Hans Eysenck
Hans Eysenck (1916-1997) was a prominent psychologist known for his influential theories on human personality and his controversial research in psychology. Born in Berlin, Eysenck experienced early upheavals due to his parents' divorce and later fled Nazi Germany at the age of eighteen, eventually settling in England. He earned a bachelor's degree and a doctorate in psychology from the University of London and served as a psychologist during World War II. Eysenck was a professor at the University of London and played a key role in establishing the Institute of Psychiatry.
His theoretical contributions include the PEN model, which categorizes personality into three dimensions: introversion-extroversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism. He published extensively, producing seventy-five books and over 1,000 articles, contributing significantly to the fields of personality psychology, behavioral genetics, and therapy. However, his research on race and intelligence, particularly his claim of IQ differences among racial groups, sparked significant controversy and backlash. Eysenck's complex legacy includes a strong influence on the development of behavior therapy and ongoing debates surrounding his views and methodologies, making him a significant figure in the landscape of modern psychology.
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Subject Terms
Hans Eysenck
- Date of birth: March 4, 1916
- Place of birth: Berlin, Germany
- Date of death: September 4, 1997
- Place of death: London, England
TYPE OF PSYCHOLOGY: Personality; psychological methodologies; social psychology
Eysenck was best known for his theory of human personality.
Life
Hans Eysenck was born in Berlin during World War I. His parents divorced when he was only two. As a result, his maternal grandmother reared him. When the Nazis came to power, Eysenck, a Jewish sympathizer, left Germany at the age of eighteen, seeking exile in France and then England.
Eysenck earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1938 while studying at the University of London. With Sir Cyril Burt as his graduate adviser, Eysenck earned a doctorate in psychology in 1940. During World War II, he served as a psychologist at the Mill Hill Emergency Hospital, researching the reliability of psychiatric diagnoses. His findings made him antagonistic toward mainstream clinical psychology for the rest of his life.
After the war, Eysenck taught at the University of London and founded the psychological department at the newly formed Institute of Psychiatry. He was promoted to a professor of psychology in 1955. His research ranged from personality and intelligence to behavioral genetics, social attitudes, and behavior therapy.
In 1964, he published Crime and Punishment, which suggested that criminals had failed to develop conditioned moral and social responses. He published Smoking, Health, and Personality in 1965 and suggested that lung cancer was due to an underlying emotional disorder rather than to smoking. His very controversial book Race, Intelligence, and Education was released in 1971. Based on data he had accumulated, it stated that intelligence quotient (IQ) scores were persistently lower among Black Americans in comparison to White Americans. During a lecture in London, students kicked and punched Eysenck because of this book's content. In 1981, he and Leon Kamin published The Intelligence Controversy.
Eysenck tried to reduce the list of human personality traits to the smallest number of trait clusters. Common to the majority of trait systems are variables related to emotional stability, energy level, dominance, and sociability. Eysenck reduced the trait names to three higher-order factors: introversion-extroversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism (PEN model). He attempted to explore the biological roots of each factor. He also founded and edited the journal Personality and Individual Differences.
Eysenck was a prolific writer, publishing seventy-five books and 1,050 articles. He was awarded the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Award in 1988, a United States Presidential Citation for Scientific Contribution in 1993, the American Psychological Association’s William James Fellow Award in 1994, and its Centennial Award for Distinguished Contributions to Clinical Psychology in 1996.
Eysenck's legacy is complex and controversial. His work in personality psychology, specifically his PEN model, continues to be studied to understand the relationship between personality and biology. Eysenck played a major role in developing behavior therapy as a common means of mental health treatment. Although his intelligence research was controversial, his contribution to research and publishing in the field of psychology cannot be overlooked. Still, his views on race and intelligence, connections to the tobacco industry, and questionable research practices often overshadow his contributions.
Bibliography
Cherry, Kendra. "Psychologist Hans Eysenck Biography." Verywell Mind, 3 Aug. 2023, www.verywellmind.com/hans-eysenck-1916-1997-2795509. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
Dana, Richard Henry, editor. Handbook of Cross-Cultural and Multicultural Personality Assessment. 2000. New York: Psychology, 2014.
Eysenck, Hans. Rebel With a Cause: The Autobiography of Hans Eysenck. Rev. and expanded ed., New Brunswick: Transaction, 1997.
Inman, Sally, Martin Buck, and Helena Burke, editors. Assessing Personal and Social Development: Measuring the Unmeasurable. London: Falmer, 1999.
Modgil, Sohan, Celia Modgil, and H. J. Eysenck. Hans Eysenck: Consensus and Controversy. Philadelphia: Falmer, 1986.
"PEN Model." Great Ideas in Personality, www.personalityresearch.org/pen.html. Accessed 25 Sept. 2024.
Shrout, Patrick E., and Susan T. Fiske, editors. Personality Research, Methods, and Theory. New York: Psychology, 2014.