Knowledge

• Eysenck originally argued that the great variation between people’s personalities could be reduced to just 2 dimension which related to the underlying functioning of the individual’s nervous system.
• Extraversion (E)- People with high E scores are sociable, active, lively and sensation seeking. E is determined by the overall level of arousal in the person‘s CNS and ANS. They have a low level of arousal and therefore need more stimulation from their environment.
• Neuroticism (N)- people with high N scores are anxious, depressed and react very strongly to aversive stimuli. N is determined by the overall level of liability in the persons CNS.
• Liability- degree to which you have to respond to something.
• Eysenck later on adds on a third dimension of personality called psychoticism (P).
• Psychoticism (P) people who score high P are aggressive, antisocial, cold and egocentric.
• Eysenck argues that crime is caused by an interaction between biological factors and environmental factors.