Eysenck's theory

• what is meant by extraversion?

  outgoing people who enjoy risk and danger because their nervous systems are under-aroused
• what is meant by neuroticism?

  refers to people with a negative outlook who get upset easily. Lack of stability is due to an over-reactive response to a threat
• what is meant by psychoticism?

  refers to an aggressive anti-social person who lacks empathy. May be related to high testosterone levels
• describe Eysenck's theory

  • character traits cluster along three dimensions
  • two of them are most important- introversion/extroversion and neuroticism (stable or unstable)
  • one of them was added to his theory later and is less important (psychoticism)
• what is the test designed by Eysenck to determine personality?

  Eysenck's personality questionnaire (EPQ)
• What approach is each trait (neuroticism, introversion/extroversion and psychoticism) based on?

  • biological approach (reductionist)
  • each trait is innate
• how does each trait (introversion/extroversion, psychoticism and neuroticism) relate to having a biological basis?

  • extraversion- overall arousal level in someone's nervous system
  • neuroticism- level of stability in the sympathetic nervous system- how one responds to threat (fight or flight)
  • psychoticism- relates to higher levels of testosterone, so men are more likely to be found at this end of the spectrum
• how does each trait link to criminal behaviour?

  • extraversion- seek more arousal and found in dangerous situations, less easily conditioned
  • neuroticism- unstable so prone to over-react to threats (fight or flight) less easily conditioned
  • psychoticism- lack empathy and are aggressive, no holding them back and no concern for others
• what did Eysenck say was important for the development of criminality?

  • person is born with criminal personality traits
  • but interaction with environment is key in developing criminality
• what is the link between the personality traits link to conditioning

  • in a normal person, they avoid wrongdoing to avoid punishment
  • people high in extraversion and neuroticism are less easily conditioned
• evaluation of Eysenck's theory?

  • ☹Behaviour isn't consistent- Mischel and Peake- no correlation between ratings of friends and strangers to 63 students in different situations
  • ☹EPQ- Questions may be misleading- answer may require more detail but questions forces a yes/no. Social desirability- people might lie
  • ☹not useful in the real world- not good for detecting who will become an offender. However, useful ideas for how to treat offenders
  • ☹Limited research support- Dunlop et al found psychoticism and neuroticism good predictors of criminality however pps all students with minor offences