Auke Tellegen


Auke Tellegen was a Dutch-born American psychologist known for his contributions to personality psychology. He was a professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota from 1968 to 1999 where he helped develop the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire and contributed to the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.

Early life and education

Tellegen was born in Batavia, the capital of the Dutch East Indies, in 1930. He received his PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1962 and did post-doctoral study in clinical psychology at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Research

Tellegen, alongside David Lykken, studied the effects that genetics had on a person's happiness.

Absorption

Tellegen proposed the personality trait of absorption. In 1974 he developed the Tellegen Absorption Scale with Gilbert Atkinson, which he revised in 1982 and 1992.

Awards