Eysenck Personality Questionnaire
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In psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) is a questionnaire to assess the personality traits of a person.
It was devised by the psychologists Hans Jürgen Eysenck
Hans Eysenck
Hans Jürgen Eysenck was a German-British psychologist who spent most of his career in Britain, best remembered for his work on intelligence and personality, though he worked in a wide range of areas...

 and his wife Sybil B. G. Eysenck
Sybil B. G. Eysenck
Sybil B. G. Eysenck is a personality psychologist and the widow of noted personality psychologist Hans Eysenck, with whom she collaborated. She is co-editor-in-chief of the Elsevier journal Personality and Individual Differences and the author of the Junior Eysenck Personality Inventory and its...

.

Hans Eysenck's theory is based primarily on physiology and genetics. Although he was a behaviorist who considered learned habits of great importance, he considers personality differences as growing out of our genetic inheritance. He is, therefore, primarily interested in what is usually called temperament.

Temperament is that aspect of our personalities that is genetically based, inborn, there from birth or even before. That does not mean that a temperament theory says we don't also have aspects of our personality that are learned, it's just that Eysenck focused on "nature," and left "nurture" to other theorists.

Dimensions

Eysenck initially conceptualized personality as two, biologically-based independent dimensions of temperament measured on a continuum:

Extraversion/Introversion : Extroversion is characterized by being outgoing, talkative, high on positive affect (feeling good), and in need of external stimulation. According to Eysenck's arousal theory of extraversion, there is an optimal level of cortical arousal, and performance deteriorates as one becomes more or less aroused than this optimal level. Arousal can be measured by skin conductance, brain waves or sweating. At very low and very high levels of arousal, performance is low, but at a better mid-level of arousal, performance is maximized. Extraverts, according to Eysenck's theory, are chronically under-aroused and bored and are therefore in need of external stimulation to bring them up to an optimal level of performance. About 16 percent of the population tend to fall in this range. Introverts, on the other hand, (also about 16 percent of the population) are chronically over-aroused and jittery and are therefore in need of peace and quiet to bring them up to an optimal level of performance. Most people (about 68 percent of the population) fall in the midrange of the extraversion/introversion continuum, an area referred to as ambiversion.

Neuroticism/Stability : Neuroticism
Neuroticism
Neuroticism is a fundamental personality trait in the study of psychology. It is an enduring tendency to experience negative emotional states. Individuals who score high on neuroticism are more likely than the average to experience such feelings as anxiety, anger, guilt, and depressed mood...

 or emotionality is characterized by high levels of negative affect such as depression and anxiety. Neuroticism, according to Eysenck's theory, is based on activation thresholds in the sympathetic nervous system or visceral brain. This is the part of the brain that is responsible for the fight-or-flight response in the face of danger. Activation can be measured by heart rate, blood pressure, cold hands, sweating and muscular tension (especially in the forehead). Neurotic people, who have low activation thresholds, and unable to inhibit or control their emotional reactions, experience negative affect (fight-or-flight) in the face of very minor stressors - they are easily nervous or upset. Emotionally stable people, who have high activation thresholds and good emotional control, experience negative affect only in the face of very major stressors - they are calm and collected under pressure.

The two dimensions or axes, extraversion-introversion and emotional stability-instability, define four quadrants. These are made up of:
  • Stable extraverts (sanguine qualities such as - outgoing, talkative, responsive, easygoing, lively, carefree, leadership)
  • Unstable extraverts (choleric qualities such as - touchy, restless, excitable, changeable, impulsive, irresponsible)
  • Stable introverts (phlegmatic qualities such as - calm, even-tempered, reliable, controlled, peaceful, thoughtful, careful, passive)
  • Unstable introverts (melancholic qualities such as - quiet, reserved, pessimistic, sober, rigid, anxious, moody).


Further research demonstrated the need for a third category of temperament:

Psychoticism/Socialisation :
Psychoticism
Psychoticism
Psychoticism is one of the three traits used by the psychologist Hans Eysenck in his P-E-N model model of personality. Psychoticism refers to a personality pattern typified by aggressiveness and interpersonal hostility.High levels of this trait were believed by Eysenck to be linked to increased...

 is associated not only with the liability to have a psychotic episode (or break with reality),
but also with aggression. Psychotic behavior is rooted in the characteristics of toughmindedness,
non-conformity, inconsideration, recklessness, hostility, anger and impulsiveness. The physiological
basis suggested by Eysenck for psychoticism is testosterone, with higher levels of psychoticism associated
with higher levels of testosterone.

The following table describes the traits that are associated with the three temperaments in Eysenck's model of personality:

Psychoticism Extraversion Neuroticism
Aggressive Sociable Anxious
Assertive Irresponsible Depressed
Egocentric Dominant Guilt Feelings
Unsympathetic Lack of reflection Low self-esteem
Manipulative Sensation-seeking Tense
Achievement-oriented Impulsive Moody
Dogmatic Risk-taking Hypochondriac
Masculine Expressive Lack of autonomy
Tough-minded Active Obsessive



EPQ has a fourth scale, the Lie (L) scale.

Versions

EPQ also exists in Finnish and Turkish versions.

In 1985 a revised version of EPQ was described—the EPQ-R—with a publication in the journal Personality and Individual Differences
Personality and Individual Differences
Personality and Individual Differences is a scientific journal published bi-monthly by Elsevier and founded in 1980. PAID is the official journal of the International Society for the Study of Individual Differences ....

.
This version has 100 yes/no questions
Multiple choice
Multiple choice is a form of assessment in which respondents are asked to select the best possible answer out of the choices from a list. The multiple choice format is most frequently used in educational testing, in market research, and in elections-- when a person chooses between multiple...

in its full version and 48 yes/no questions in its short scale version.
A different approach to personality measurement developed by Eysenck, which distinguishes between different facets of these traits, is the [Eysenck Personality Profiler].
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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