GORDON

ALLPORT
PERSONALITY THEORIES
UNLOCKING OF TERMS
Direction: Give the correct answer of the following using the scrambled words.
1. refers to behavior or actions that are easily and directly observable.

EVORT EIROAHVB
OVERT BEHAVIOR

2. behavior that is not directly observable and can only be inferred by the observer or reported
by the subject

EVORCT
COVERT EIROAHVB
BEHAVIOR
UNLOCKING OF TERMS
Direction: Give the correct answer of the following using the
scrambled words.
3. are driving forces of behaviors for achieving and maintaining goals

OIMTAVNOIT
MOTIVATION
4. is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques that deal in part with the unconscious mind,
and which together form a method of treatment for mental disorders

PYSCHOANALYSIS
YCOHSPNLSSIA
UNLOCKING OF TERMS
Direction: Give the correct answer of the following using the
scrambled words.
5. ________ is the ability to do things in advance of an event to ensure you
have maximum control
PROACTIVE
VAERPCITO
 Gordon Willard Allport was born on November 11, 1897, in Montezuma,
Indiana, the fourth and youngest son of John E. Allport and Nellie Wise
Allport.
 Allport’s father had engaged in a number of business ventures before
becoming a physician at about the time of Gordon’s birth.
 In the fall of 1915, Allport entered Harvard, following in the footsteps of
his brother Floyd, who had graduated 2 years earlier and who at that time
was a graduate assistant in psychology.
 When Allport returned to the United States, he immediately enrolled in
the PhD program at Harvard.
 In 1924, he returned again to Harvard to teach, among other classes, a
new course in the psychology of personality.
 In 1925, Allport married Ada Lufkin Gould, whom he had met when both were graduate
students.
 The Allports had one child, Robert, who became a pediatrician and thus sandwiched Allport
between two generations of physicians, a fact that seemed to have pleased him in no small
measure.
ALLPORT’S APPROACH TO
PERSONALITY THEORY
Answers to three interrelated questions reveal Allport’s
approach to personality theory:
 (1) What is personality?
After tracing the history of the term, Allport spelled out 49 definitions of personality as used in
theology, philosophy, law, sociology, and psychology. He then offered a 50th definition, which
in 1937 was “the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems
that determine his unique adjustments to his environment” (Allport, 1937, p. 48). In 1961, he
had changed the last phrase to read “that determine his characteristic behavior and
thought” (Allport, 1961, p. 28).
ALLPORT’S APPROACH TO
PERSONALITY THEORY
Answers to three interrelated questions reveal Allport’s
approach to personality theory:
 (1) What is personality?
After tracing the history of the term, Allport spelled out 49 definitions of personality as used in
theology, philosophy, law, sociology, and psychology. He then offered a 50th definition, which
in 1937 was “the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems
that determine his unique adjustments to his environment” (Allport, 1937, p. 48). In 1961, he
had changed the last phrase to read “that determine his characteristic behavior and
thought” (Allport, 1961, p. 28).
 ALLPORT’S APPROACH TO
PERSONALITY THEORY
Personality is both physical and psychological; it
includes both overt behaviors and covert
thoughts; it not only is something, but
it does something. Personality is both substance
and change, both product and process, both
structure and growth
Sharing of Personality Development
Question:
There was a time that your
personality affects someone?
In positive and negative way
 2. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF
CONSCIOUS MOTIVATION?
Allport emphasized the importance of conscious
motivation.
Healthy adults are generally aware of what they are
doing and their reasons for doing it.
Allport (1961) did not ignore the existence or even the
importance of unconscious processes.
2. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF
CONSCIOUS MOTIVATION?
2. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF
CONSCIOUS MOTIVATION?
 More than any other personality theorist, Allport emphasized the importance of conscious
motivation.
 Healthy adults are generally aware of what they are doing and their reasons for doing it.
 His emphasis on conscious motivation goes back to his meeting in Vienna with Freud and his
emotional reaction to Freud's question: "And was that little boy you?" Freud's response carried
the implication that his 22-year-old visitor was unconsciously talking about his own fetish for
