Eysneck’s personality theory

• What is Eysneck’s personality theory?

  Criminality is a result of a particular personality type
• What did Eysneck’s personality questionnaire do and what did it find out?

  measures people’s personality traits, ranking them on an E scale or N scale

  Found most people have personalities around the middle of both scales

  • criminal personality scores high on E + N scales
  • they are strongly extroverted and neurotic
• What are 2 dimensions of personality according to Eysneck?


  Extroversion Vs Introversion

  Neuroticism Vs Emotional stability
• What personalities are introverts?


  reserved

  serious

  quiet

  reliable
• What personalities are extroverts?


  outgoing

  sociable

  excitement seeking

  impulsive

  aggressive
• What personalities are neurotic’s


  Anxious

  Moody

  Depressed

  Prone to overreacting
• How does a combination of High E and High N lead to criminality?


  Extroverts - have a nervous system that needs a high level of stimulation from their environment as they are constently seeking excitement

  • leads to impulsive rule breaking

  Neurotics - harder to condition into following societal rules due to their high levels of anxiety, preventing them from learning from their mistakes and punishment
• What 2 ideas does Eysenck draw his findings on?

  conditioning

  genetic inheritance
• What does Eysneck argue to do with conditioning and genetic inheritance?

  we learn through conditioning but some individuals inherit a nervous system causes them to develop a criminal personality
• What other personality did Eysneck introduce after later research?

  Psychoticism

  People with this are more likely to engage in criminality

  • tend to be solitary misfits - cruel, aggressive, lack empathy

  overlap with schizophrenia
• What are strengths of Eysneck personality theory?

  Useful in describing how some measurable tendencies could increase a person’s risk of offending

  Prediction of High E+N+P scores lead to criminality have support from other studies
• What are the limitations of Eysneck‘s personality theory?


  Although there is evidence that there is a correlation between personality type and criminality it doesn’t prove that personality type causes criminality, the prison environment might cause people to become neurotic

  He uses self report techniques - produce invalid result as people can easily lie