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Biotypes for Basic Personality Dimensions?

“The Twilight Zone” between Genotype and Social Phenotype

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Explorations in Temperament

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

Abstract

The nineteenth-century “science” of phrenology proposed that each personality trait had a particular locus in the brain that shaped the skull above it. Today, we view this kind of brain localization as fallacious. But in the search for simplicity we may be creating a new kind of phrenology, one more in accord with real brain entities and modern neu-rophysiology, but still inaccurate. The new “phrenology” suggests that each personality trait is based on one particular brain structure or system or one biochemical.

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Zuckerman, M. (1991). Biotypes for Basic Personality Dimensions?. In: Strelau, J., Angleitner, A. (eds) Explorations in Temperament. Perspectives on Individual Differences. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0643-4_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0643-4_9

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