Hans Eysenck: short biography of this famous psychologist

This was one of the most influential Individual Differences psychologists of the 20th century.

Hans Eysenck was a German-English psychologist, well known for his theories on well known for his theories on personality.. He has gone down in history as one of the most influential figures for modern psychology and his theories continue to be discussed and used by psychologists and other experts in human behavior.

In this article we review the life of this psychologist based on a very summarized biography of Hans Eysenckdetailing some characteristics of his life and work.

Hans Eysenck: biography of one of the fathers of modern psychology

Hans Eysenck was born on March 4, 1916 in Berlin, Germany. He grew up and lived in that city until 1934, when he was forced to take refuge first in France and then in the United Kingdom by the Nazi regime.

His parents were actors who, when they separated and faced with the conditions in the country, moved to France. Eysenck grew up with his maternal grandmother, Frau Werner, with whom he had a free education full of intellectual and cultural stimuli. He quickly stood out as a good student and even a good athlete.

Eventually he had to emigrate and it was in London that he began to study psychology (at the University of London). (at the University of London). In the same city he worked as a clinical psychologist and even held management positions at the Institute of Psychiatry.

Hans Eysenck is credited with having built one of the most solid paradigms of personality in the history of psychology. Some even consider him "the father of psychology".

His fields of work and research

While he was a student, Eysenck participated in various meetings and reviews of theories on intelligence. Together with some American intellectuals, also developed therapy options other than psychodynamic other than psychodynamic, which was the most popular at the time.

He also realized that psychology as a science was taking a back seat to psychiatry. Eysenck remained interested in vindicating the status of the former and seeking cooperation between the two.

In the same sense he was critical of the diagnoses made by psychiatry.. He saw many contradictions and difficulties in defending them theoretically. From these experiences he developed his own model of personality, recovering many of the approaches of the most classical philosophy and psychology.

Beyond measuring personality, he insisted on the value of knowing it, and interested in solving the problem of the taxonomy used in psychiatry, Eysenck argued that personality does not occur on the normality-neurosis-psychosis continuum, but rather that the dimensions that best represent this are neuroticism and psychoticism, and that the dimensions that best represent this are neuroticism and psychoticism..

From this he conducted studies with many of the people he worked with as a clinical psychologist, people who had some psychiatric diagnosis and people who did not. After analyzing the data, he proposed two key factors for personality: neuroticism and extraversion.

Years later, based on new studies, he added a new dimension: psychoticism. Finally, he presented a model organized hierarchically in four levels ranging from personality types and traits to the specific responses that correspond to each one. This work gave shape to what is known as the PEN model of personality..

From personality to intelligence

Through his studies, Eysenck developed the famous psychotic-extraversion-neuroticism personality model, with Biological factors for each, i.e., highlighting the role of genetic inheritance in personality development. For example, he argued that psychological differences and their hereditary determinants can be empirically contrasted..

This was what eventually led him to develop research on topics related to personality, but which go a little further, such as intelligence, creativity, the relationship between genes and culture, criminality, sexuality, the relationship between personality and diseases or addictions, among others.

Many of his studies on IQ and its relationship to cultural systems have been widely criticized. For example, his theories have been used both to justify racial dynamics and to refute them.

His later studies focused on the analysis of creativity and its relationship to biological factors. Y his personality model has been adapted to numerous psychometric tests to assess both intelligence and personality traits. to assess both intelligence and personality traits. They are currently used in the clinical, educational, vocational and occupational areas.

Outstanding works

Among his most important works are: Personality Structure and Measurement 1969 (Personality Structures and Measurement), The Structure of Human Personality 1970 (The Structure of Human Personality), Genes, Culture and Personality 1989 (Genes, Culture and Personality).

On the specific relationship between intelligence, personality and biology, some of his most important works are The Biological Basis of Personality (1967) and The Biological Basis of Personality and Personality, Genetics and Behaviour 1982 (Personality, Genetics and Behaviour).

Bibliographical references:

• Schmidt, V., Oliván, M.E., L, F. et al (2008). Hans Jürgen Eysenck. Life and Work of one of the most influential scientists in the history of psychology. Avances en Psicología Latinoamericana/Bogotá (Colombia), 26(2): 304-317.