THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

Eysenck: PEN Model

 INTRODUCTION
Eysenck, Hans Jurgen 1916-97, was a
British psychologist. He was known for his
theory of human personality.
He suggested that personality is
biologically determined and is arranged
in a hierarchy consisting of types, traits,
habitual responses, and specific
responses.
Eysenck did not believe in Freudian
psychoanalysis as he considered it
rather unscientific.
 HIERARCHICAL NATURE OF
PERSONALITY
Levels Generality Description Example
Specific Response Least General These are the Attending a party,
concrete actions engaging in a
people take in conversation, helping
specific situations. a friend, experiencing
anxiety.
Habitual Response Less General Patterns of specific Regularly attending
acts that occur social gatherings,
consistently across frequently engaging
different situations. in conversations,
Habitual acts are routinely helping
more stable and others, anxiety in
predictable various situations
 HIERARCHICAL NATURE OF
PERSONALITY
Levels Generality Description Example
Trait More General Clusters of habitual Sociability,
acts form more assertiveness,
generalized traits. Can empathy, or sensitivity
be used to describe to stress
personality
Type Most General Encompass a wide Extraversion(E),
range of narrower Neuroticism(N),
traits and habitual Psychoticism(P)
acts.
 THREE DIMENSIONS OF
PERSONALITY
Eysenck strongly advocates that there are only three major dimensions or
superfactors in the description of personality:
• Extraversion-Introversion;
• Emotional Stability versus Instability, or Neuroticism;
• Psychoticism versus Impulse Control (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1985).
These dimensions or superfactors are based on “constitutional, genetic, or
inborn factors, which are to be discovered in the physiological, neurological,
and biochemical structure of the individual”
Each person does not necessarily have either 100 percent or zero percent of
extraversion, neuroticism, or psychoticism. An individual may show some
degree of these superfactors on the continuum.
 EXTRAVERSION/ INTROVERSION
• Extraverts are oriented toward the outside world, prefer the company of
other people, and tend to be sociable, impulsive, adventurous, assertive,
and dominant.
• People high in extraversion experience more pleasant emotions and to be
happier than those who score low in extraversion.
• Introverts are oriented to the inside world, prefer their own company, prefers
solitary activities, and submissive.
 NEUROTICISM
• Neurotics are characterized as anxious, depressed, tense, irrational, and
moody. They may have low self-esteem and be prone to guilt feelings.
• Eysenck suggested that neuroticism is largely inherited, a product of genetics
rather than learning or experience.
• It is expressed in biological and behavioral characteristics that differ from
those of people at the emotional stability end of the neuroticism dimension.
 PSYCHOTICISM
• People who score high in psychoticism are aggressive, antisocial, tough-
minded, cold, and egocentric. They have been found to be cruel, hostile,
and insensitive to the needs and feelings of others.
• They are reported to have greater problems with alcohol and drug abuse
than people who score low in psychoticism.
• People who score high in psychoticism can also be highly creative.
• Men as a group generally score higher than women do on the psychoticism
dimension.
 PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF
PERSONALITY
Extraversion
• Eysenck was interested in how extraverts and introverts might differ
biologically and genetically.
• Extraverts have a lower base level of cortical arousal than introverts do.
• Since, the cortical arousal levels for extraverts are low, they need, and
actively seek, excitement and stimulation.
• Introverts shy away from excitement and stimulation because their cortical
arousal levels are already high.
• As a result, introverts react more strongly than extraverts to sensory
stimulation.
 PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF
PERSONALITY
Neuroticism
• People high in neuroticism seem to have greater activity in the brain areas
that control the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system.
• In neurotics, the sympathetic nervous system overreacts even to mild
stressors, resulting in chronic hypersensitivity.
• This condition leads to heightened emotionality in response to almost any
difficult situation.
• People are genetically predisposed either toward neuroticism or toward
emotional stability.
 PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF
PERSONALITY
Psychoticism
• Eysenck (1990) also provides a biological explanation of psychoticism in
terms of gonadal hormones such as testosterone and enzymes such as
monoamine oxidase (MAO).
• Eysenck (1992a) reports that “low platelet monoamine oxydase (MAO) has
been found in psychotic patients, and also in their relatives and inpatients
who have recovered, suggesting that low MAO activity may be a marker for
‘vulnerability’”
 ROLE OF HEREDITY
• According to Eysenck, traits and dimensions are determined primarily by
heredity.
• However, Eysenck did not rule out environmental and situational influences
on personality, such as family interactions in childhood, but he believed their
effects on personality were limited.
• His research design involved comparisons of identical (monozygotic) and
fraternal (dizygotic) twins. The studies showed that identical twins are more
alike in their personalities than are fraternal twins, even when the identical
twins were reared by different parents in different environments during
childhood.
 ROLE OF HEREDITY

• Studies of adopted children demon strate that their personalities bear a

greater similarity to the personalities of their biolog ical parents than of their
adoptive parents, even when the children had no contact with their
biological parents.
• This is additional support for Eysenck’s idea that personality owes more to our
genetic inheritance than to our environment.
 CRITICAL EVALUATION
Strengths
• Empirical Basis: Eysenck's theory is grounded in extensive empirical research.
• Broad Applicability: The PEN model has been applied across various fields,
including clinical psychology, health psychology, and occupational
psychology
• Biological Underpinnings: Eysenck's emphasis on the biological basis of
personality, including genetic and neurophysiological factors, was
pioneering. His work gave way to behavioral genetics and neuropsychology.
• Practical Relevance: The model has practical applications in assessment
and intervention
 CRITICAL EVALUATION
Weaknesses

• Oversimplification: Critics argue that the PEN model may oversimplify the
complexity of human personality by reducing it to just three dimensions.
• Limited Scope: The dimension of Psychoticism has been particularly
controversial. Some argue that it conflates unrelated traits (e.g., creativity
and aggression) and may not adequately capture the complexity of
personality disorders.
• Cultural Bias: Eysenck's research was primarily conducted in Western cultures