Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

C82PIN > Crime and personality > Flashcards

Crime and personality Flashcards

1
Q

When studying crime and personality, what kind of behaviour is focused on?

A

Aggressive and antisocial behaviour.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Outline sex differences in crime.

A

Total of males and females held in custody in August 2010 in England and Wales:
- Male: 67,690
- Female: 3,413
There’s a massive gender bias.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What developmental evidence is there for sex differences in aggression?

A

Romano, Trembley, Boulerice and Swisher (2005) did a large national longitudinal study in Canada of children aged 0-11, and found that males exhibited more aggression and less prosocial behaviour after controlling for parental style, family variables and neighbourhood variables.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What did Bonica et al. (2003) find?

A

Girls are highly aggressive in preschool if relational aggression (damage to relationships) is considered.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What did Crick and Grotpeter (1995) find?

A

In middle childhood, 4.2% girls were identified as aggressive (if physical), but if this included relational the percentage rose to 21.6% - amount of aggression depends on definition of aggression.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What did Tremblay (2000) do?

A

Investigated social environment, said that aggression is innate for some people. Also stated that aggression effects into adulthood are established.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What did Wadsworth & Achenbach (2005) do?

A

Studied aggression and other problems over 4 years, measuring parental evaluations of aggressive behaviour, SES and referrals.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What did Wadsworth & Achenbach (2005) find?

A

That those in the lower SES group showed a rise in aggressive behaviour across the study years, and of those referred for problems, lower SES individuals scored the highest for aggression.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

What did Haynie et al. (2006) do?

A

Investigated the role of peer networks in aggression. National longitudinal study of adolescent health. All students were interviewed and identified 5 friends of each sex to be interviewed (verify aggression data), and data was collected about violence, peer networks, and SES (highest level of education + parental occupation).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What did Haynie et al. (2006) find?

A

That low SES was correlated with fighting, peers who fight, and peers of lower educational involvement. Also the disadvantaged neighbourhood effect was mediated by connection with violent and unmotivated peers.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What issue is there with Haynie et al. (2006)?

A

The issue of cause and effect - aggressive individuals may seek out such networks, rather than the other way round.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What did Bandura (1973) state?

A

That social learning/peer modelling is important for aggression.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What can information on parental background and aggression be used for?

A

Prevention.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

What did Moretti et al. (2006) study?

A

112 adolescents in a referral centre (severe behavioural problems and youth correctional) in Vancouver and violence.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What did Moretti et al. (2006) find?

A

That males & females witnessed equal amounts of paternal violence, but females witnessed more maternal violence. Males acted aggressively to friends more than females, but females were more aggressive than males towards their partners. For females, maternal violence was linked to current violence to friends and partner, and for males it was linked to current violence to their partner (paternal=friends).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What did Johnson et al. (2006) investigate?

A

The role of parental mental health in violence - links to interventions.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What did Johnson et al. (2006) find?

A

Low parental affection or nurturing was associated with elevated risk for offspring antisocial behaviour across ages 22-33.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What did Maguins & Loeber (1996) do?

A

A meta-analysis of academic performance and delinquency .

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

What did Maguins & Loeber (1996) find?

A

Those with low academic performance:

  • Offended more frequently
  • Committed more serious and violent offences
  • Persisted in their offending
  • Academic performance predicted delinquency independent of socioeconomic status (despite them being extremely linked)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What does the psychoanalytic approach state about antisocial behaviour etc.?

A
  • Development of superego aids conscience (and reduction in antisocial behaviour)
  • If poor attachment to parent (mother)  sublimation of needs to criminal activity - diversion, emphasis displaced.
  • If permissive (or not nurturing) parents, superego content is not sufficiently moral
  • if superego underdeveloped  lack of check on pleasure principle = ID in control.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What did Martins (1981) find?

A

The link with poor parenting (and undeveloped superego) is not moderated by education.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What did Adler (1982) find?

A

Disturbed child-mother relationship results in incomplete sense of self in the world. A lack of ‘fix’(more controversial) results in the need to belong and be contained in secure environment being ‘embraced’. Therefore provocation by antisocial behaviour is incitement to society to contain them and give them security via prison - prison is the secure environment they want.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

How does crime relate to the PEN model?

A

Furnham & Thompson (1991) found that high E and N condition poorly compared to stables. Due to this, and the controversial assumption that offenders have little control or socialisation, it was concluded that those higher in E, N and P are more aggressive.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

What did Furnham (1984) study?

A

210 UK non-delinquents and the variables personality, anomie and social skills.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

What did Furnham (1984) find?

A

The best predictor of self-reported delinquency was P, then N, then anomie, E and social skills.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

What did Farrington (1992) find?

