3.5.3 Eysenck's criminal personality evaluation (individ difs)

Question 1

What do repeat offenders have when compared to bus drivers

Answer 1

higher levels of extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism (Wilson and MacLean (1974) )

Question 2

What supports Eysencks theory

Answer 2

Self-report correlations of delinquency support Eysenck’s theory (Rushton et al 1981)

Question 3

Why is Eysenck’s theory high on reliability

Answer 3

uses a questionnaire is used to measure personality which are high on reliability as they use a standardised format so can easily be repeated and retested. They can be distributed to large numbers of people fairly cheaply and quickly.

Question 4

Who disagreed with Eysenck’s view that personality can be understood by looking at only two or three dimensions of behaviour

Answer 4

Cattle

Question 5

What did Cattle instead argue

Answer 5

that it was necessary to look at a much larger number of traits in order to get a complete picture of someone’s personality.

Question 6

What have comparative studies found

Answer 6

found high scores on psychoticism and neuroticism, but not for extraversion

Question 7

What is a issue with Eysenck’s questionnaires

Answer 7

These are low on validity as people may lie due to social desirability bias, meaning the results do not necessarily paint a true picture of behaviour.