eyesenck

• personality theory?

  argues that all personality types have a biological basis, an adult personality is a mix of biological tendencies combined with learning experiences.
• proposed behaviour could be represented along two dimensions, introvert/extrovert or neuroticism/stability
• later added a third dimension called psychoticism
• extraverts are characterised as outgoing, having positive emotions but may sometimes get bored easily
• neuroticism is the tendency to experience negative emotional states such as anger, anxiety an depression
• psychoticism?


  egocentric, aggressive, impulsive, impersonal and lacking in empathy
• personality traits come about through the type of nervous system we inherit
• extraverts have an underactive nervous system which means they constantly seek excitement and stimulation, they are more likely to engage in risk-taking behaviours to increase brain arousal, they don't learn from their mistakes or condition easily
• introverts are innately aroused and thus seek to avoid stimulation
• neuroticism is determined by the level of stability in the sympathetic nervous system, this refers to how a person responds in fight or flight situations. Neurotics are more jumpy, anxious and get upset quickly, instability means behaviour is difficult to predict. Stable people have an unreactive nervous system and are calm under pressure
• psychoticism ?

  related to higher levels of testosterone
• link between personality and criminal behaviour can be explained in terms of arousal
• extraverts seek more arousal and engage in dangerous activities
• neurotics are unstable and therefore prone to over reacting in situations of threat
• psychotics are aggressive and lack empathy and therefore linked to criminality
• a person is born with certain personality traits but interactions with the environment are key in the development of criminality
• a03 ?

  supporting evidence- sybil and hans eysenck, compared 2070 male prisoners' score on epq with 2422 male controls, groups divided into age groups from 16 to 69 years on measures of psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism, across all age groups prisoners recorded higher scores than control, this supports the prediction of the theory.
• a03?

  contradictory evidence- Farrington et al reviewed several studies and reported that offenders score high on the P scale but not for E and N, this casts doubt n eysencks theory.
• a03 critique of questionairres ?

  SDB, forced and minimal choice, low response rate, validity of interpretation, socially sensitive, cant trust psychoticicsm
• a03 questionairre strength ?

  large sets of data cheaply and quickly
• questionnaires review your attitude but not your behaviour
• a03 strength ?

  more holistic than most theories, considers link between biological and environmental factors, therefore it takes the diathesis-stress model into account
• informing policy development?

  may provide useful ideas on how to treat offenders, for example modifying the socialisation experiences of children who may have the potential to become offenders, ti could help criminals pay greater attention to conditioning experiences