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Dimensions of Personality, Psychiatric Syndromes, and Mathematical Models

Institute of Psychiatry, University of London

^* We are indebted to the U.S. Army for the support of this investigation under contract number DA-91-508-EUC-311. S. B. G. Eysenck also acknowledges support from the Bethlem Maudsley Research Fund. The authors wish to acknowledge the co-operation of Colonel J. McGhie, commanding officer of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley, who allowed the patients under his charge to act as subjects for the research.

ABSTRACT

A battery of objective psychological tests, selected according to a specific theory of anxiety and hysteria, was administered to groups of hysterics, dysthymics, psychotics and normals, equated for age, sex and intelligence. The results were analysed by two different methods, (1) Multiple Factor Analysis, and (2) Canonical Analysis of Discriminance. The factor analysis disclosed, as expected, a strong factor of extraversion; factor scores estimated for this factor showed hysterics to be the most extraverted and dysthymics to be the most introverted of the groups tested. The canonical analysis of discriminance revealed two significant and one suggestive factor identified as extraversion, psychoticism and neuroticism. When individuals were given scores on the first two variates it was found that hysterics had the highest extraversion scores and dysthymics the highest introversion scores. Correlations between factor scores and variate scores show considerable agreement between the two methods in placing individuals along this dimension. It was concluded that the results supported two hypotheses. 1. Hysterics are characterized by a high degree of extraversion, while dysthymics are characterized by a high degree of introversion. 2. The theory according to which the tests were selected as measures of extraversion and introversion is supported by the results of the analyses, particularly by their congruence. It is suggested that canonical analysis of discriminance is a powerful and useful method in investigating dimensional problems of nosology and may have advantages in certain circumstances over the more widely used method of factor analysis.