Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
Chapter 14
Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
Learning Objectives
After reading Chapter 14, you should be able to:
1.
Explain the basics of factor analytic procedures.
2.
Describe Eysenck's approach to the measurement of
personality.
3.
Name and explain Eysenck’s criteria for identifying factors.
4.
Name and describe Eysenck's three general types, or
superfactors.
5..
Describe how Eysenck's three superfactors relate to and predict
behavior.
6.
List and describe the three bipolar dimensions of Eysenck’s
type theory.
7.
Explain how Eysenck's theory of personality relates to disease.
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
8.
Briefly define the characteristics of someone who is high on
extraversion or high on introversion.
9.
Describe the three basic dimensions of Eysenck’s type theory
and his view of how biology can influence personality.
Chapter 14 Outline
I.
Overview of Factor and Trait Theories
Hans Eysenck and others have used factor analysis to identify
traits, that is, relatively permanent dispositions of people.
Eysenck extracted only three general factors,which yielded
three general bipolar factors or types:
extraversion/introversion, neuroticism/stability, and
psychoticism/superego.
II.
Biography of Hans J. Eysenck
Hans J. Eysenck was born in Berlin in 1916, but as a teenager,
he moved to London to escape Nazi tyranny. 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 PhD in 1940.
Eysenck was perhaps the most prolific writer of any
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
psychologist in the world, and his books and articles often
stirred worldwide controversy. He died in September of 1997.
III. Eysenck's Factor Theory
The personality theory of Hans Eysenck has strong
psychometric and biological components. Hans Eysenck (1)
was more likely to theorize before collecting and analyzing
data; (2) extracted fewer factors; (3) used a wider variety of
approaches to gather data.
A. Criteria for Identifying Factors
Eysenck insisted that personality factors must (1) be based on
strong psychometric evidence, (2) fit an acceptable genetic
model, (3) make sense theoretically, and (4) possess social
relevance.
B. Hierarchy of Behavior Organization
Eysenck recognized a four-level hierarchy of behavior
organization: (1) specific behaviors or cognitions; (2) habitual
acts or cognitions; (3) traits, or personal dispositions, and (4)
types or superfactors.
IV. Dimensions of Personality
Although many triads exist, Eysenck's methods of measuring
personality limited the number bipolar personality types to only
three—extraversion/introversion, neuroticism/stability, and
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
psychoticism/superego function. Each of three bipolar factors
has a strong genetic component.
A. Extraversion
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, believed that the principal difference
between extraverts and introverts is one of cortical arousal
level.
B. Neuroticism
Like extraversion/introversion, neuroticism/stability is largely
influenced by genetic factors. People high in neuroticism have
such traits as anxiety, hysteria, and obsessive-compulsive
disorders. They frequently have a tendency to overreact
emotionally and to have difficulty returning to a normal state
after emotional arousal. They often complain of physical
symptoms such as headache and backache, but they also may
be free from psychological symptoms.
C.
Psychoticism
The latest and weakest of Eysenck's personality factors is
psychoticism/superego. High psychotic scores may indicate
anxiety, hysteria, egocentricism, nonconformance, aggression,
impulsiveness, hostility, and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
Both normal and abnormal individuals may score high on the
neuroticism scale.
V.
Measuring Personality
Eysenck and his colleagues developed four personality
inventory to measure superfactors, or types The two most
frequently used by current researchers is the Eysenck
Personality Inventory (which measures only E and N) and the
Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (which also measures all
three factors).
VI. Biological Bases of Personality
Eysenck believed that P, E, and N all have a powerful
biological components, and he cited as evidence the existence
of these three types in a wide variety of cultures and languages.
VII. Personality as a Predictor
Eysenck's complex model of personality suggests that the
psychometric traits of P, E, and N can combine with one
another and with genetic determinants, biological
intermediates, and experimental studies to predict a variety of
social behaviors, including those that contribute to disease.
A.
Personality and Behavior
According to Eysenck's model, P, E, and N should predict both
proximal and distal consequences (see Figure 14.7), and he and
his colleagues cited studies that predicted behavior in both
laboratory studies and studies of social behavior. They found a
relationship between superfactors and a large number of
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
behaviors and processes, such as academic performance,
creativity, antisocial behavior, as well as behaviors that may
lead to disease.
B. Personality and Disease
For many years, Eysenck researched the relationship between
personality factors and disease. He teamed with Ronald
Grossarth-Maticek to study the connection between personality
characteristics and both cancer and cardiovascular disease.
According to this research, people with a helpless/hopeless
attitude are more likely to die from cancer, whereas people
who react to frustration with anger and emotional arousal are
more much more likely to die from cardiovascular disease.
VIII.
Related Research
The three-factor theory of Eysenck has drawn a considerable
amount of research, and is very popular in the field of
personality. Eysenck developed the Eysenck Personality
Inventory and its offshoots (Eysenck, 1959; Eysenck &
Eysenck, 1964, 1968, 1975, 1993)
Biology and Personality
Eysenck assumed that personality springs from genetic and
neurophysiological bases. If this assumption has validity,
neurophysiological differences should exist between people
high on one end of a dimension (for instance, introversion) and
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
those high on the other end of that dimension (extraverts).