A

N is different for different samples - official offenders are high in N and low in E, and self-reporters low in N and high in E. However both related to P.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

What have most studies suggested about offenders’ personality scores?

A

Offenders score higher on P and N, and results for E are mixed. P seems to be a robust indicator.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

What did Heaven (1996) do?

A

Tracked 282 14yr olds over 2 years.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

What did Heaven (1996) find?

A

P at T1 was best predictor for late delinquency at T2 with E and self-esteem, but all 3 accounted for only 6% of variance - other factors must be involved.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

What facets are related to antisocial behaviour?

A
  • Excitement seeking (Eysenck & Gudjonsson, 1989)
  • Impulsiveness (Rigby et al., 1989)
  • “Venturesomeness” (Heaven, 1994)
    • These facets are all very similar - what are we actually measuring?
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

What did Heaven (1996)’s study with undergraduates find about the link between violence and the FFM/Big 5.

A

Study 1: pps. = 216 undergraduates
- A strong negative association with self-reported violence
- C (moderately and negatively) correlated with self-reported violence
- N (moderately and positively) correlated with self-reported violence
Study 2: pps. = 90 undergraduates
- Trust (negatively) and excitement seeking (positively) correlated with self-reported violence

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

What did Miller and Lyman (2001) find predicted antisocial behaviour?

A
  • Antagonistic traits (low A, high P)
  • Impulsivity related traits (low C, high P)
  • Emotional adjustment (high N)
    • Results in impulsivity and depression - unable to solve emotional problems.
33
Q

What did Miller et al. (2003) do?

A

Tested traits with series of antisocial behaviours including aggression.

34
Q

What did Miller et al. (2003) find?

A
  • Negative correlations between A and C

- Positive correlations between N with a series of antisocial behaviours including aggression (from

35
Q

What is high BAS activity associated with?

A
  • Increased prefrontal activity
  • Impulsivity
  • Negative affect
  • Aggression
  • Anger
36
Q

What kind of aggression is BAS mediated?

A

Reactive rather than proactive and linked to the impulsion-aggression association.

37
Q

What does the BIS respond to?

A
  • Conflicting goals
  • Emotions of anxiety
  • Frustration
38
Q

What does the BIS do according to Heym et al. (2008)?

A

Appraises risks and considers consequences of behaviour.

39
Q

What has the lack of BIS been associated with according to Harmon-Jones (2003)?

A

Reactive aggression.

40
Q

What did Baumeister, Smart and Boden (1996) find?

A

Very positive self-esteem leads to aggression following ego-attack, especially if unstable = narcissism.

41
Q

What did Donnellan et al. (2005) find?

A

Children with low self-esteem (opposite of narcissism) reported more delinquent behaviours including fighting.

42
Q

What did Trzesniewski et al. (2006) find?

A

Low SE correlated with high scores on trait aggression scale among college students.

43
Q

What do clinical theories of narcissism suggest?

A

Multiple types of narcissists that differ in their level of SE:

  • Covert narcissists: relatively low SE, socially avoidant, self-absorbed, shy and introverted
  • Overt narcissists: much higher SE, self-assured, extraverted, dominant, antisocial and aggressive interpersonal orientation.
44
Q

What did Bushman et al. (2009)’s studies 1 and 2 find?

A

An interaction between SE and narcissism - after a threat to ego (negative feedback) if participants score high in narcissism and SE their aggression levels (noise blast) were highest (overt narcissism). If they scored low in SE, their aggression was lowest (covert narcissism), and once narcissism was controlled for there were no effects of SE on aggression. This suggests that narcissism rather than SE affects aggression.

45
Q

What did Bushman et al. (2009)’s study 3 do and find?

A

Exposed students to feedback on real submitted essay by another student and had them assess the feedback, knowing that their feedback evaluation would account for 10% of the evaluator’s essay grade. Found that higher narcissism resulted in them giving the student who wrote the feedback lower grades.

46
Q

What did Coles (1997) state about impulsivity?

A

That it refers to speed of reaction rather than strength of reaction (over-reaction).

47
Q

What system are both impulsivity and aggression related to?

A

The serotonergic system (emotional regulation and concentration).

48
Q

What five related co-morbid factors were found by Plutchnik & van Pragg (1998)?

A

Impulsivity, aggression, depression, suicidality and anxiety.

49
Q

What does antisocial personality disorder involve?

A

Failure to plan ahead, irritability, reckless disregard for safety of self or other, and consistent irresponsibility.

50
Q

What is proactive/reactive aggression assessed with?

A

The Raine (2006) Reactive-proactive aggression questionnaire.

51
Q

How did Miller and Lynam (2006) define reactive aggression?

A

Affect driven in response to threat/provocation.

52
Q

What is reactive aggression linked to?

A

Impulsive aggression and sensation seeking and psychopathy (factor 2).

