Read the case below and answer the questions that follow:
A 22-year-old girl had been experiencing feelings of emptiness, lack of interest in all activities and sleep disturbances. She appears to be demanding, reckless, aggressive, and unable to delay gratification of needs. She has difficulty in managing anger and has emotional fluctuations. Her interpersonal relationships are also strained.
She believes she was doing reasonably well 3 years back and the problem worsened after her boards. She started to indulge in self-harm acts; the situation worsened whenever she had conflicts with her family. Eventually, she was advised to seek professional help for an adequate diagnosis of her mental health.
According to Eysenck's Theory, identify the personality trait she would be high on:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Neuroticism
Option (1) Neuroticism — Correct. Eysenck’s first dimension, neuroticism vs. emotional stability, is the degree to which people have control over their feelings. Neurotic people are anxious, moody, touchy, restless and quickly lose control. The girl’s emotional fluctuations, difficulty in managing anger and recklessness place her at the neurotic end.
Option (2) Introversion — Incorrect. Introverts are passive, quiet, cautious and reserved. A demanding, reckless and aggressive person does not fit this picture; her problem is the loss of emotional control, which is the other dimension.
Option (3) Extraversion — Incorrect. Extraverts are active, gregarious, impulsive and thrill-seeking. Some of her behaviour is impulsive, but her strained relationships, emptiness and mood swings point to emotional instability, not to sociability.
Option (4) Emotionally stable — Incorrect. This is the opposite end of the neuroticism dimension: calm people who keep control over their feelings. The case shows the reverse.
NCERT (2025-26): “Eysenck’s Theory … H.J. Eysenck proposed that personality could be reduced into two broad dimensions. These are biologically and genetically based. Each dimension subsumes a number of specific traits. These dimensions are: (1) Neuroticism vs. emotional stability : It refers to the degree to which people have control over their feelings. At one extreme of the dimension, we find people who are neurotic. They are anxious, moody, touchy, restless and quickly lose control.…” “…(2) Extraversion vs. introversion : It refers to the degree to which people are socially outgoing or socially withdrawn. At one extreme are those who are active, gregarious, impulsive and thrill-seeking. At the other extreme are people who are passive, quiet, cautious and reserved.…” |