Another Kretschmer’s important contribution was the demand for objective criteria in order to distinguish hysteria from simulation (Lerner, 2003)
Ernst Kretschmer, (1888–1964), a German psychiatrist known for the establishment of a typology based on the human constitution, suggested that hysterics show “a preference for what is loud and lively, a theatrical pathos, an inclination for brilliant roles…(and) a naive, sulky egotism” (Bornstein et al., 2015).
The first providing a detailed psychoanalytic description of the hysterical personality style was Wilhelm Reich, (1897–1957), an Austrian psychoanalyst. He wrote “coquetry in gait, look or speech betrays, especially in women, the hysterical character type…We find fickleness of reactions…and…a strong suggestibility, which never appears alone but is coupled with a strong tendency to reactions of disappointment…”
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