality’
• Understand the relation of dimensions to personality temperaments
• Describe & explain Eysenck’s biological explanation for personality

4. About Hans Eysenck
 Hans Eysenck was born in Berlin, Germany on March 4, 1916.
 He received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of
London in 1940.
 He has written 75 books and some 700 articles. Eysenck retired
in 1983 and continued to write until his death on September 4,
1997.
 Before his death in 1997, he was the most cited living
psychologist, and he is the third most cited psychologist of all
time, after Freud and Piaget.

5. What did Eysenck contribute to psychology?
He developed the concept of neuroticism, arguing that it was a
biological form of emotional instability. He frequently argued
that much of personality is genetically determined and
published several papers on this topic.

6. Personality 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

7. Hans J. Eysenck: Definition of Personality
 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. For Eysenck, personality
consists of acts and dispositions organized in a hierarchical fashion in terms
of their level of generality. The cognitive sector (intelligence), the conative
sector (character), the affective sector (temperament), and the somatic
sector (constitution).”

8. Three Dimensions of Personality
1.Extraversion 2. Neuroticism 3. Psychoticism
 Introversion versus Extroversion
• Emotionally Stable versus Unstable (neurotic)
• Impulse Control versus Psychotic

9. Extraversion - Introversion:
 Extraversion: toughmindedness; impulsiveness; tendency to
be outgoing; desire for novelty; performance enhanced by
excitement; preference for vocations involving contact with
other people; tolerance for pain.
 Introversion: tendermindedness; introspectiveness;
seriousness; performance interfered with by excitement;
easily aroused but restrained, inhibited; preference for
solitary vocations; sensitivity to pain.

10. Neuroticism- Psychoticism
 Neuroticism: Below-average emotional control, will-power,
and capacity to exert self; slowness in thought and action;
suggestibility; lack of persistence; tendency to repress
unpleasant facts; lack of sociability; below-average sensory
acuity but high level of activation.
 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.

11. 4 Basic Temperaments
The first two factors create 4 combinations, related to the four
basic temperaments recognized by ancient Greeks:
• Melancholic (introverted + unstable): sad, gloomy
• Choleric (extroverted + unstable): hot-tempered, irritable
• Phlegmatic (introverted + stable): sluggish, calm
• Sanguine (extroverted + stable): cheerful, hopeful

12. Superfactor
s

13. Eysenck Hierarchy
Super-
Factors
Traits
Habits
Specific Behaviors

14. Hierarchy of Behaviour Organization
Type
Persist
with
hobbies
Finish
es a
job
Keeps
school
work
Studi
es
alone
Works
on
hobbies
alone
Turns
down
invitatio
ns
Introversio
n
Persistence Social Shyness
Trait
Habits
Specific behaviours

16. Activity
 http://youtu.be/hY5uL0sVxnM
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3Qs7cpixd0

17. Men vs. Women: Who is Higher on P???
Psychoticism vs. Tender mindedness
 High Psychoticism:
 Egocentric, Impulsive, Non-conforming.
 Suspicious, Sometimes antisocial.
 Low Psychoticism (Tender Minded)
Warm, (Fuzzy?), Caring, Cooperative.
 Conforming to social norms.
Right! Males tend to show higher psychoticism than females:

18. Biological Basis of Personality
 “Biological causes act in such a way as to predispose an
individual in certain ways to stimulation; this stimulation may or
may not occur, depending on circumstances which are entirely
under environmental control” – Eysenck 1997.

19. Biological Basis of Personality
Personality types result from differences in central nervous
system (CNS) functioning
Implications:
• Genetic basis of personality
• Relatively stable & unchanging
• However the environment interacts with biological
predispositions

20. http://youtu.be/QCnfAzAIhVw

21. Biological Basis of Extroversion/Introversion
ARAS system:
• Ascending Reticular Activation System
• Cortical excitation & inhibition
High ARAS arousal:
• Predisposes to introversion
Low ARAS arousal:
• Predisposes to extroversion
Evidence: Introverts have higher sedation threshold than extroverts
(cf. ADHD)

22. Some empirical findings
• Introverts less tolerant of painful electric shocks (Bartol & Costello,
1976)
• Corr et al (1995): After high dose of caffeine: Introverts poorer
performance (over-stimulated?); Extroverts better performance
(stimulated?)
• Frontal lobes of introverts more active than extroverts (PET scan)
(Johnson et al, 1999)

23. Biological Basis of Neuroticism/Normality
Visceral Brain (VB) system
• Hypothalamus & limbic system
• Mediates emotional activation
High VB activation:
• Predisposed to neuroticism (emotionally reactive)
Low VB activation:
• Predisposed to normality (non-emotionally reactive)

24. Extroverts:Normal & Neurotic
Sanguine
Normal Extrovert
• Low ARAS arousal
• Low visceral brain activity
Choleric
Neurotic Extrovert
• Low ARAS arousal
• High visceral brain activity

25. Introverts: Normal & Neurotic
Phlegmatic
Normal Introvert
• High ARAS arousal
• Low visceral brain activity
Melancholic
Neurotic Introvert
• High ARAS arousal
• High visceral brain activity

26. Evaluation
• Twin studies: E & N: 50% genetic
• Adoption studies: Correlations b/w adoptive parents & adopted
children for E & N are around 0%
• E, N & P: highest validity of all traits (Kline, 1993)

27. Activity
 http://similarminds.com/eysenck.html

28. References
 Boeree, C. (2006, January 1). Hans Eysenck. Retrieved November
11, 2014, from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/eysenck.html
 Feist, J., & Fiest, G. (2008). Dispositional Theories. In Theories of
Personality (Seventh ed., p. 627). McGraw-Hill Primis.
 Hergenhahn, B.R.&Olson, M.H. (2010). An Introduction to Theories
of Personality (8th ed.). UpperSaddleRiver, N.J: Pearson Education,
Inc.
 Schultz, D., & Schultz, S. (2009). The Social-Learning Approach.
In Theories of Personality(Ninth ed., p. 539). Belmont: Wadsworth
Cengage Learning.
 Zuckerman, M., Eysenck, S. B. J., & Eysenck, H. J. (1978).
Sensation seeking in England and America: Cross-cultural, age,
and sex comparisons. Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology, 46(1), 139-149.