Personality Characteristics of Professional Artists

Abstract

The present investigation describes some personality characteristics of a group of professional artists. The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire was sent to 337 painters and sculptors living in West Germany. Most of them were members of the German Artists Association and were free practicing artists or professors at Art Academies. 147 male and 110 female artists returned completed forms. Data indicated that male artists were lower on Extraversion and higher on Neuroticism than a group of 300 male non-artists. Female artists were more extraverted than male artists, but their means on Neuroticism were nearly identical. Male non-artists were lowest on Neuroticism. Artists were also higher on Psychoticism than non-artists.