Second, the basic personality dimensions should be universal
and not limited to a given culture. Over the last 30 years, a
substantial amount of research has shown physiological
differences between extraverts and introverts, thus supporting
Eysenck's biology-based theory (Beauducel, Brocke, & Leue,
2006; Eysenck, 1990; Stelmack, 1990, 1997). Interestingly, one
study found that extraverts may move faster, but they do not
think faster than introverts (Doucet & Stelmack, 2000).
Another of Eysenck’s hypotheses that has generated some
research is optimal level of arousal. Eysenck theorized that
introverts should work best with lower levels of sensory
stimulation and extraverts with higher levels (Dornic &
Ekehammer, 1990). Russell Geen studied this (1984), and his
findings supported Eysenck’s theory.
IX. Critique of Factor Theories
The factor theories of Eysenck and others rate high on
parsimony, on their ability to generate research, and on their
usefulness in organizing data; they are about average on
falsifiability, usefulness to the practitioner, and internal
consistency.
X.
Concept of Humanity
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
Factor theories generally assume that human personality is
largely the product of genetics and not the environment. Thus,
we rate these two theories very high on biological influences
and very low on social factors. In addition, we rate both about
average on conscious versus unconscious influences and high
on the uniqueness of individuals. The concepts of free choice,
optimism versus pessimism, and causality versus teleology are
not clearly addressed by these theories.
Test Items
Fill-in-the-Blanks
1.
Eysenck was a native of Germany, but he lived most of his life
in ___________________.
2. Eysenck used __________________ analysis to identify
personality variables.
3. Factor analysis is based on ______________________
coefficients.
4. Introversion versus extraversion would be a ________________
trait.
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
5. Eysenck advocated a ______________-level hierarchy of
behavior organization.
6. Several habitual responses form a __________________.
7. Several interrelated traits form a _____________________.
8. Eysenck believed that differences in ____________________
arousal are primarily responsible for differences in the behavior
of extraverts and introverts.
9. In Eysenck's theory, psychoticism is on one pole and
_________________ on the other.
10. Eysenck's N factor stands for ________________________ .
11. Eysenck insisted that personality has a ___________________
basis.
12. The _____________________ model assumes that some people
are more vulnerable to disease than other people.
13. Eysenck’s encounter with the fascist right and his later battles
with the radical left suggested to him that the trait of
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
_______________, was equally prevalent in both extremes of
the political spectrum.
14. Hans J. Eysenck’s early theoretical ideas led to the publication of
his first book, _______________________.
15. The personality theory of Hans Eysenck has strong psychometric
and _________ components.
16. Eysenck’s final criterion for the existence of a factor is that it
must possess ____________________.
17. Eysenck’s original theory of personality was based on only two
personality dimensions extraversion and ___________.
18. According to Eysenck, extraverts have a ________________
threshold of arousal than do introverts.
19. Eysenck Personality Inventory, or EPI contains a ______ scale
to detect faking, but more importantly, it measures extraversion
and neuroticism independently.
20. The first domain to test Eysenck’s biological model of
personality is in ___________.
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
True-False
_____1.
Most psychologists regard Eysenck as a follower of
Cattell.
_____2.
As a schoolboy in Germany, Eysenck expressed a
passion for psychology.
_____3.
The orthogonal rotation method tends to result in a
greater number of traits than does the oblique rotation method.
_____4.
Correlations of scores with factors are called unipolar
traits.
_____5.
Eysenck proposed that personality can be explained by
three major types.
_____6.
Traits are more stable than states.
_____7.
Eysenck would say that his relationship with his parents,
as well as other childhood experiences, played a significant
role in shaping his personality.
____8.
Eysenck's theory is based mainly on trait level factors.
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
____9.
Eysenck believed that the main differences between
extraversion and introversion are not behavioral but biological
and genetic in nature.
____10.
People who score high on Eysenck's P scale are likely to
be warm, affectionate, conforming, and sociable.
____11.
Eysenck's P type is a bipolar factor consisting of
psychoticism and superego.
____12.
In Eysenck's theory, P, E, and N are basically unrelated
to each other.
____13.
The personality theory of Hans Eysenck is lacking in
sufficient psychometric and biological components.
____14.
Eysenck listed four criteria for identifying a factor of
which the fourth criterion is psychometric evidence.
____15.
Eysenck recognized a seven-level hierarchy of behavior
organization.
____16.
Neuroticism and psychoticism are always limited to
pathological individuals.
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
____17.
Intraversion and neuroticism (or anxiety) are basic
factors in nearly all factor analytic studies of human
personality.
18.
People who score high on neuroticism often have a tendency to
be highly cognitive functioning people.
19.
Eysenck’s original theory of personality was based on only two
personality dimensions—extraversion and emotionalism.
20.
The 16PF is the famous Personality Inventory Assessment
developed by Eysenck.
