Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionIV. Dispositional Theories 14. Eysenck, McCrae, and
Costa’s Trait and Factor
Theories(^422) © The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2009
biological, whereas the consequences include such experimental variables as condi-
tioning experiences, sensitivity, and memory as well as social behaviors such as
criminality, creativity, psychopathology, and sexual behavior. Figure 14.7 shows that
P, E, and N are in the middle of a five-step progression from DNA to social behav-
ior, with biological intermediaries and experimental evidence anchoring the three
major personality dimensions. In other words, personality has genetic determinants
that indirectly shape biological intermediaries, and these biological intermediaries
help mold P, E, and N. In turn, P, E, and N contribute to a wide variety of laboratory
learnings as well as social behaviors.
Personality as a Predictor
Eysenck’s complex model of personality shown in Figure 14.7 suggests that the psy-
chometric traits of P, E, and N can combine with one another and with genetic de-
terminants, biological intermediates, and experimental studies to predict a variety of
social behaviors, including those that contribute to disease.
Personality and Behavior
Do Eysenck’s three general personality dimensions predict behavior? According to
Eysenck’s model shown in Figure 14.7, psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism
should predict results of experimental studies as well as social behaviors. Recall that
Eysenck’s theory assumes that extraversion is a product of low cortical arousability.
Therefore, introverts, compared with extraverts, should be more sensitive to a vari-
ety of stimuli and learning conditions. Eysenck (1997a) argued that an effective the-
ory of personality should predict both proximal and distal consequences (see Figure
14.7), and he and his son Michael (H. J. Eysenck & M. W. Eysenck, 1985) cited stud-
ies that demonstrated extraverts’ greater demand for change and novelty in both lab-
oratory studies and studies of social behavior.
416 Part IV Dispositional Theories
DNA
Limbic
system
arousal
P
E
N
Personality
Conditioning
Sensitivity
Vigilance
Perception
Memory
Reminiscence
Sociability
Criminality
Creativity
Psychopathology
Sexual behavior
Distal
antecedents
Proximal
antecedents
Proximal
consequences
Distal
consequences
Genetic
personality
determinants
Psychometric
trait
constellations
Biological
intermediaries
Experimental
studies
Social
behavior
FIGURE 14.7 A model of the major components of Eysenck’s theory of personality.