Eysenck's criminal personality

• What is psychoticism?

  Showing aggressive behaviour both physically and verbally, anti-social and lacking in empathy
• What is extraversion?

  People who are more outgoing and not afraid to try new challenges
• What is neuroticism?

  People who see the world in a negative light and are easily upset, tend to lack stability
• How many criminals and non-criminals did Eysenck assess?

  2070 male prisoners

  2422 non-criminal males
• How did criminals score on extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism?

  Higher than the non criminals
• What is the strength of Eysenck's criminal personality?

  • Supporting evidence
• What are the limitations of Eysenck's criminal personality?

  • Too simplistic- adolescence take part in more reckless behaviour, does not denote criminality
  • Cultural factors- Hispanic and black offenders in maximum security prisons were less extraverted than non-offenders
  • Testability- personality cannot be reduced to a score