Personality

• What is Eysenck's theory of personality (1997) ?

  Psychoticism (impulsive, impatient, aggressive & creative) & normality. Extraversion (sociable, lively & optimistic) & introversion (reserved & quiet). Neuroticism (anxiety, pessimistic, can be moody & irritable) & stability (controlled & even tempered).
• Resource model of addiction (Eysenck, 1997) :


  Addiction develops in person as it fulfils a need relating to their personality- addiction particularly, 'needed' by people who are neurotic & psychotic.
• Psychoticism & impulsivity :

  A characteristic of high levels of psychoticism is high impulsivity (tendency to act on a whim, with little forethought or planning, & with little or no consideration of consequences of your actions). High levels impulsivity may lead people to engage in behaviours or take substances that have negative consequences.
• Dalley et al (2007) : 


  Impulsive rats increased cocaine intake more than low impulsivity rats.
• Laura Stevens et al (2014) :

  Impulsive individuals were less successful in treatment programmes as they were more likely to drop out & less likely to achieve & maintain abstinence.
• Neuroticism & self medication:

  Deeply neurotic person (suffers from anxiousness, worry & stress)-addiction can come from trying to self-medicate. May also explain why they may struggle to give up addictive behaviour as they haven't addressed reasons why they began to self medicate in first place (root of addiction). Sinha (2001) conducted research which backs this theory up.
• Extraversion & addiction :


  Little evidence to suggest there's a link between personality traits of extraversion/introversion & addiction. Francis (1996) reviewed findings of previous research into this area. 10 studies found negative relationship between extraversion & addiction. 2 found positive relationship. 12 found no significant relationship (unlikely extraversion has influence on addiction).
• Sinha (2001) :


  Reviewed research into neuroticism & self-medication & highlighted role stress plays in initiation of an addiction, but also risk in relapse when trying abstinence. If more susceptible to stress, may feel they need addictive behaviour to overcome it.
• Baumeister (1997) :


  Suggests low self-esteem may lead people to act in a manner that is self-destructing in order to escape self-awareness. (Using addiction as way of avoiding their negative feelings about themselves).
• Gossop & Eysenck (1980) :


  Researched over 200 drug addicts, & found addicts had high P & N scores, but lower E & L scores than control group. Used EPQ (Eysenck personality questionnaire). Also compared lie score (L).
• Alex Blaszczynski et al (1985) :


  Replicated Gossop & Eysenck's study & found little difference in extraversion scores of gambling addicts & control group.
• Dong et al (2013) :


  Study on Chinese uni students. Students given EPQ just after entering uni & 2 years later their addiction to internet was assessed. Found that higher N & P scores were linked to addiction- prospective design suggests it was a cause rather than an effect.
• Ruth McNamara et al (2010) :


  Found in rats, impulsivity meant that the animals were more likely to self-administer cocaine but not heroin. Therefore type of personality involved may depend on behaviour investigated.
• Rozin & Stoess (1993) :


  Looked at individuals' tendency to get addicted to range of different activities & couldn't find common pattern. Type of personality may depend on behaviour being investigated.
• Kerr (1996) :

  Refers to idea of addictive personality as 1 of the 'myths of addiction' & suggests there's so many traits linked to addiction, these would be typical of most people to some degree. Many of the traits aren't unique to addiction, e.g, Eysenck also found high N & P scores in criminals.
• What is ASPD?

  Antisocial personality disorder-linked to addiction. Disregard for rights of others, likely to violate social norms & behave irresponsibly. Lack of remorse for their actions, engage in emotional & social manipulation of others & frequent liars.
• Messina et al (1999) :


  ASPD rare among general population, although suggested 40-50% of those with substance abuse disorder meet ASPD criteria & approx. 90% of those with ASPD also have substance use disorder. Likely to engage in risky forms of addiction, e.g, needle sharing, & likely to start abusing at an earlier age.
• Trull et al (2004) :


  (Difficult to determine if ASPD is causal factor in addiction). Found significant relationship between personality symptoms & substance abuse & dependence. Analysis concluded personality characteristics preceded substance use rather than other way around.
• Buckholtz et al (2010) :


  May be that biology & personality interact to lead to addictive behaviour. Looked at levels of impulsivity in non-addicted individuals & recorded what happened in their brains when given amphetamines. Those with higher impulsivity showed greater dopamine release in response to drug as well as low receptivity. Impulsive people may be more likely to become addicted as they get greater dopamine high from substances.
• de Wit (2009) :


  Review of studies shows impulsiveness both cause & effect of drug abuse.