Eysenck's Personality Theory Flashcards
(11 cards)
1Theory explained
- Eysenck was a psychologist who believed there are different personality types
- His theory said there are 3 dimensions related to personality that we can measure
1. extroversion (sociable, lively, optimistic)
2. Neuroticism (high anxiety levels, moody, irritable)
3. Psychoticism (impulsive, impatient, aggressive) - Theory says criminals have particular personality type and that these differences also have a biological basis but are moderated by our environment
Biological basis of criminal personality
p2
- Eysenck said the cause of these personality types is our biology and criminals inherit a type of nervous system that affects their ability to learn and adapt ti the environment
Extraversion/introversion
p2
- criminals inherit an under aroused nervous sytem so seek stimulation to restore the level of optimum stimulation
- Introverts are already over aroused and shun sensation and stimulation = quiet and reserved
- Extroverts need more arousal so seek out dangerous situations and are more impulsive so do theft
Neuroticism/Stability
p2
- a stable persons nervous system will generally be less reactive to stressful situation, staying calm and level headed
- High neuroticism = much more unstable and prone to overreacting to stimuli and may be quick to anger or fear
- unstable and overreact to stimuli so more likely to do criminal acts that aren’t planned e.g. assault
Psychoticism/Normality
p2
- Higher testosterone = higher levels of psychoticism with low levels related to more balanced behaviour
- aggressive, impulsive and lack of empathy = murder
role of socialisation in criminal pesonality
p3
innate traits + socialisation = criminal behaviour
- person could be born with a certain personality traits that may predispose them to criminality but interaction with the environment is important in the development of crim. behav.
how socialisation links to conditioning
p3
- socialisation element occurs during childhood, where kids are taught that bad behaviour is punished (operant conditioning)
- But people who score highly on extroversion and neuroticism were less easily conditioned = so they aren’t scared of punishment that follows bad behaviour and so don’t learn to follow rules
research support eysenck and eysenck
p3
- 2070 male prisoners and 2442 male controls were administered the questionnaire, giving them scores on psychoticism, neuroticism, extroversion, and lie scales
- groups divided into age groups from 16-69
- scores on psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism fell with age for both control and actual
- prisoners had higher scores than control as predicted on all three scales
- suggests link between personality theory and crime
supporting research s
- 2070 male prisoners and 2442 male controls were administered the questionnaire, giving them scores on psychoticism, neuroticism, extroversion, and lie scales
- groups divided into age groups from 16-69
- scores on psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism fell with age for both control and actual
- prisoners had higher scores than control as predicted on all three scales
- suggests link between personality theory and crime
issues measuring personality
- the accuracy of the personality measures can be questioned
E = EPQ a self report measure where P’s answer Q’s that correlate to different personality traits = social desirability bias
E= But eysenck did but a lie scale in his Q’ to help identify P’s that weren’t answerring truthfully so their data could be discared
w = even tho he used a lie scale, a questionnaire the most reliable way to measure personality
Considers influence of nature and nurture on criminality
S
E = eysenck explained that criminal behaviour is based on a combination of innate personality traits and socialisation
E = nervous systems and environmental factors
- interactionist is a more complete explanation for criminal behaviour
