Revelle

Gray (1981) called the data reported by Revelle, Humphreys, Simon, and Gilliland (1980) "a dagger that goes to the heart of Eysenckian theory" (p. 258). Revelle et al. showed that, contrary to their own expectations as well as to Eysenck's, introverts are not chronically more aroused than extraverts. Instead, arousal is mediated by time of day and impulsivity. Extraversion, as measured by the Eysenck Personality Inventory, is based on the "shotgun wedding" of impulsivity and sociability. However, Revelle et al. demonstrated the unique importance of impulsivity in performance on intellectual tasks. In the morning, low impulsives are highly aroused; caffeine causes them to be overaroused, and consequently to perform more poorly on cognitive tasks. High impulsives, by contrast, are more lethargic in the morning, and caffeine helps raise them to the optimal level of arousal needed to perform well on cognitive tasks. What is surprising is that this effect is reversed in the evening. This interaction effect indicates that high and low impulsives have different diurnal arousal rhythms. Although this finding contradicts Eysenck's (1967) arousal theory of introversion-extraversion, it is far from demonstrating the futility of traits and the priority of situations in predicting cognitive performance, but rather indicates the importance of a specific Person x Situation interaction--one that would not have been found without reference to Eysenck's trait theory.

Extraversion

Neuroticism

Psychoticism

Revelle

Approach / Instigation of BehaviorAvoidance / Inhibition of BehaviorAggression
Atkinson
1		Approach Motivation / Need for Achievement / Joy of SuccessAvoidance Motivation / Fear of Failure / Pain of Failure

Barratt

Action OrientationAnxiety

Cloninger

Behavioral Activation / Novelty SeekingBehavioral Inhibition / Harm AvoidanceBehavioral Maintenance / Reward Dependence

Davidson

Approach / (Non-) DepressionAvoidance / Inhibition / Depression

Depue

Behavioral Facilitation / Mania / Positive EmotionalityBehavioral Inhibition
Dollard and Miller
2		ApproachAvoidance

Eysenck

Extraversion / Arousal / Positive AffectNeuroticism / Activation / Negative AffectPsychoticism / Anger

Fowles

Behavioral Activation / Impulsivity / Positive AffectBehavioral Inhibition / AversionNon-Specific Arousal

Gray

Behavioral Approach / Impulsivity / Positive AffectBehavioral Inhibition / Anxiety / Negative AffectFight vs. Flight / Aggression

Kagan

 Behavioral Inhibition

Newman

Impulsivity / Positive AffectAnxiety / Negative Affect

Simonov

"Strong" Type (Choleric) vs. "Weak" Type (Melancholic)

Tellegen

Positive Affectivity / Positive AffectNegative Affectivity / Negative AffectConstraint Avoidance

Thayer

Energetic ArousalTense Arousal

Watson and Clark

Positive AffectivityNegative Affectivity

Zuckerman

Extraversion / Positive AffectNeuroticismPsychoticism / Impulsivity / Sensation Seeking / Aggression-Anger

Extraversion

Neuroticism

Psychoticism

(This table is adapted from Revelle [1997], and Eysenck [1990].)

References

Eysenck, H. J. (1967). The biological basis of personality. Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

Eysenck, H. J. (1990). Biological dimensions of personality. In L. A. Pervin (Ed.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 244-276). New York: Guilford.

Gray, J. A. (1981). A critique of Eysenck's theory of personality. In H. J. Eysenck (Ed.), A model for personality (pp. 246-277). Berlin: Springer.

Revelle, W. (1997, August 12). Three fundamental dimensions of personality [WWW document]. URL http://personality-project.org/perproj/theory/big3.table.html

Revelle, W., Humphreys, M. S., Simon, L., & Gilliland, K. (1980). The interactive effect of personality, time of day, and caffeine: A test of the arousal model. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 109, 1-31.

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