PE - Eysenck's theory

• What is ENP (criminality) personality?

  Stands for: Extroversion, Neuroticism, Psychoticism

  Eysenck and his wife Sybil assessed 2,070 male prisoners who were compared to a control group of 2,422 males. On measures of E,N and P, prisoners recorded higher scores than the control group which accords with the prediction of the theory.
• What are the traits of the ENP personality>

  Extroversion: sociable, impulsive

  • Random acts of behaviour, unpredictable behaviour

  Neuroticism: tense, moody

  • Emotional outburst

  Psychoticism: unsympathetic, manipulation

  • Doesn't feel bad or guilty, lack of empathy (high levels of testosterone)
• What did Eysenck say about personality types?

  Eysenck said that your personality type is an innate and biological thing. You are born with a certain type of nervous system that is inherited.

  • Extrovert - have lower level of arousal. They do not condition as easily and so it takes them longer to learn their mistakes.
  • Neurotic - overactive nervous system. Causes them to be jumpy, nervous, over-anxious and unpredictable.
  • Psychoticism - linked with high levels of testosterone.
• How children develop different types of gratification?

  • Children go through the process of socialisation to learn that they can't always be immediately gratified.
  • People with EN don't condition as quickly so they do not learn about delayed gratification.
  • They still want things immediately and this goes some way to explain their criminal behaviour.
• What does immediate gratification mean?

  The need to immediately fulfil an urge or desire
• What does delayed gratification mean?

  The ability to resist the temptation of an immediate reward in favour of a more valuable and long-lasting reward later
• What does socialisation mean?

  The development process through which individuals acquire the values, behaviours, and motivations necessary to become competent members of a culture
• What is a strength of Eysenck's theory?

  Supporting evidence

  • Compared 2,070 male prisoners on EPI with 2,422 male controls. On measures of E,N and P prisoners scored higher than controls supports the idea of a criminal personality.
• What is a counterargument to supporting evidence?

  Conflicting evidence

  • David Farrington et al (1982) conducted a meta-analysis of relevant studies and reported that offenders tended to score high on measures of psychoticism, but not for extraversion and neuroticism. This is also inconsistent evidence of differences on EEG measures (used to measure cortical evidence arousal) between extraverts and introverts which casts doubt on the physiological basis on Eysenck's theory. This means some of the central assumptions of the criminal personality have been challenged.
• What is a limitation of Eysenck’s theory?

  Reductionist

  • It tells us for example that criminals are neurotic and extravert, but it does not tell us why they are criminals.
• What is another strength of Eysenck theory?

  Nature and nurture

  • Eysenck‘s theory argues strongly that biological predispositions towards certain personality traits combined with conditioning and socialisation during childhood in order to create our personality