psychological theories Flashcards
(17 cards)
what is included in psychological theories?
Eysenck’s personality theory
What did Eysenck conduct?
a questionnaire (on 7000 soldiers) devising two personality metrics
What does ‘E’ and ‘N’ stand for?
E = extroversion
N = neuroticism
what are the personality features of someone with a high ‘E’ score?
outgoing, social, short-tempered, seeks excitement
what are the features of someone with a high ‘N’ score?
anxious, moody, depressed, overreactive
what scores do most criminals have?
high E and high N
what are the reasons for high ‘E’ & ‘N’ scores?
conditioning = reward seeking and punishment avoiding
genetic inheritance = nervous system
Why will a high ‘E’ an ‘N’ score lead to criminality?
high E = nervous system seeks excitement (often rule breaking)
high N = don’t learn from mistakes through punishment
what does ‘P’ stand for?
psychoticism
what are the features of a high ‘P’?
insensitive, cruel, aggressive, lack empathy
why will a high ‘P’ score lead to criminality?
their nervous system can’t conform to societies rules + can overlap with serious psychiatric issues
why does Eysenck show reliability?
sample size is large enough & made use of comparisons between convicts and general population
why is identifying personality traits a good thing?
potential offenders can be identified once they are known to the police
if criminal tendencies are detected through childhood…
they can be modified through rehab & correlation teachings
why are self-report measures unreliable?
offenders may want to hide the worst aspects of themselves to justify previous behaviour = not being honest = result isn’t correct
why does Eysenck’s theory lack validity?
it ignores offenders who haven’t been convicted e.g. less impulsive offenders with low ‘N’ may never be caught
it is questionable that personality can be seen as a set of stable traits because…
personality can change
