Hans Jurgen Eysenck (1916-97) was a German-born, British-educated psychologist whose principal contributions to psychological theory were his trait theory of personality, his biological theory of temperamental differences, his extensive investigations into the nature of intelligence, and his extension of his personality theory into some areas of social behavior. Eysenck became the leading proponent of the British pragmatic school of psychology and his emphasis on testing and biological factors has often led to serious criticism of his ideas. Despite various controversies surrounding his work, however, Eysenck remains an influential theorist whose theory of personality is believed by many to possess great potential.
Eysenck was the son of a German "actor father and film star mother" who were divorced shortly after his birth (Brand 68). He was raised by his maternal grandmother who later, being badly crippled, was sent to die in a Nazi concentration camp. His mother had remarried, to a Jewish film producer, and the "intelligent and independent-minded schoolchild" frequently found himself opposing the anti-Semitic propaganda of his schoolteachers (Brand 68). Eysenck emigrated to England in 1934 "as a protest against the Nazi movement" and attempted to join the Royal Air Force (Wilson 426). His German origins barred him from the British military but he served the war effort as a fire watcher in the London Blitz.
In London Eysenck enrolled at University College London in the psychology program which had largely been developed by Cyril Burt and Charles Spearman, leading pioneers in "the technique of factor analysis" (Wilson 426). Eysenck took his B.A. in 1938 and obtained his Ph.D., working under Burt, in 1940. In 1955 Eysenck was appointed professor of psychology at London University, a chair which was held at the Institute of Psychiatry at Maudsley Hospital where Eysenck worked for most of his professional career.
Eyse...