Hans Jurgen Eysenck Biography Hans Jurgen Eysenck was born in Berlin, Germany in March, 1916 and died in London, September 1997. With the rise of the Nazi party in the 1930’s Eysenck chose to leave Germany in 1934 for London where he pursued his education in psychology. In 1950 he married Sybil Rostal who is also a distinguished psychologist who co-authored books with Eysenck. Eysenck’s ideas were also controversial at times, which he enjoyed. In a 1971 paper entitled “Race, Intelligence, and Education” Eysenck proposed an IQ difference between whites and blacks may be due to genetic differences. Ever the polarizing force in psychology, Eysenck highlighted the popular academic belief that Freud was not a scientist and therefore psychoanalysis …show more content…
A trait is “a distinguishable, relatively enduring way in which individuals may be described and in which they may differ” and are utilized via dimensions or a continuum. While working at Maudsley Hospital during WWII, Eysenck worked with soldiers to assess their psychiatric needs. He developed a set of 700 behavior questions that he asked the soldiers which is called the Maudsley Personality Questionnaire (MPI). Eysenck initially noted the connection between answers and personality traits. Factor analysis, this specific technique, condenses the number of traits into dimensions. Eysenck found two trait dimensions for his theory: extrovert-introvert (E-I) and neuroticism (N; emotionally stable or unstable). From here, the MPI developed into the Eysneck Personality Inventory (1964) and ultimately into the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire …show more content…
Through viewing personality as a hierarchy of traits, Eysenck’s work focuses on E-I and N as “higher order” traits which shape all traits below that make up an individual’s behavior. Eysenck determines extroversion and introversion based on levels of arousal or excitation. For example, individuals on the introvert side of the dimension have a higher level of arousal and therefore do not seek out additional stimulation or excitement. Eysenck correlated his trait theory with the autonomic nervous system (AMS) asserting that personality is dependent on the balance of arousal and excitement within the AMS (neurotic individuals have a nervous system which rapidly responds to