Eysenck's Theory Of Personality

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Eysenck (1952, 1967, 1982) as discussed by McLeod, (2014) developed a very influential model of personality. Based on the results of factor analyses of responses on personality questionnaires he identified three dimensions of personality: extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism. On the other hand, Cattell (1965) disagreed with Eysenck’s view that personality can be understood by looking at only two or three dimensions of behaviour. He defined a personality, as a “mental structure” inferred from behaviour, and as a fundamental construct that accounted for regularity and consistency of behaviour. These concepts led Cattel to formulate the sixteen Personality Factors (16PF) which is one of the most renowned test nowadays. Jung (n.d.) as discussed by Boeree (2006), developed a personality typology that has become so popular. It begins with the distinction between introversion and extroversion. Introverts are people who prefer their internal world of thoughts, feelings, fantasies, dreams, and so on, while extroverts prefer the external world of things and people and activities. Many theorists believe that there are five core personality traits. Evidence of this theory has been growing over the past 50 years, beginning with the research of D. W. Fiske (1949) and later expanded upon by other researchers including Norman (1967), Smith (1967), Goldberg (1981), and McCrae & Costa (1987). The "big five theory" from the above-mentioned theorists are broad categories of personality