cleanliness in revealing the story of the clean little boy on the tram car.
 Allport (1967) insisted that his motivation was quite conscious—he simply wanted to know
Freud's ideas about dirt phobia in a child so young.
2. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF
CONSCIOUS MOTIVATION?
Whereas Freud would assume an underlying
unconscious meaning to the story of the little boy on
the train, Allport was inclined to accept self-reports at
face value. "This experience taught me that depth
psychology, for all its merits, may plunge too deep, and
that psychologists would do well to give full
recognition to manifest motives before probing the
unconscious" (Allport, 1967, p. 8).
However, Allport (1961) did not ignore the existence
2. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF
CONSCIOUS MOTIVATION?
or even the importance of unconscious processes.
He recognized the fact that some motivation is
driven by hidden impulses and sublimated drives.
He believed for example, that most compulsive
behaviors are automatic repetitions, usually self-
defeating, and motivated by unconscious
tendencies. They often originate in childhood and
retain a childish flavor into adult years.
ALLPORT AND FREUD
ENCOUNTER
 The boy, Allport explained, was afraid of getting dirty and refused to sit where a dirty-looking
man had previously sat.
 Allport theorized that the child had acquired the behavior from his mother, who appeared to be
very domineering.
 Freud studied Allport for a moment and then asked, "And was that little boy you?
 Allport viewed the experience as an attempt by Freud to turn a simple observation into an
analysis of Allport's supposed unconscious memory of his own childhood. The experience
would later serve as a reminder that psychoanalysis tended to dig too deeply. Behaviorism, on
the other hand, Allport believed, did not dig deeply enough.
 Instead, Allport chose to reject both psychoanalysis and behaviorism and embraced his own
unique approach to personality.
ALLPORT AND FREUD
ENCOUNTER
 The boy, Allport explained, was afraid of getting dirty and refused to sit where a dirty-looking
man had previously sat.
 Allport theorized that the child had acquired the behavior from his mother, who appeared to be
very domineering.
 Freud studied Allport for a moment and then asked, "And was that little boy you?
 Allport viewed the experience as an attempt by Freud to turn a simple observation into an
analysis of Allport's supposed unconscious memory of his own childhood. The experience
would later serve as a reminder that psychoanalysis tended to dig too deeply. Behaviorism, on
the other hand, Allport believed, did not dig deeply enough.
 Instead, Allport chose to reject both psychoanalysis and behaviorism and embraced his own
unique approach to personality.
3. WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS
OF A HEALTHY PERSON?
A few general assumptions are required to understand Allport’s
conception of the mature personality.
First, psychologically mature people are characterized
by proactive behavior; that is, they not only react to external
stimuli, but they are capable of consciously acting on their
environment in new and innovative ways and causing their
environment to react to them.
Proactive behavior is not merely directed at reducing tensions but
also at establishing new ones.
3. WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS
OF A HEALTHY PERSON?
 The first is an extension of the sense of self. Mature people
continually seek to identify with and participate in events outside
themselves.
 Second, mature personalities are characterized by a “warm relating
of self to others” (Allport, 1961, p. 285). They have the capacity to
love others in an intimate and compassionate manner.
 A third criterion is emotional security or self-acceptance. Mature
individuals accept themselves for what they are, and they possess
what Allport (1961) called emotional poise.
3. WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS
OF A HEALTHY PERSON?
 Fourth, psychologically healthy people also possess a realistic
perception of their environment. They do not live in a fantasy world
or bend reality to fit their own wishes.
 A fifth criterion is insight and humor. Mature people know
themselves and, therefore, have no need to attribute their own
mistakes and weaknesses to others.
 The final criterion of maturity is a unifying philosophy of
life. Healthy people have a clear view of the purpose of life.
3. WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS
OF A HEALTHY PERSON?
 Fourth, psychologically healthy people also possess a realistic
perception of their environment. They do not live in a fantasy world
