The Structure of Human Personality

Eysenck argues that a single structural model can account for personality organization as revealed across a wide variety of experimental contexts. The book's distinctive feature is its systematic review of evidence from every major assessment technique—ratings, self-ratings, questionnaires and inventories, objective behavior tests, projective techniques, physiological measures, body build, and interests and attitudes . If the same factors emerge from such diverse methods, Eysenck contends, the structural model gains strong convergent validity. A 1971 PsycCRITIQUES review described the book as offering 'not only an interesting and provocative hypothesis about the structure and organization of personality but also a clear example of how to proceed with its investigation—through the time-honored process of formulating and testing experimental hypotheses' .

Dimensions of Personality (1947) presented Eysenck's original factor-analytic findings from psychiatric records of servicemen. The Structure of Human Personality (1953) is the comprehensive synthesis, extending the analysis to every available method of personality assessment and reviewing the accumulated evidence from studies conducted in the intervening years. A 1954 review in the British Journal of Psychology described it as a volume 'for the specialist or advanced student' that deals with each subject 'in a manner distinguished by clarity of presentation and exhaustive learning' . Where the 1947 book established the dimensions, the 1953 volume demonstrated their replicability across methods—a crucial step in establishing their scientific status.

A 1954 review identified Eysenck's four concluding claims: first, that agreement between different experimenters is far greater than might have been expected; second, that work in personality should embrace all aspects rather than confining itself to a small sector; third, that factorial work must be integrated with experimental work on the tests being used to measure the factors extracted; and fourth, that factor analysis should serve a hypothetico-deductive method of personality study . The reviewer found the first conclusion 'the most striking' and noted it confirmed intuitions many students had held for years. The reviewer's only substantive criticism was that Eysenck failed to provide a brief, clear summary of the whole book's content alongside these four conclusions .

The primary criticism was the absence of a comprehensive summary. The 1954 reviewer noted 'it is a pity the author did not write a brief but clear summary of the whole content of the book as well as presenting these four general conclusions in the final chapter' . A separate review in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry challenged Eysenck's interpretation of the extraversion factor, arguing that the latter end of this factor is 'not well described merely as extraversion' . The reviewer also proposed alternative labels for the tough-mindedness–tender-mindedness dimension, suggesting 'respect for the individual or the lack of it' better captured the construct . These critiques anticipate later debates about the adequacy of Eysenck's dimensional labels.

The chapter on 'The Analysis of Interests and Attitudes' presents factor-analytic findings on political ideology. Two well-defined factors emerge: radicalism versus conservatism, and a second factor Eysenck labels tough-mindedness versus tender-mindedness . A reviewer in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry proposed an alternative interpretation: conservatism without respect for the individual gives rise to fascism, radicalism without respect for the individual gives rise to communism, while radicalism with respect for the individual is humanitarianism and conservatism with respect for the individual represents traditional religious values . This anticipates the fuller treatment Eysenck would give the T-factor in The Psychology of Politics (1954).

The first edition was published in 1953 by Methuen in London, running 348 pages . A second edition appeared in 1960, also from Methuen and Wiley, expanding to 448 pages . The third edition, first published in 1970, ran 476 pages and included additional chapters and updated references to research of the time . A 2013 reissue by Routledge in the 'Psychology Revivals' series makes the third edition available again as both hardcover and ebook . The book was also translated into Russian as Структура личности (1999) .