Sybil B. G. Eysenck

Sensation seeking in England and America: Cross-cultural, age, and sex comparisons.

This study compared the factor structure of the Sensation-Seeking Scale (SSS) in English and American samples, and a new form of the SSS, applicable to both samples, was constructed. Three of the four factors showed good crossnational and cross-sex reliability. English and American males did not differ on the total SSS score, but American females scored higher than English females. Males in both countries scored higher than females on the total SSS score and on the Thrill and Adventure-Seeking and Disinhibition subscales. Significant age declines occurred for both sexes, particularly on Thrill and Adventure Seeking and Disinhibition.

Age norms for impulsiveness, venturesomeness and empathy in adults

A total of 1320 Ss (559 males and 761 females) completed the I6 Impulsiveness Questionnaire. Reliabilities, scale intercorrelations, means and standard deviations as well as age means are given after some item changes from the original I5 Questionnaire. The resulting I7 Impulsiveness Questionnaire is reproduced in the Appendix, together with the scoring key. A further 589 Ss (383 males and 206 females) completed the new I7, together with the EPQ and intercorrelations of the seven factors obtained are given (i.e. Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism, Lie score, impulsiveness Venturesomeness and Empathy). A table of means and standard deviations for this second sample of Ss is also given for the sake of completeness.

Impulsiveness and Venturesomeness: Their Position in a Dimensional System of Personality Description

A 63-item questionnaire was constructed for the measurement of three primary personality traits; impulsiveness, venturesomeness, and empathy. This questionnaire, together with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire which measures personality dimensions Psychoticism, Neuroticism, and Extraversion, was administered to 402 male and 787 female adult subjects. Factor analysis of the questionnaire resulted in three factors similar to those postulated, and made possible the construction of scales for their reliable measurement. These scales were then located in the three-dimensional space created by the three higher-order factors Psychoticism, Extraversion, and Neuroticism, and it was found that Venturesomeness and Impulsiveness correlated positively with Psychoticism and Extraversion, but while Venturesomeness correlated negatively with Neuroticism, Impulsiveness correlated positively with Neuroticism. Empathy only correlated with Neuroticism (positively). The three primaries were largely independent of each other. Men were higher on Venturesomeness and lower on Empathy; there were no sex differences on Impulsiveness. A discussion is given of the psychological meaning of such factors as those here reported.

THE ASSESSMENT OF PERSONALITY FACTORS ACROSS 25 COUNTRIES

Abstract The means for each scale score from the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire were compared individually and conjointly across 25 countries. Comparisons were carried out using coded difference scores, Pearson correlations, Euclidean distances, cluster analyses and non-metric multidimensional scaling. It was possible to compare the personality (as defined by the scale scores on E, N, P and L) of each country with all other countries, culminating in a one-dimensional non-metric scale of distances for both the male and female data from each country. The assumptions underlying the rationale of the measures used and the comparisons undertaken are briefly discussed.

A genetic and environmental analysis of sensation seeking

Abstract The genetic and environmental contributions to the trait of sensation seeking were analyzed using the responses of 422 pairs of twins to the Sensation Seeking Scale (Form IV). The biometrical method of Jinks and Fulker was applied to the data. The data fit the model indicating the likelihood of a predominantly additive gene action controlling the general trait. The heritability figure of 58% (69% of the reliable variance) was quite high for a personality trait. Data from other studies suggest that the heritability of the personality trait rests upon specific inherited biological traits, such as the biochemicals of the brain and gonadal hormones which affect arousability of the central nervous system and relevant traits, such as mood, impulsivity, risk taking, and sociability.

Age norms for impulsiveness, venturesomeness and empathy in children

A total of 1505 children (633 boys and 872 girls) completed the I6 Impulsiveness Questionnaire. Reliabilities, scale intercorrelations and means and standard deviations are given after slight modifications were made to the original scoring key on the basis of factor analyses. Age means for both sexes are also given.