or bend reality to fit their own wishes.
 A fifth criterion is insight and humor. Mature people know
themselves and, therefore, have no need to attribute their own
mistakes and weaknesses to others.
 The final criterion of maturity is a unifying philosophy of
life. Healthy people have a clear view of the purpose of life.
STRUCTURE OF
PERSONALITY
To Allport, the most important structures are
those that permit the description of the person in
terms of individual characteristics, and he called
these individual characteristics a personal
dispositions.
Common traits are general characteristics held in common
by many people.
Allport (1961) defined a personal disposition as “a
generalized neuropsychic structure (peculiar to the
individual), with the capacity to render many stimuli
functionally equivalent, and to initiate and guide consistent
(equivalent) forms of adaptive and stylistic behavior” (p.
373)
Personal dispositions are individual “ peculiar to the
individual.”
 Common traits are shared by several people.
Examples of Common Traits
Honest.
Brave.
Compassionate.
Leader.
Courageous.
Unselfish.
Loyal.
Examples of Personal Disposition
Personal disposition is a person’s
true character, attitude and outlook
such as:
1. trustworthy
2. loving
3. open-minded
Negative personal dispositions can include
being
1. cowardly- lack of courage
2. Imprudent -not showing care for the consequences of an action
3. biased -unfairly prejudiced for or against someone or something.
4. ill- tempered- having or showing a bad temper; quarrelsome;
sullen; irritable.
Personal dispositions is inherited not a learned skill
 Levels of Personal Dispositions
Allport placed personal dispositions on a continuum from those that are most central to those
that are of only peripheral importance to a person.
 Cardinal Dispositions Some people possess an eminent characteristic or ruling passion so
outstanding that it dominates their lives. Allport (1961) called these personal
dispositions cardinal dispositions.
Examples
 Some examples include:
 Abraham Lincoln: Honest
 Albert Einstein: Brilliant
 Mahatma Gandhi: Peaceful
 Martin Luther King, Jr.: Just, heroic
 Mother Teresa: Good, charitable
 Niccolo Machiavelli: Ruthless
 Oprah Winfrey: Sociability, openness
 Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalytical
Central Dispositions Few people have cardinal
dispositions, but everyone has several central
dispositions, Central traits are the building
blocks of your personality. 
Examples When you describe someone, you are
likely to use words that refer to these central
traits:  smart, dumb, wild, shy, sneaky, dopey,
grumpy....  He noted that most people have
somewhere between five and ten of these
 Secondary Dispositions Less conspicuous but far greater
in number than central dispositions are the secondary
dispositions.  example, “he gets angry when you try to
tickle him,” “she has some very unusual sexual
preferences,” and “you can’t take him to restaurants.
 Motivational and Stylistic Dispositions
All personal dispositions are dynamic in the sense that they have motivational
power. Nevertheless, some are much more strongly felt than others, and
Allport called these intensely experienced dispositions motivational
dispositions. These strongly felt dispositions receive their motivation from
basic needs and drives. Allport (1961) referred to personal dispositions that are
less intensely experienced as stylistic dispositions, even though these
dispositions possess some motivational power. Stylistic
dispositions guide action, whereas motivational dispositions initiate action
EXAMPLES
Impeccable personal appearance.
People are motivated to dress because of a
basic need to stay warm, but the manner in
which they attire themselves is determined by
their stylistic personal dispositions (Allport,
1961).
ACTIVITY:
Direction:
Try to examine yourselves. List your personal
dispositions and determine the type of personal
disposition you belong. Share it to the group.
PROPRIUM
 Allport used the term proprium to refer to those behaviors and
characteristics that people regard as warm, central, and important in their
lives. These nonpropriate behaviors include (1) basic drives and needs
that are ordinarily met and satisfied without much difficulty; (2) tribal
customs such as wearing clothes, saying “hello” to people, and driving
on the right side of the road; and (3) habitual behaviors, such as
smoking or brushing one’s teeth, that are performed automatically
and that are not crucial to the person’s sense of self.
 As the warm center of personality, the proprium includes those aspects of
