Citation

Jackson NM, Center DB. Educ. Treat. Child. 2002; 25(4): 522-531.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, West Virginia University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Hans Eysenck's hypothesis about the acquisition of behavioral inhibitions was evaluated. The hypothesis suggests that what is often described as morality or conscience is acquired through learning experiences to which individuals respond differently according to their temperament-based personality traits. Eysenck's theory of personality has three temperament-based traits: Psychoticism (P), Extra version (E), and Neuroticism (N). He suggests that individuals who are low on both the E and N traits are more likely to acquire behavioral inhibitions than individuals who are high on both traits. The study employed 84 participants of whom 75% were between 12 and 14 years of age. The participants were placed in one of three categories (high, low or mixed) based on their E and N trait scores. Differences between the groups on self-reported externalizing conduct problems were examined. Some support for the hypothesis was found. Participants who scored low on the E, and N traits scored significantly lower on self-reported behavior problems than those scoring high on the two traits. The authors discuss the results, limitations of the study, and suggestions for future research.

Language: en