Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-03T14:57:43.445Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Familial Aspects of “Neuroticism” and “Extraversion”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Alec Coppen ,
Valerie Cowie  and
Eliot Slater
Alec Coppen
Affiliation:
M.R.C. Neuropsychiatric Research Unit, M.R.C. Laboratories, Woodmansterne Road, Carshalton, Surrey
Valerie Cowie
Affiliation:
M.R.C. Psychiatric Genetics Research Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, S.E.5
Eliot Slater
Affiliation:
M.R.C. Psychiatric Genetics Research Unit, Institute of Psychiatry, Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, S.E.5
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

There is a good deal of evidence that hereditary factors make some contribution to determining a predisposition to neurotic illness, and some of the relevant literature has recently been reviewed by one of us (Slater, 1964). Raised incidences of neurotic illnesses and neurotic traits of personality of a like kind have been found among the first-degree relatives of obsessional neurotics, anxiety neurotics and persons diagnosed as suffering from hysteria. The evidence is much stronger in the case of the first of these types of illness than in the last. Such observations do not absolutely require a genetical explanation. It is possible that the similarities shown by relatives are not caused by their blood relationship, but by similarities in such aspects of the environment as early upbringing, social milieu, family tradition, etc. However, these findings do suggest that, if there is a genetical contribution to the personality traits which are associated with neurotic illness, this will most likely be due to a number of genes, additive in their action. This again would lead one to expect to find continuous variation between individuals in the degree to which they show such personality traits, and in our view the available evidence supports a multidimensional mode of variation.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 111 , Issue 470 , January 1965 , pp. 70 - 83
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1965 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Coppen, A. (1965). ‘The prevalence of menstrual disorders in psychiatric patients.’ (Awaiting publication.) Google Scholar
Coppen, A. and Kessel, N. (1963). “Menstruation and personality.” Brit. J. Psychiat., 109, 711–721.Google Scholar
Dahlstrom, W. G., and Welsh, G. S. (1960). An MMPI Handbook. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. (1959). Manual of the Maudsley Personality Inventory. London.Google Scholar
Eysenck, S. B. G. (1962). “The validity of a personality questionnaire as determined by the method of nominated groups.” Life Sciences, 1, 13–18.Google Scholar
Fuller, J. L., and Thompson, W. R. (1960). Behaviour Genetics. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Gottesman, I. (1963). “Heritability of personality. A demonstration.” Psychol. Monogr., 77, (9, whole No. 572).Google Scholar
Knowles, J. (1960). “The temporal stability of M.P.I. scores in normal and psychiatric populations.” J. Cons. Psychol., 24, 278.Google Scholar
Marke, S., and Nyman, G. E. (1963). ‘Perception of parental identification, parental dominance and anxiety in young adults.’ Report from the Psychiatric Department II, University of Lund. Lund.Google Scholar
Osgood, C. E., Suci, G. J., and Tannenbaum, P. H. (1957). The Measurement of Meaning. Urbana.Google Scholar
Rees, L. (1953). “Psychosomatic aspects of the premenstrual tension syndrome.” J. Ment. Sci., 99, 62–73.Google Scholar
Slater, E. (1962). “Birth order and maternal age of homosexuals.” Lancet, i, 69–71.Google Scholar
Slater, E. (1964). “Genetical factors in neurosis.” Brit. J. Psychol., 55, (November.) Google Scholar
Shields, J. (1962). Monozygotic Twins Brought up Apart and Brought up Together. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Shields, J. and Slater, E. (1960). “Heredity and psychological abnormality”, in Handbook of Abnormal Psychology (ed. Eysenck, H. J.). London.Google Scholar
Wallace, H. E. R., and White, M. B. H. (1959). “Natural history of the psychoneuroses.” Brit. med. J., i, 144–148.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.