life that a person regards as important to a sense of self-identity and self-
enhancement (Allport, 1955).
 MOTIVATION
Most people, Allport believed, are motivated by present drives rather
than by past events and are aware of what they are doing and have some
understanding of why they are doing it.
He also contended that theories of motivation must consider the
differences between peripheral motives and propriate strivings. 
Peripheral motives are those that reduce a need, whereas propriate
strivings seek to maintain tension and disequilibrium.
 Adult behavior is both reactive and proactive, and an adequate theory
of motivation must be able to explain both.
 A THEORY OF MOTIVATION
Allport believed that a useful theory of personality rests
on the assumption that people not only react to their
environment but also shape their environment and cause
it to react to them.
Personality is a growing system, allowing new
elements to constantly enter into and change the person.
 FUNCTIONAL AUTONOMY
Allport didn’t believe in looking too much into a
person’s past in order to understand his present. 
 This belief is most strongly evident in the concept
of functional autonomy: 
Your motives today are independent (autonomous) of
their origins. 
 PERSEVERATIVE
FUNCTIONAL AUTONOMY
Functional autonomy comes in two flavors: 
The first is perseverative functional autonomy.  This
refers essentially to habits -- behaviors that no longer
serve their original purpose, but still continue. 
You may have started smoking as a symbol of
adolescent rebellion, for example, but now you smoke
because you can’t quit! 
 PROPRIATE FUNCTIONAL
AUTONOMY
is something a bit more self-directed than habits. 
Values are the usual example.  Perhaps you were
punished for being selfish when you were a child.  That
doesn’t in any way detract from your well-known
generosity today -- it has become your value!
 PROPRIATE FUNCTIONAL
AUTONOMY
Perhaps you can see how the idea of functional
autonomy may have derived from Allport’s frustration
with Freud (or the behaviorists). 
 Of course, that hardly means that it’s only a defensive
belief on Allport’s part
 CONCLUSION
Allport is one of those theorists who was so right about so many things
that his ideas have simply passed on into the spirit of the times. 
His theory is one of the first humanistic theories, and would influence
many others, including Kelly, Maslow, and Rogers. 
One unfortunate aspect of his theory is his original use of the word trait,
which brought down the wrath of a number of situationally oriented
behaviorists who would have been much more open to his theory if they
had bothered to understand it. 
But that has always been a weakness of psychology in general and
personality in particular:  Ignorance of the past and the theories and
research of others.
 DIRECTION: TELL WHETHER THE FOLLOWING IS
PERSONAL DISPOSITION OR COMMON TRAIT
1. Despite of current financial crisis, a taxi driver returned the money left by the
passenger.
2. Roel is a seaman, many people admire him for being faithful to his family.
3. Ronald works hard even nobody is watching.
4. Even in the worst situation , she remains calm and solves problem quickly
as possible.
5. Whatever other told him , he remains being coward to cross the bridge.
6. A teacher was reprimanded by the principal for shouting his grade 1 student
for being so noisy in the class.
 DIRECTION: TELL WHETHER THE FOLLOWING IS
PERSONAL DISPOSITION OR COMMON TRAIT
1. Despite of current financial crisis, a taxi driver returned the money left by the
passenger.
2. Roel is a seaman, many people admire him for being faithful to his family.
3. Ronald works hard even nobody is watching.
4. Even in the worst situation , she remains calm and solves problem quickly
as possible.
5. Whatever other told him , he remains being coward to cross the bridge.
6. A teacher was reprimanded by the principal for shouting his grade 1 pupil
for being so noisy in the class.
DIRECTION: TELL WHETHER THE FOLLOWING
IS CARDINAL DISPOSITION, CENTRAL
DISPOSITION, SECONDARY DISPOSITION AND
MOTIVATIONAL AND STYLISTIC DISPOSITION
1. Mother Teresa in known for her kindness and selflessness.
2. Satan is known for his cruelty and wickeness.
3. Ryan understands and accepts his wife act of protectiveness.
4. He is known for being so shy.
5. He gets angry when he is hungry.
6. He is rude to someone who shows the same way.
7. He studies on the day of the exam schedule.
UNLOCKING OF TERMS
Direction: Give the correct answer of the following using the scrambled words.
1. _______moves from specific observations to broad generalizations

