Professor Hans J. Eysenck:

1916-1997

Professor Hans Jurgen Eysenck was arguably the most influential psychologist of his time and was a supporter of the Gauquelin's conclusion that planetary positions correlate with the personality of eminent professionals. He was for more than thirty years Professor of Psychology at the Institute of Psychiatry in London. He attracted controversy, albeit unwillingly, and called his autobiography Rebel with a Cause (1990). He pointed out that psychotherapy was no better than no psychotherapy in curing neuroses. In many cases he adopted a position that his opponents found outrageous.

His unswerving allegiance to the scientific method took him into a vast psychological territory whose diversity was formidable, the major areas being behavioral genetics, personality, intelligence, social attitudes, psychotherapy and Freudian psychology, behaviour therapy, sexual and marital behaviour, smoking and health, sports psychology, and (often to the surprise of his associates) astrology and parapsychology. Today, when the methods of behavioural therapy first proposed by Eysenck are widely accepted, it is hard to imagine the furor they originally created.

Eysenck's interest in graphology, astrology and parapsychology led to about 5, 19 and 12 publications respectively. In each case the result was a confrontation between a learned man of science and areas where convincing evidence is hard to come by. Eysenck emphasised that he came to his positive conclusions (on the Gauquelin findings, on ESP, on psychokinesis) only after carefully assessing the evidence and failing to find sources of error.

Eysenck was involved with astrology mostly during 1975-1985, ten years after he became involved with parapsychology. His interest in astrology was aroused by the findings of Michel Gauquelin. Eysenck argued that astrology does make testable assertions such as those linking planetary positions and personality. In giving Gauquelin's research as an example, Eysenck commented that as far as objectivity of observation, statistical significance of differences, verification of the hypothesis, and replicability are concerned, there are few sets of data in psychology which could compete with these observations and that there is something here that requires explanation. Eysenck was later involved in a series of research tests into Sun signs. (See the longer article for details.)

The interest of Eysenck in astrology led to three research seminars being organised by astro-sympathisers at Long Beach, Freiburg and Naples in 1986, 1987 and 1988 respectively. The first seminar was significant because it resulted in the formation of the Committee for Objective Research in Astrology (CORA), with Eysenck as Chairman, and twelve others (astrologers and academics) chosen for their expertise. CORA was set up to counter the generally poor quality of astrological research by providing free guidance and advice.

In the late 1970s Eysenck and David Nias began a survey of the scientific evidence for astrology aimed at a more general readership. The result was the book Astrology: Science or Superstition? (Eysenck & Nias 1982), which covered astrological principles, sun-signs, marriage, illness, suicide, appearance, time twins, season of birth, terrestrial and solar cycles, radio propagation, earthquakes, lunar effects and the work of the Gauquelins.

In general Eysenck's contributions to astrological research were his insistence that there was an effect to be explained, his insistence that matters be resolved by appropriate experiments, and his refusal to be satisfied with dismissive explanations. In short, he set an example of open-mindedness and good science that everyone can aim for but few will achieve. Unsurprisingly, the response by astrologers has been generally to praise him when his comments were favourable to astrology, and to condemn him otherwise.

CHART DATA: According to his birth certificate, he was born at 5:00 AM (4:00 AM GMT) March 4, 1916, at Berlin. He died in London on September 4, 1997, aged 81, after a long illness.

Outside the academic world Eysenck was best known for his popular books on psychological topics. The first was Uses and Abuses of Psychology (1953), written at the invitation of Pelican Books. This book, together with Sense and Nonsense in Psychology (1956) and Fact and Fiction in Psychology (1965), became bestsellers, selling literally millions of copies in many translations and reprintings, and more than trebling his rather poor salary as a university professor. Other popular titles included Know Your Own IQ (1962), Check Your Own IQ (1966), Psychology is about People (1972), The Inequality of Man (1973), and his own favourite Decline and Fall of the Freudian Empire (1985).

Eysenck HJ (1975). Planets, stars and personality. New Behaviour, 29 May, 246-249.

Eysenck HJ (1986). Consensus and controversy: Two types of science. In Modgil & Modgil (1986) pp 375-398.

Eysenck HJ (1990). Rebel with a Cause: The Autobiography of Hans Eysenck. Allen, London.

Eysenck HJ & Nias DKB (1982). Astrology: Science or Superstition? Temple Smith, London, and St Martin's, New York.

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