Personality Theories: Eysenck's Dimensions and The Big Five

Eysenck's Psychoticism Dimension

  • High Psychoticism: Individuals scoring high on this dimension tend to be independent thinkers, cold, nonconformists, impulsive, antisocial, and hostile.

  • High Superego Control: Conversely, individuals with high superego control exhibit high impulse control, and are more altruistic, empathetic, cooperative, and conventional (Eysenck, Eysenck & Barrett, 1985).

Criticisms of Early Personality Theories

  • Cattell's 16 Factors: This system has been criticized for being too broad.

  • Eysenck's Two-Factor System: This system has been criticized for being too narrow.

The Five Factor Model (Big Five Personality Factors)