Inductive papochar
niucdevti approach

2. behavior that is not directly observable and can only be inferred by the observer or reported
by the subject

EVORCT
COVERT EIROAHVB
BEHAVIOR
RAYMOND
CATTELL
Dispositional Theory
ACTIVITY:
Click the link sent to GC to test
your personality using 16PT
https://openpsychometrics.org/tes
ts/16PF.php
Raymond Cattell and Hans Eysenck have
each used factor analysis to identify traits (that
is, relatively permanent dispositions of people).
Cattell has identified a large number of
personality traits, whereas Eysenck has
extracted only three general factors.
BIOGRAPHY
Raymond B. Cattell was born in England in 1905, educated
at the University of London, but spent most of his
professional career in the United States.
He held positions at Columbia University, Clark University,
Harvard University, and the University of Illinois, where he
spent most of his active career.
During the last 20 years of his life, he was associated with
the Hawaii School of Professional Psychology. He died in
1998, a few weeks short of his 93rd birthday.
While at Harvard Cattell first developed the
idea that the new factor-analytic method that
Spearman had pioneered to study cognitive
abilities could also be a powerful tool for
identifying the components of personality.
This insight eventually yielded his widely
referenced theory of personality, which
consists of 16 components, or “base traits.”.
Cattell also originated the distinction
between “fluid intelligence” (the ability to
analyze novel problems) and
“crystallized intelligence” (the ability to
apply skill and knowledge to familiar
problems), a distinction that still figures
prominently in many theories of the
components of intelligence
BASICS OF FACTOR ANALYSIS
Factor analysis is a mathematical procedure for reducing a large
number of scores to a few more general variables or factors.

Correlations of the original, specific scores with the factors are

called factor loadings.

Traits generated through factor analysis may be either unipolar

(scaled from zero to some large amount) or bipolar (having two
opposing poles, such as introversion and extraversion).
 BASICS OF FACTOR ANALYSIS
For factors to have psychological meaning, the analyst
must rotate the axes on which the scores are plotted.
Eysenck used an orthogonal rotation whereas Cattell
favored an oblique rotation.
The oblique rotation procedure ordinarily results in more
traits than the orthogonal method.
INTRODUCTION TO CATTELL'S
TRAIT THEORY
Cattell used an inductive approach
to identify traits; that is, he began
with a large body of data that he
collected with no preconceived
hypothesis or theory
 1. P TECHNIQUE
Cattell's P technique is a correlational procedure that uses
measures collected from one person on many different
occasions and is his attempt to measure individual or unique,
rather than common, traits.
Cattell also used the dR (differential R) technique, which
correlates the scores of a large number of people on many
variables obtained at two different occasions.
 By combining these two techniques, Cattell has measured
both states (temporary conditions within an individual) and traits
(relatively permanent dispositions of an individual).
 2. MEDIA OF OBSERVATION
Cattell used three different sources of data that enter the
correlation matrix: 
(1) L data, or a person's life record that comes from
observations made by 
others;
(2) Q data, which are based on questionnaires; and
(3) T data, or information obtained from objective
tests.
SOURCE TRAITS
Source traits refer to the underlying factor or
factors responsible for the intercorrelation among
surface traits.
They can be distinguished from trait indicators,
or surface traits.
PERSONALITY TRAITS
Personality traits include both common
traits (shared by many people) and unique
traits (peculiar to one individual).
 Personality traits can also be classified into
temperament, motivation (dynamic), and
ability.
1. TEMPERAMENT TRAITS
Temperament traits are concerned with how a person behaves.
Of the 35 primary or first-order traits Cattell has identified, all but one
(intelligence) is basically a temperament trait.
Of the 23 normal traits, 16 were obtained through Q media and compose
Cattell's    famous 16 PF scale.
The additional seven factors that make up the 23 normal traits were originally
identified only through L data.
Cattell believed that pathological people have the same 23 normal traits as other
people, but, in addition, they exhibit one or more of 12 abnormal traits.
Also, a person's pathology may simply be due to a normal trait that is carried to an
extreme.
2. SECOND-ORDER TRAITS 
The 35 primary source traits tend to cluster
together, forming eight clearly identifiable
second-order traits.
 The two strongest of the second-order traits
might be called extraversion/introversion and
anxiety.
DYNAMIC TRAITS
In addition to temperament traits, Cattell
recognized motivational or dynamic traits,
which include attitudes, ergs, and sems. 
1. ATTITUDE
An attitude refers to a specific course of action, or desire to
act, in response to a given situation.
Motivation is usually quite complex, so that a network of
motives, or dynamic lattice, is ordinarily involved with an
attitude.
 In addition, a subsidiation chain, or a complex set of
subgoals, underlies motivation. 
2. ERGS
Ergs are innate drives or motives, such as
sex, hunger, loneliness, pity, fear, curiosity,
pride, sensuousness, anger, and greed that
humans share with other primates. 
3. SEMS
Sems are learned or acquired dynamic traits that
can satisfy several ergs at the same time.
The self-sentiment is the most important sem in
that it integrates the other sems. 
4. THE DYNAMIC LATTICE
The dynamic lattice is a complex
network of attitudes, ergs, and sems
underlying a person's motivational
structure.
GENETIC BASIS OF TRAITS
Cattell and his colleagues provided estimates of heritability
of the various source traits.
Heritability is an estimate of the extent to which the variance
of a given trait is due to heredity.
Cattell has found relatively high heritability values for both
fluid intelligence (the ability to adapt to new material) and
crystallized intelligence (which depends on prior learning),
suggesting that intelligence is due more to heredity than to
environment.
PERSONALITY FACTORS
(16PF)
 In 1949, Raymond Cattell published the 16PF.  The 16PF, or the 16 personality factors, is an
assessment device based off of the technique developed by Charles Spearman. 
 Spearman was a mathematician who created a mathematical formula known as factor
analysis. 
Factor analysis takes data and puts it into separate groupings. 
 Cattell believed that everyone has every trait, but depending on the person, certain traits are
displayed more than others.
  The 16PF is a list of traits that a person can use to determine the measures of each trait they
have.
PERSONALITY FACTORS
(16PF)
Abstractedness imaginative versus practical

