person, introspective, fond of books rather than people; he is reserved and
distant except to intimate friends” (p. 6). Of course, most people fall some-
where between these two extremes, but each of us is perhaps a little more
one than the other.
The second major dimension in Eysenck ’s model is neuroticism . High
scores on this dimension indicate a tendency to respond emotionally. Wesometimes refer to people high in neuroticism as unstable or highly emo-
tional. They often have strong emotional reactions to minor frustrations and
take longer to recover from these. They are more easily excited, angered, anddepressed than most of us. Those falling on the other end of the neuroticism
dimension are less likely to fly off the handle and less prone to large swings in
emotion.
Research findings later led Eysenck to add a third supertrait: psychoti-
cism. People who score high on this dimension are described as “egocentric,
aggressive, impersonal, cold, lacking in empathy, impulsive, lacking in con-
cern for others, and generally unconcerned about the rights and welfare of
other people ”(Eysenck, 1982, p. 11). Needless to say, people scoring particu-
larly high on this dimension are good candidates for some type of judicial
correction or psychotherapy.Moody
Anxious
Rigid
Sober
Pessimistic
Reserved
Unsociable
QuietTouchy
Restless
Aggressive
Excitable
Changeable
Impulsive
Optimistic
Active
Sociable Passive
Outgoing Careful
Talkative Thoughtful
Responsive Peaceful
Easygoing Controlled
Lively Reliable
Carefree Even-tempered
Leadership CalmUnstable
(Neurotic)
StableExtraverted Introverted
FIGURE 9.2 Traits Associated with Eysenck ’s Two Major Personality
Dimensions
Source: From Eysenck, H. J., and Eysenck, B. G. (1968), Manual for the Eysenck Personality Inventory ,
San Diego: EDITS. Reprinted by permission of Educational and Industrial Testing Service.Hans Eysenck ’s Theory of Personality 225