| Hans Eysenck
Hans Jurgen Eysenck (March 4, 1916 - September 4, 1997) was a British
psychologist. He was born in Germany, but moved to England in the
1930s because of his opposition to the Nazis. He had interests in
a wide range of areas, but he is most remembered for his work in
intelligence and personality. He wrote over 50 books and over 900
academic articles in his life and was founder editor of the journal
Personality and Individual Differences.
He was professor of psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP)
from 1955 to 1983. Eysenck was a major contributor to the modern
scientific theory of personality, a brilliant teacher who also played
a crucial role in the establishment of behavioural treatments for
mental disorders.
However, the adjective most commonly applied to Eysenck has been
"controversial". This is because he has not hesitated
to publish material that many people have found ideologically, financially
or politically inconvenient, or otherwise objectionable. He is also
considered controversial for accepting money from the Pioneer Fund,
a eugenics organization.
Publications in which Eysenck's views have roused controversy
include (chronologically)
- A paper in the 1950's purporting to show that psychoanalysis
and psychotherapy had no measurable effect.
- A chapter in Uses and Abuses of Psychology (1953) entitled "What
is wrong with psychoanalysis".
- Race, Intelligence and Education (1971)(The IQ Argument in the
U.S.)
- Sex, Violence and the Media (1978).
- Astrology - Science or Superstition? (1982)
- Smoking, Personality and Stress (1991)
- By far the most acrimonious of the debates has been that over
the role of genetics in observed IQ differences, which led to
Eysenck famously being punched on the nose during a talk at the
London School of Economics.
Eysenck's attitude is summarised in his autobiography Rebel with
a Cause (Transaction Publishers (1997), ISBN 1-56000-938-1):
"I always felt that a scientist owes the world only one thing,
and that is the truth as he sees it. If the truth contradicts deeply
held beliefs, that is too bad. Tact and diplomacy are fine in international
relations, in politics, perhaps even in business; in science only
one thing matters, and that is the facts."
Eysenck's theory of personality is closely linked with the scales
that he and his co-workers developed. These include the Maudsley
Medical Questionnaire, Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), Eysenck
Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and Sensation Seeking Scale (developed
in conjunction with Marvin Zuckerman).
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