Apprehension insecure versus complacent

Dominance aggressive versus passive

Emotional Stability calm and stable versus high-strung

PERSONALITY FACTORS
(16PF)
Liveliness enthusiastic versus serious
Openness to Change liberal versus traditional

Perfectionism compulsive and controlled versus indifferent

Privateness pretentious versus unpretentious

PERSONALITY FACTORS
(16PF)

Reasoning abstract versus concrete

Rule Consciousness moralistic versus free-thinking

Self-Reliance leader versus follower

PERSONALITY FACTORS
(16PF)
Sensitivity sensitive versus tough-minded

Social Boldness uninhibited versus timid

Tension driven and tense versus relaxed and easy going

Vigilance suspicious versus accepting

Warmth open and warmhearted versus aloof and critical

WHO DID CATTELL GET HELP FROM? 
Cattell created the 16PF with much help from other scientists.
  Allport and Odbert, who also made a list of traits in 1936, and
Baumgarten, who studied similar things such as the dimensions of
personality, gave guidelines to Cattell for his studies. 
Allport and Odbert worked on the development of taxonomy. 
With that, the two discovered that adjectives could be seperated into
categories.
  This means that the factors could be split up into different traits. 
 For example, with Cattell's 16PF theory, the factor of reasoning is
split up into abstract and concrete
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The 16PF is a list of different personality traits. 
 
