Heaven

• year?

  1996
• aim?

  to explore the association between the traits identified by Eysenck and criminal behaviour
• prediction?

  measures of psychoticism, extraversion and self-esteem (neuroticism) would be predictors for self-report rather than recorded delinquency
• method?

  longitudinal study over 2 years
• sample?

  282 13-15 year olds taken from 2 Catholic schools in Australia
• what was used to measure?

  questionnaires with closed questions to measure the 3 traits

  self-reported delinquency also measured using closed question questionnaires

  80% of original ppts were surveyed again after 2 years using same questionnaires
• study found?

  • positive correlation between psychoticism and delinquency at beginning and end
  • extraversion showed weak correlation with delinquency at END of study
  • no correlation between self-esteem and delinquency
  • psychoticism was best predictor of delinquency
  • males had higher delinquency scores than females, at beginning and end
• Criticisms?

  • culturally biased bc all the same religion and country
  • ppts may have given socially desirable responses
  • low construct validity bc closed questions, so too complex to reduce
  • 20% who dropped out may not have been representative of the study, eg delinquents may have dropped out
  • not possible to establish cause and effect with correlational studies#