Theories of Personality
Eysenck’s Biologically Based Factor Theory
Chapter 14
Outline
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Overview of Factor and Trait Theories
Biography of Hans J. Eysenck
Basics of Factor Analysis
Eysenck’s Factor Theory
Dimensions of Personality
Measuring Personality
Biological Bases of Personality
Personality as a Predictor
Related Research
Critique of Trait and Factor Theories
Concept of Humanity
Overview of Factor and Trait
Theories
• Utilize Factor Analytic Methods to
Determine How Many Traits or
Dispositions
• Disagreement on How Many
Personality Traits
– Cattell: Many Factors
– Eysenck: Three Factors
– McCrae and Costa: Five Factors
Biography of Eysenck
• Born in Berlin, Germany in 1916
• As a teenager, moved to England to escape
Nazis
• Received his PhD in psychology at the
University of London in 1940
• Published Dimensions of Personality in 1947
• One of the most prolific and controversial
psychologists in the world
• Died in 1997 at age 81
Basics of Factor Analysis
• Correlation coefficient
• Factor analysis
• Factors
• Factor loadings
• Unipolar and bipolar traits
• Eysenck  orthogonal rotation
• Cattell  oblique rotation
Cattell’s Trait Theory
• Cattell’s Method
– Used inductive method to gather data
– Used three different media of observation
• L data
• Q data
• T data
– Divided traits into common and unique
traits
– His approach yielded 35 primary or firstorder traits
Eysenck’s Factor Theory
• Criteria for Identifying Factors
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Psychometric evidence
Heritability
Must make sense from a theoretical point of view
Must possess social relevance
• Hierarchy of Behavior Organization (from
lowest to highest)
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Specific acts or cognitions
Habitual acts or cognitions
Traits
Types or superfactors
Dimensions of Personality
• Three General Superfactors
– Extraversion
– Neuroticism
– Psychoticism
Biological Basis of Personality
• Three fourths of personality dimensions
can be accounted for by heredity
• Found these factors to exist crossculturally
• Stability of traits over time
• Twin research suggests strong
similarities on these dimensions
Critique of Trait and Factor Theories
• Trait and Factor Theories are:
– Very High on Generating Research and
Parsimony
– High on Organizing Knowledge
– Moderate on Falsifiability
– Moderate to Low as a Guide for Practitioners
and Internal Consistency
Concept of Humanity
• Eysenck is not concerned with concepts
of determinism versus free choice,
optimism versus pessimism, and
causality versus teleology
• Biology over Social Influence
• Conscious over Unconscious
• Uniqueness over Similarity
Theories of Personality
McCrae and Costa’s Five Factor Trait Theory
Outline
• The Big Five: Taxonomy or Theory?
• Biographies of Robert R. McCrae and Paul T.
Costa, Jr.
• In Search of the Big Five
• Evolution of the Five-Factor Theory
• Related Research
• Critique of Trait and Factor Theories
• Concept of Humanity
Overview of Factor and Trait
Theories
• Utilize Factor Analytic Methods to
Determine How Many Traits or
Dispositions
• Disagreement on How Many Personality
Traits
– Cattell: Many Factors
– McCrae and Costa: Five Factors
The Big Five:
Taxonomy or Theory?
• Taxonomies are not theories
• The Five-Factor Model began as an
attempt to identify basic
personality traits as revealed by
factor analysis
• Evolved into a taxonomy
• The model then became a theory
– It can predict and explain behavior
Biographies of Robert R. McCrae and
Paul T. Costa, Jr.
• Robert McCrae was born in Maryville, Missouri in
1949
• Youngest of three children
• Completed PhD in psychology at Boston University,
where he was referred to Paul Costa
• Began collaborating in 1976
• Costa was born in Franklin, New Hampshire in 1942
• He received his PhD in human development from the
University of Chicago in 1970
• The collaboration between McCrae and Costa has
been fruitful, producing over 200 joint publications
In Search of the Big Five
• Five Factors Found
– Costa and McCrae utilized every major personality
inventory and came up with a five-factor solution
– Most personality psychologists have opted for this
model
• Cross-cultural
• Demonstrate stability over time
• Description of the Five Factors
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Extraversion
Neuroticism
Openness
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Evolution of the Five-Factor
Theory
• Units of the Five-Factor Theory
– Core Components of Personality
• Basic tendencies
• Characteristic adaptations
• Self-concept
– Peripheral Components
• Biological bases
• Objective biography
• External Influences
• Basic Postulates
– Postulates for Basic Tendencies
– Postulates for Characteristic Adaptations
Related Research
• Personality and Culture
– McCrae (2002)
– Poortinga et al. (2000)
• Traits and Academics
– Noftle & Robins (2007)
• Traits and Emotion
– McNiel & Fleeson (2009)
– Robinson & Clore (2007)
Critique of Trait
and Factor Theories
• Trait and Factor Theories are:
– Very High on Generating Research
and Parsimony
– High on Organizing Knowledge
– Moderate on Falsifiability
– Moderate to Low as a Guide for
Practitioners and Internal Consistency
Concept of Humanity
• McCrae and Costa are not concerned with
concepts of determinism versus free
choice, optimism versus pessimism, and
causality versus teleology
• Biology over Social Influence
• Conscious over Unconscious
• Uniqueness over Similarity