Multiple Choice
______1.
Eysenck identified traits through the use of
a.
twin studies.
b.
factor analysis.
c.
intuition.
d.
ability tests.
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
______2.
A trait is best described as
a.
a cluster of surface factors.
b.
a temporary attitude toward a person or event.
c.
a relatively permanent disposition of a person.
d.
an environmentally determined hypothetical construct
that shapes an individual's behavior and thought.
_____3.
Mathematically, the technique of reducing a number of
variables to a smaller number is called
a.
induction.
b.
the experimental method.
c.
variance.
d.
factor analysis.
_____4.
Which of the following would be a bipolar trait?
a.
height
b.
extraversion/introversion
c.
general intelligence
d.
artistic interest
_____5.
Which of the following statements is true?
a.
Traits are of two kinds—dispositional and hypothetical.
b.
Traits are more permanent than states.
c.
Traits represent a broader concept than factors.
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
d.
Traits cannot be extracted through the use of factor
analysis.
_____6.
Which label best fits Hans Eysenck?
a.
psychologist
b.
psychoanalyst
c.
physician
d.
sociologist
_____7.
In Eysenck's theory, superfactors are also called
a.
source traits.
b.
personal dispositions.
c.
states.
d.
types.
_____8.
According to Eysenck, introverts and extraverts are
different in many respects. The most important difference is
a.
psychological health versus psychological disturbance.
b.
subjectivity versus objectivity.
c.
their way of viewing the world.
d.
level of cortical arousal.
_____9.
People who score high on the psychoticism (P) scale are
a.
egocentric, aggressive, and hostile.
b.
empathetic, caring, and cooperative.
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
c.
obsessive-compulsive, hysterical, and suggestible.
d.
introverted, quiet, and thoughtful.
_____10.
People who score high on the neuroticism (N) scale are
a.
egocentric, aggressive, and hostile.
b.
emotionally overreactive.
c.
suffering from a psychological disorder.
d.
vulnerable to illness even when they experience little
stress.
_____11.
According to research reported by Eysenck, sick people
who react to their illness with anger and aggression are most
likely to die from
a.
cancer.
b.
heart disease.
c.
AIDS.
d.
unintentional injuries (accidents).
_____12.
Eysenck's P factor stands for
a.
psychoticism.
b.
personality.
c.
proactive.
d.
probability.
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
_____13.
The key for Eysenck was that the individual differences
in people’s personalities were due to _________.
a.
ethnicity
b.
environment
c.
biology
d.
nurture
_____14.
Eysenck’s encounter with the fascist right and his later
battles with the radical left suggested to him that the trait
of__________, was equally prevalent in both extremes of the
political spectrum. a.
b.
narcissism
c.
greed
d.
authoritarianism
_____15.
egomania
Eysenck’s second wife, Sybil Rostal, was a _________.
a.
great homemaker
b.
superb secretary
c.
beautiful quantitative psychologist
d.
excellent accountant
_____16.
People who score low on ______________ tend to be
quiet and reserved.
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
a.
intelligence
b.
psychoticism
c.
compromise
d.
extraversion
_____17.
Which of the following is not one of Eysenck’s criteria
for identifying factors?
a.
inductive method of investigation
b.
social relevance
c.
psychometric evidence
d.
heritability
_____18.
Which is not one of the four levels of hierarchy behavior
organization recognized by Eysenck?
a.
spontaneous acts
b.
specific acts
c.
habitual acts
d.
types
_____19.
Which one of the following is not one of Eysenck’s
superfactors?
a.
extraversion
b.
neuroticism
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
c.
introversion
d.
psychoticism
_____20.
Which of the following is not one of the personality
assessments created and developed by Eysenck?
a.
MMPI
b.
MPI
c.
EPI
d.
EPQ
Short Answer
I. Define a unipolar trait.
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
2. List Eysenck's four criteria for identifying factors.
3. List and briefly describe Eysenck's three types, or superfactors.
4.
Discuss Eysenck's research on personality and disease.
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
5.
Discuss Eysenck's research on personality and behavior.
Answers
Fill-in-the-Blanks
True-False
Multiple Choice
1.
England.
1.
F
1.
b
2.
factor
2.
F
2.
c
3.
correlation
3.
F
3.
d
4.
bipolar
4.
F
4.
b
5.
four
5.
T
5.
b
6.
trait
6.
T
6.
a
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Chapter 14 Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
7.
type
7.
F
7.
d
8.
cortical
8.
F
8.
d
9.
stability
9.
T
9.
a
10.
neuroticism
10.
T
10.
b
11.
biological
11
F
11.
b
12.
diathesis-stress
12.
T
12.
a
13.
authoritarianism
13.
F
13.
c
14.
Dimensions of Personality
14.
F
14.
15.
biological
15.
F
15.
c
16.
social relevance
16.
F
16.
d
17.
neuroticism
17.
F
17.
a
18.
lower
18.
F
18.
a
19.
lie (L)
19.
F
19.
c
20.
neurophysiology
20.
F
20.
a
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