British psychologist Hans Jürgen Eysenck, born in Germany and died in Great Britain on 4 September 1997, spent his entire career in Great Britain. Despite working on other psychological topics, his work on intelligence and personality is what people often associate him with. Eysenck was the most frequently referenced living psychologist at the time of his passing in the literature of peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Eysenck claimed that psychology already has a theory of intelligence, which he referred to as the discipline's orthodox view. Eysenck (1939) had been involved in the debate between Spearman and Thurstone over whether factor analysis supported a single general intelligence (g factor) or multiple primary factors. Even though factor analysis had been helpful, Eysenck asserted that it could not account for the 'g' phenomenon it had revealed. Eysenck included the latest advances in the field: Rasch's new measurement model, Maher and Jinks' improvements in genetic data analysis, and research linking intelligence to purely biological phenomena like inbreeding depression and jaw bone shape.
Eysenck's conception of intelligence as a biological phenomenon that affects social behavior was a holdover from the earliest Galtonian days of the London School of Psychology. Eysenck enlarged the legacy with his students and colleagues even during behaviorism, which rejected the mind and genes.
By speculating and researching the proximal antecedents and consequences of psychometric 'g,' Eysenck significantly increased intelligence theory's evidentiary base and scope. By 'g,' Eysenck refers to Spearman's 'g,' which is theoretically and empirically isomorphic with fluid 'g' and not crystallized 'g.' Therefore, a theory of 'g' is a better way to describe Eysenck's theory of intelligence.
He was aware from earlier studies that variations in 'g' have both deep genetic roots (distal antecedents) and wide-ranging effects on people's socioeconomic outcomes (distal consequences). In his lab, Eysenck promoted two research areas. Both probed some of the more fundamental information processing in the brain. One concentrated on elements of brain activity that might affect or reflect the brain's overall efficiency and thereby aid in explaining a biological component of intelligence. The other research area centered on evoking mental processes so fundamental, like choice reaction time (CRT), that they could explain g's universality of effect in any culture and time period, unquestionably a biological phenomenon in and of itself.
Eysenck researched the measurement of personality for the majority of his career at the University of London's Maudsley Hospital and Institute of Psychiatry. He concurred with Cattell that the factor-analytic method could be used to derive traits, or factors, that makeup personality. However, due to the technique's potential subjectivity and the challenge of reproducing Cattell's findings, Eysenckhas been critical of factor analysis and Cattell's research. Eysenck used factor analysis to identify personality traits, but he also used personality tests and experimental studies that considered many different factors.
Eysenck and his wife together developed many of the questionnaires used in their research. It took 12 years of collaborative research and 20-factor analyses to create the Eysenck Personality Inventory (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1963). Their efforts led to developing a three-dimensional personality theory, defined as the combination of traits or factors.
The three personality dimensions are as follows:
| Extraversion/ Introversion | Neuroticism/ Emotional stability | Psychoticism/ Impulse control |
|---|---|---|
| Sociable | Anxious | Aggresive |
| Lively | Depressed | Cold |
| Active | Guilt feeling | Egocentric |
| Assertive | Assertive | Impulsive |
| Sensation seeking | Shy | Antisocial |
Extraversion and neuroticism have been acknowledged as fundamental components of personality since the time of the ancient Greek philosophers, according to Eysenck, who made this observation in 1977. He also asserted that every personality assessment tool contained formulations of the same dimensions. For instance, people who score highly on the traits of the E dimension would be categorized as extroverts, while those who score poorly would be categorized as introverts.
Despite varying social and environmental experiences, research has shown that the traits and dimensions Eysenck proposed remain stable throughout the life span from childhood to adulthood. Although the circumstances may alter, the dimensions never change. For instance, the introverted child often carries that trait into adulthood.
The depth of knowledge and sophistication of Eysenck's writings in the field of science philosophy is noteworthy. Eysenck also deployed this knowledge "to counter the amazing accretion of naïve misconceptions and obscurant notions about the nature and measurement of intelligence… [which]… have tended to frustrate the advancement of proper scientific research in this field". Eysenck's writings explain clearly and simply the scientific logic in measuring and interpreting latent constructs like intelligence, and they are timeless in this regard. Additionally, they shed light on fundamental concepts that the majority of people find confusing, such as how intergenerational social mobility is guaranteed by intelligence's high heritability rather than being precluded by it.
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