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A Critical Look at Three Arousal Constructs in Personality Theories

Optimal Levels of Arousal, Strength of the Nervous System, and Sensitivities to Signals of Reward and Punishment

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Personality Dimensions and Arousal

Part of the book series: Perspectives on Individual Differences ((PIDF))

Abstract

The first statement of an optimal level of arousal construct in personality theory was in Freud’s constancy principle (Breuer & Freud, 1895/1937):

There is a tendency to preserve at a constant level the intracerebral excitement. An excess of it becomes burdensome and annoying, and there arises an urge to consume it .... I believe we can also assume a level of the intracerebral tonic excitement, namely that it also has an optimum. On this level of tonic excitement, the brain is accessible to all external stimuli. (p. 143)

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, 19716, USA

    Marvin Zuckerman

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  1. Marvin Zuckerman
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

    Jan Strelau

  2. Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, London, England

    Hans J. Eysenck

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© 1987 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Zuckerman, M. (1987). A Critical Look at Three Arousal Constructs in Personality Theories. In: Strelau, J., Eysenck, H.J. (eds) Personality Dimensions and Arousal. Perspectives on Individual Differences. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2043-0_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2043-0_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-2045-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-2043-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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