The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire: an examination of the factorial similarity of P, E, N, and L across 34 countries

Abstract The factorial similarity of Psychoticism (P), Extraversion (E), Neuroticism (N), and Social Desirability (L), as measured by the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, was assessed using gender- specific data collected from 34 countries. As in an earlier study using data from 24 countries (Eysenck et al., 1985), the Kaiser-Hunka-Bianchini (KHB) procedure was utilised as a measure of factorial similarity. However, given the recent evidence concerning the flawed interpretation of the original KHB coefficients, two other coefficients were used to make an assessment of factorial similarity: a congruence coefficient computed from the KHB maximally congruent orthogonalised factors, and a congruence coefficient computed from the oblique factor patterns of the U.K. target and foreign country matrices. The results of these procedures (using the U.K. factor matrices as targets, toward which each country’s factor pattern is rotated) indicated that: (1) the Eysenck factors are strongly replicable across all 34 countries (2) the modified KHB similarity procedure is sound, given the nature of these particular comparisons (3) in comparison to the oblique pattern matrix congruences, those computed over the KHB maximally congruent matrices were found to be optimal both in terms of size and variation. It was concluded that contrary to pessimistic observations made elsewhere, concerning the validity of the factor comparisons based upon ‘original’ KHB coefficients, the analyses in this paper conclusively demonstrate a significant degree of factorial similarity with the U.K. data, across the 34 comparison countries.

Machiavellianism as a component in psychoticism and extraversion

Abstract The EPQ was administered to 592 male and 562 female subjects, mainly non-students, together with a 43-item Machiavellianism scale slightly altered from the original, and with several newly written items added. Detailed factorial analyses disclosed that the M scale measured a single, clearly defined factor which correlated positively with P and E, and negatively with L; no correlations were observed with N. Correlations with P were higher for females than for males, while correlations with E were higher for males than for females. Less socially acceptable M items correlated more highly with P, more socially acceptable M items correlated more highly with E. Machiavellianism, like impulsivity, sensation seeking and venturesomeness, clearly lies in the P + E + quadrant of the 3-dimensional personality sphere.

IMPULSIVENESS AND VENTURESOMENESS IN A DETENTION CENTER POPULATION

A group of 641 delinquent subjects at a detention centre were given a 63-item questionnaire purporting to measure Impulsiveness, Venturesomeness and Empathy. Of these, 614 subjects also completed a Personality Questionnaire measuring Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism and Social Desirability. Factor analysis of the 63-item questionnaire confirmed that the three factor structure obtained for normal subjects also held for an offender group. Furthermore, the relations between Impulsivity and the other variables obtained in a previous study on normal subjects were confirmed in this prison population. The identification of Impulsiveness with Psychoticism and Venturesomeness with Extraversion was found somewhat more clearly in the offender group. Though confirming the positive relationship of Empathy with Neuroticism, a significant negative correlation was obtained for Empathy with Psychoticism in the offender group only. (This latter finding seems in accord with results in a study of Impulsiveness in children.) Finally, of the seven variables measured offenders differed from normals significantly on means for all but Venturesomeness. They were higher on Psychoticism, Extraversion, Neuroticism, Social Desirability and Impulsiveness but lower on Empathy.

A comparative study of personality in adults and children: Hong Kong vs England☆

Abstract The 90-item adult version of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire was translated into Chinese and administered to 270 male and 462 female subjects in Hong Kong. In a second study the 81-item version of the Junior EPQ (JEPQ) was translated into Chinese and given to 698 boys and 629 girls. Reasonably valid scales for use in Hong Kong are suggested for both adult and junior forms of the questionnaire. In a direct comparison of British and Chinese (Hong Kong) groups, using reduced scales comprising only items both scoring keys had in common. Hong Kong adults scored higher on Psychoticism and Social Desirability and lower on Extraversion than the British while children from Hong Kong scored lower on Extraversion and Neuroticism but higher on Social Desirability than their British counterparts. Indices of factor comparison were universally high, indicating that the major dimensions of personality were very similar in Hong Kong Chinese as in British subjects.