Empathic people (low-P) are much more likely to be influenced by friends and loved ones who are hurt by their drug habit and put pressure on them to quit. It would also be easier for stable personalities (low-N) who can regulate their mood better and don't experience the same 'lows' from withdrawal. Quitting drugs is much easier for introverts (low-E) who don't require as much stimulation anyway. The combination of high-E and high-N along with high-P might be a 'perfect storm' for drug-taking and this ties in with Eysenck's idea that criminals are neurotic extroverts with psychotic tendencies. The other function of drugs is to regulate mood and this is something strongly neurotic (high-N) personalities find difficult. However, most extroverts get the stimulation they need from sport, socialising, etc. Drugs are also stimulating and people with strongly extrovert (high-E) personalities crave stimulation. Some creative types also believe (rightly or wrongly) that drug-taking unlocks their imagination and, according to Eysenck, creativity is linked to high P-scores too. This is where individual differences and personality theory comes in.Įxperimenting with drugs is clearly linked to having a psychotic (high-P) personality, since drug-taking is risky, antisocial and unrestrained and these characteristics all link to P.

why some people quit drug-taking but other people don't.

why people start taking drugs in the first place, and.

It's not so good at explaining two other things:

The Biological Approach is good at explaining why drugs are addictive - they affect the reward pathways in the brain. If the ANS is inefficient, the person will be neurotic, with changeable moods and difficulty learning from experience. If the ANS does its job effectively, a person will be stable, with a consistent mood and an ability to learn easily. Neuroticism is based on the Autonomic Nervous System ( ANS), which enables us to respond to stress. At the other end of the scale are the introverts, whose brains receive too much stimulation they stay away from crowds and excitement and prefer calm and quiet. These people are extroverts: outgoing and easily bored. If the ARAS is under-active, a person does not receive enough stimulation and needs to go looking for it in the environment. The job of the ARAS is to maintain an ideal level of alertness. This is caused by a brain process known as the Ascending Reticular Activating System ( ARAS). Hans Eysenck carried out research in the 1960s that suggested people can be measured in terms of extrovert-introvert ( E) and stable-neurotic ( N).Įxtroversion is based on the level of stimulation we need.

One of the most influential theories of personality was proposed by Hans Eysenck, a German who came to live in Britain to escape from the Nazis.

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