Individual Differences Explanation - Eysenck's Criminal Personality Flashcards
Explain Eysenck’s theory of personality…
Hans Eyesenck (1967, 1978) developed a general theory of personality based on the idea that character traits cluster along three dimensions:
Extraversion - outgoing, having positive thoughts, but may get bored easily
Neuroticism - experience negative emotional states rather than positive ones
Psychoticism - energetic, aggressive, impulsive, impersonal, lacking in empathy and generally not concerned about the welfare of other people
Explain biological basis…
Eysenck (1982) stated that each trait has a biological basis which is mainly innate; claimed that 67% of the variance is due to genetics
Extraversion - determined by overall level of arousal, where they seek external stimulation to increase cortical arousal (Burglary)
Neuroticism - determined by levels of stability in the sympathetic nervous system, where a neurotic person is slightly unstable and gets upset easily (Manslaughter)
Psychoticism - related to higher levels of testosterone with men being more likely to be found at this end of the spectrum (Murder)
Explain the link to criminal behaviour…
Link can be explained through arousal with Eyesenck explaining criminality as an outcome between innate personality and socialisation, where interaction with the environment is key in developing criminality
Seen in operant conditioning; people with high extraversion and neuroticism are less easily conditioned, and don’t learn to avoid antisocial behaviour