 It is a key that is used to determine what type of person you are. 
 To use the 16PF  one must first take a test. 
 The test includes a list of statements and for each you have to show
how accurate each statement applies to you. 
 At the end of the test, for each of the words listed to the right, it shows
you how much that factor applies to you. 
 For example if you got a high score for liveliness you would be
considered enthusiastic, however, if you received a low score for
liveliness you would be considered a more serious person.
WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS?
     Like all theories, Cattell's 16PF has its own pros and cons. 
One thing that is looked down upon with his theory is that it
has never been completely replicated.  Other scientists tested
his theory and tried to prove what was wrong with it.  For
example, Howarth and Brown found that 10 factors and their
descriptions did not match up completely.  Another down side
to Cattel's theory is that many researchers questioned the
reliability of his ideas.  Although there was critism, Cattell
made various attempts to prove others that his research was
reliable and true.
 INTRODUCTION TO
EYSENCK'S FACTOR
THEORY
 EYSENCK
 (1) was more likely to theorize
before collecting and factor
analyzing data;
(2) extracted fewer factors; and
(3) used a wider variety of
approaches to gather data.
BIOGRAPHY
Hans J. Eysenck was born in Berlin in 1916, but as a
teenager, he moved to England to escape Nazi tyranny
and made London his home for more than 60 years.
Eysenck was trained in the psychometrically oriented
psychology department of the University of London,
from which he received a bachelor's degree in 1938
and a Ph.D. in 1940.
During 1940s Eysenck was working at the Maudsley
psychiatric hospital in London. His job was to make
an initial assessment of each patient before their
mental disorder was diagnosed by a psychiatrist.
Through this position, he compiled a battery of
questions about behavior, which he later applied to
700 soldiers who were being treated for neurotic
disorders at the hospital (Eysenck (1947).
 He found that the soldiers' answers seemed to link naturally
with one another, suggesting that there were a number of
different personality traits which were being revealed by the
soldier's answers. He called these first-order personality
traits
 He used a technique called factor analysis. This technique
reduces behavior to a number of factors which can be
grouped together under separate headings, called
dimensions.
Eysenck (1947) found that their behavior
could be represented by two dimensions:
Introversion / Extroversion (E); Neuroticism
/ Stability (N). Eysenck called these second-
order personality traits.
A. What Are the Major Personality
Factors?
Eysenck's theory revolves around only three
general bipolar types:
extraversion/introversion,
neuroticism/stability, and
psychoticism/superego function.
Extraverts are characterized by sociability,
impulsiveness, jocularity, liveliness, optimism,
and quick-wittedness, whereas introverts are
quiet, passive, unsociable, careful, reserved,
thoughtful, pessimistic, peaceful, sober, and
controlled.
Eysenck, however, believes that the principal
differences between extraverts and introverts is
one of cortical arousal level. Traditionally,
cortical arousal is measured as alpha power in
the electroencephalogram

*hypothesizing that extraverts possess a lower basal level

compared to introverts
Eysenck, however, believes that the
principal Neurotic traits include anxiety,
hysteria, and obsessive compulsive
disorders. Both normal and abnormal
individuals may score high on the
neuroticism scale  of the Eysenck's various
personality inventories.
People who score high on the
psychoticism scale are egocentric, cold,
nonconforming, aggressive, impulsive,
hostile, suspicious, and antisocial. Men
tend to score higher than women on
psychoticism
Extraversion/introversion
 Extraverts are sociable and crave excitement and change, and thus
can become bored easily. They tend to be carefree, optimistic and
impulsive. They are more likely to take risks and be thrill seekers.
Eysenck argues that this is because they inherit an under aroused
nervous system and so seek stimulation to restore the level of
optimum stimulation.
 Introverts on the other hand lie at the other end of this scale, being
quiet and reserved. They are already over-aroused and shun
sensation and stimulation. Introverts are reserved, plan their actions
and control their emotions. They tend to be serious, reliable and
pessimistic.
Neuroticism/stability
A person’s level of neuroticism is determined by the
reactivity of their sympathetic nervous system. A stable
person’s nervous system will generally be less reactive to
stressful situations, remaining calm and level headed.
Someone high in neuroticism on the
other hand will be much more unstable,
and prone to overreacting to stimuli and
may be quick to worry, anger or fear.
They are overly emotional and find it
difficult to calm down once upset.
Psychoticism/normality
Eysenck (1966) later added a third trait / dimension
- Psychoticism – e.g., lacking in empathy, cruel, a
loner, aggressive and troublesome. This has been
related to high levels of testosterone. The higher the
testosterone, the higher the level of psychoticism, with
low levels related to more normal balanced behavior.
Critical Evaluation
Twin studies can be used to see if personality is genetic.
However, the findings are conflicting and non-conclusive.
Shields (1976) found that monozygotic (identical) twins
were significantly more alike on the Introvert – Extrovert
(E) and Psychoticism (P) dimensions than dizygotic (non-
identical) twins.
Loehlin, Willerman, and Horn (1988) found that only 50%
of the variations of scores on personality dimensions are
due to inherited traits. This suggests that social factors are
also important.
One good element of Eysenck’s theory is that it takes into
account both nature and nurture. Eysenck’s theory argues
strongly that biological predispositions towards certain
personality traits combined with conditioning and socialization
during childhood in order to create our personality.
This interactionist approach may, therefore, be much more
valid than either a biological or environmental theory alone.
It also links nicely with the diathesis-stress model of behavior
which argues for a biological predisposition combining with an
environmental trigger for a particular behavior.