The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) is a psychological measure developed by Hans Eysenck and Sidney Eysenck to assess a person's personality traits. It is based on the theory that personality can be described in terms of three dimensions: extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism.
The EPQ consists of a self-report questionnaire with a set of statements about various behaviors, feelings, and attitudes. The individual is asked to rate the extent to which they agree or disagree with each statement. The questionnaire comprises four subscales: extraversion (E), neuroticism (N), psychoticism (P), and lie scale (L) which assesses for socially desirable responding.
Extraversion refers to the degree to which an individual is outgoing, sociable, and energetic. Neuroticism reflects the tendency to experience negative emotions such as anxiety, depression, and emotional instability. Psychoticism measures the extent to which an individual displays aggressive, impulsive, and antisocial behaviors.
The EPQ provides scores for each of these three dimensions, allowing researchers or clinicians to draw conclusions about a person's personality profile. The questionnaire has been widely used in research and clinical settings to study personality traits and their relationship to various psychological phenomena and disorders. It is valued for its simplicity, reliability, and validity, although some criticisms have been raised regarding its cultural bias and limited scope in capturing the full range of personality traits.
