Jeffrey Gray’s Factorial-biological Theory Of Personality
Gray’s personality theory is framed in the biological and factorial paradigms; This means that it explains the differences between individuals based on variables related to the nervous system and is based on the grouping of different personality traits in higher dimensions through statistical analysis techniques.
In this article we will analyze the main aspects of Gray’s model. Specifically, we will focus on the two basic personality factors and the two associated physiological mechanisms that this author described: anxiety and the mechanism of behavioral inhibition and impulsivity and the behavioral approach.
The British psychologist Jeffrey Alan Gray (1934-2004) presented his factorial-biological theory in 1970 on the structure and bases of interindividual differences in personality; According to the model, these are due to biological mechanisms that are relate to reactions to reinforcement, punishment or to novel stimuli and situations.
In this sense, Gray described two main biological mechanisms that determine behavioral tendencies. He called one of them the “behavioral approach mechanism” and the other “behavioral inhibition mechanism”; These would be equivalent to the basic factors of personality, which would have a physiological basis.
Gray’s theory of personality is largely based on Eysenck’s PEN model, which defines three major biologically determined personality factors: neuroticism, extraversion and psychoticism. However, there are significant differences between both theories that are worth commenting on; We will stop at them later.
Thus, Gray proposes two basic dimensions of personality: anxiety and impulsivity The first combines introversion and neuroticism from Eysenck’s model; On the other hand, a high level of impulsivity would also imply high neuroticism, but in this case it would be associated with extraversion. Each dimension corresponds to a behavioral mechanism.
Anxiety and the behavioral inhibition mechanism
According to Gray’s description, anxiety is a combination of neuroticism (or emotional instability) and introversion. In Eysenck’s model, extraversion is characterized by personality traits such as activity, dominance, assertiveness, sociability and sensation seeking, and introversion would be its opposite.
The behavioral inhibition mechanism, which is associated with this primary dimension of personality, is mainly involved in the avoidance of unpleasant situations and stimuli, that is, of punishment. Since it is determined by biological variables, the mechanism would be activated to a different degree in each person.
Among the main functions of the behavioral inhibition mechanism, and therefore of anxiety, we can highlight the response to punishment, the inhibition of obtaining reinforcers in certain circumstances (for example in the delay of reinforcement) and the avoidance of new stimuli. and potentially aversive.
Having a high level of anxiety predisposes the person to frequently experience frustration, fear, sadness and other unpleasant feelings Therefore, this trait is associated with behavioral avoidance of stimuli that are perceived as anxiety-producing by the individual.
Impulsivity and the behavioral approach mechanism
The Impulsivity factor of Gray’s model combines high levels in Eysenck’s Neuroticism and Extraversion dimensions. In this case, the relevant biological system would be the behavioral approach mechanism, which when activated would make us behave in a way opposite to the inhibition mechanism.
So in this case obtaining rewards takes precedence over avoiding punishments This behavioral system favors the approach to novel stimuli and situations and is activated mainly by the possibility of obtaining reinforcement, unlike the behavioral inhibition mechanism, which depends on punishment.
According to Gray, people with a high level of behavioral approach mechanism activity (or impulsive, if you will) tend to more frequently show positive emotions such as joy. It could be related to the action of the neurotransmitter dopamine involved in the brain reinforcement system and motivation.
Similarities and differences with Eysenck’s theory
Eysenck and Gray’s theories of personality have obvious similarities; After all, the second author relied primarily on the work of the first when developing his own model. Both are categorized into two major paradigms of the study of personality: factorial and biological theories.
A key difference between Gray’s theory of personality and that of Eysenck is that the former gives greater importance to physiological responses to different types of stimuli, while The PEN model is mainly based on classical conditioning in the levels of brain activation and in the functioning of neurotransmitters.
In any case, these are two complementary theories: since Gray started from Eysenck’s model, his factors can be added to those described by this author. Each of them explains different aspects of personality, and the traits they describe could be explained by different but interrelated biological variables
