3.1.2 Individual differences exp. 2: Esyenck's Criminal Personality Evaluation

Question 1

Dunlop et al. (2012)

Answer 1

• found that E and P were good predictors of delinquency
• however, all ptps were students and delinquency was measured by an assessment of minor offences in the previous 12 months

Question 2

Minor Offences

Answer 2

• only minor offences being studied means we don’t know if Eysenck’s theory can be generalised to other crimes

> questions usefulness
issue of age bias
can’t necessarily apply theory to adults if study used students

Question 3

Cochrane (1974)

Answer 3

• reviewed studies of prisoners and control groups who’d completed EPQ Questionnaires

Question 4

Cochrane (1974) findings and suggestions

Answer 4

• higher N but not higher E
• suggests extroversion isn’t the most important personality trait linked to crime but neuroticism is
  > partially disputes Eysenck’s theory

Question 5

what is the biological basis of personality

Answer 5

suggests certain elements of personality do have a genetic basis:

• neuroticism = +0.52 correlation for MZ compared with +0.24 for DZ
• Extroversion = +0.51 correlation for MZ and +0.12 for DZ

Question 6

evaluation of genetic basis (reductionist)

Answer 6

• shows correlation between neuroticism and extroversion for MZ twins being not very high
• leaves room for non genetic explanation
• doesn’t take into account environmental factors
  > reductionist

Question 7

validity and reliability issues

Answer 7

• takes into account nature and nurture
  however:
• participants are answering to the demands of the questionnaires
  –> asked to select traits that they may not identify with or represent ‘reality’

e.g questionnaire only offers ‘yes’ or ‘no’ options and no ‘maybe’
–> did Eysenck really measure P,E and N successfully??

• personality isn’t always consistent therefore personality can be situational - unreliable data as it depends upon the situation someone is in

Question 8

social desirability

Answer 8

• Lie scales in the questionaire therefore data discarded
• set of questions such as:
  ‘are all of your habits good and desirable?’
  > person who says yes is probably dishonest

Question 9

Heaven (1996) - reductionist

Answer 9

• suggests 3 dimensions is too broard and insetisive to capural a full understadning of how personlity develops and changes
• dimesnions shoud be less broard de.g focus on excitement seeking

Question 10

Heaven (1996) method and findings

Answer 10

• studied 282 14 year olds over a 2-year period
• measuring delinquency and E,P and self-esteem
• longitudinal predictor of later delinquency
• results showed the overall score and effect of P was very small