eysenck's theory

• eysenck's theory of personality

  • extraversion - introversion = extraverts are outgoing, positive emotions, bored easily
  • neuroticism - stability = neuroticism is tendency to experience negative emotional states
  • psychoticism - normality = psychotics are egocentric, aggressive, lacking empathy

  each normally distributed
• bio basis for personality

  • extraversion - under arousal of nervous system, seek external stimulation
  • neuroticism - slightly unstable, easily upset, more fight or flight reaction
  • psychoticism - related to higher testosterone
• link to criminal behaviour

  • extraverts seek more arousal = engage in dangerous activities
  • neurotics are unstable = overreact in situations of threat
  • psychoticism = indvs are aggressive and lack empathy

  also

  • conditioning
  • Eysenck claimed high extraverts and and neurotics less easily conditioned = don't learn to avoid antisocial behaviour
• personality may not be consistent

  flaw w personality explanation

  • people may be different in diff situations
  • eg. relaxed at home, neurotic at work
  • any regularity of behaviour is likely due to that we are often in similar situations

  criminal personality theory flawed as not one personality each
• personality tests may lack validity

  self report issues

  • questionnaire forces yes/no answer when truth may be 'sometimes'
  • social desirability bias
  • countered by the use of lie scales - set of Qs eg 'are all your habits good and desirable' if yes data discarded as likely a lie

  treat evidence with caution
• research linking personality and criminal behaviour

  Dunlop et al

  • found extraversion and psychoticism (as well as lie scales) good indicators of delinquency
  • in this study delinquency was minor offences in past 12 months

  BUT Van Dam et al

  • found only small group of males in juvenile detention centre scored high on all 3 variables

  support, but inconsistent and limited
• real world application

  used to identify criminals and offer treatment

  • traits are good predictors of delinquency but probably not good enough for prediction
  • but prevention
  • eg. modifying socialisation experiences of at risk children
  • eg. pay greater attention to conditioning experiences to ensure people w high extraversion and neuroticism learn from experiences