53
Q

How did Chase et al. (2003) define proactive aggression?

A

Goal-directed/reduced psychological arousal compared to reactive.

54
Q

What is proactive aggression associated with?

A

Parental substance abuse (Hubbard et al., 2010) and psychopathy (Factor 1) - psychopaths have lower resting heart rates and are calmer.

55
Q

How is trait aggression measured?

A

The Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), developed by Buss & Perry (1992). Predicts who will act physically and verbally aggressive and who has propensity to anger and have hostile thoughts.

56
Q

What is trait aggression associated with?

A

Reduced perceptions of an aggressor’s behaviour (Lawrence & Hodgkins, 2008), low A and high N (Sharpe & Desai, 2001) and physical aggression, anger and hostility, which is linked to sexual jealousy, impulsivity and dominance (Archer & Webb, 2006).

57
Q

How does sensitivity to aggressive triggers affect aggressive behaviour?

A

The extent to which individuals perceive events as being aggression-triggering influences the likelihood of them behaving aggressively (Dodge and Crick, 1990). Individuals differ in the extent to which they’re triggered to act aggressively in response to frustrations or provocations (Lawrence, 2006; Lawrence & Hodgkins, 2008)

58
Q

How is sensitivity to aggressive triggers measured?

A

By the Situational Triggers of Aggressive Response (STAR) scale (Lawrence), which comprises 22 items assessing frustration and provocation sensitivity.

59
Q

What did Lawrence and Hodgkins (2008) do?

A

Showed participants CCTV clips of male assault on female following female remonstration, female assault on female following female remonstration and male attack on male following male remonstration. Asked them to judge behaviour of people on the screen.

60
Q

What did Lawrence and Hodgkins (2008) find?

A

That those sensitive to provocation perceived more provocation from the victim. This effect remained even when general trait aggression was controlled for. Frustration sensitivity is related to emotional and cognitive aggression and provocation sensitivity is related to overt trait aggression.

61
Q

What advantages are there of Lawrence and Hodgkins (2008)’s study?

A

It examined subtleties of gender difference and has applications to reducing provocation, and consequently aggression.

62
Q

What did Bennet et al. (2005) find about attribution?

A

That 3 main activities are involved in reactive aggressive acts:

  • The interpretation of events
  • The retrieval and evaluation of alternative behaviours
  • The actual behaviour
63
Q

What did Hubbard et al. (2001) find?

A

That when boys judged the behaviour of their peer to be intentionally hostile, they were more likely to act aggressively in turn.

64
Q

What did Berkowitz (1994) state about cues to aggress?

A

Frustration, anger and cue are needed for aggression. It is associated with behaviourist ideas.

65
Q

What did Berkowitz (1994) do?

A

Investigated the weapons effect in a two stage experiment:

  • Stage 1: electric shocks to induce anger in mock test
  • Stage 2: subject responds to confederate (using shocks) in presence or absence of weapons
66
Q

What did Berkowitz (1994) find?

A

If not angered, weapons had no effect, but if angered, more shocks given in presence of weapons.

67
Q

How does anger relate to reactive vs. instrumental aggression?

A

Anger is mostly associated with reactive aggression.

68
Q

What did Berkowitz do?

A

The Arousal-Aggression Hypothesis - once factors (e.g. frustration/pain) prime people with negative arousal, situational cues or personal factors trigger or provoke an aggressive response.

69
Q

What did Novaco (1986) state?

A

A trigger – emotions (anger) + cognitions (e.g. attributions) lead to aggression.

70
Q

What did Anderson and Bushman (2002) do?

A

Devised the General Aggression Model, which posits cognition, affect, and arousal to mediate the effects of situational and personal variables on aggression.

71
Q

What did Vance et al. (2002) do?

A

Investigated problem solving and aggressive behaviour - did a longitudinal study of 337 adolescents with emotional disturbance.

72
Q

What did Vance et al. (2002) find?

A

Protective factors for aggressive behaviours included good problem solving skills.

73
Q

What did Vance et al. (2002) state predicted good problem-solving skills?

A
  • Consistent parental occupation
  • Good parental relationship
  • Good peers and interpersonal skills
  • Good reading skills
74
Q

What application is there for Vance et al. (2002)?

A

Teaching problem solving and reading skills in prisons etc. enables reflection, lowers impulsivity and therefore also lowers aggression.

75
Q

What inputs, routes and outcomes are there for Anderson and Bushman’s (2002) general aggression model?

A

Inputs: Person and situation
Routes: Present internal state (affect), cognition, arousal
Outcomes: Appraisal and decision process -> thoughtful/impulsive action applied to social encounter.

76
Q

What is a lack of self control, characterised by not being able to delay gratification and control impulses, associated with?

A
  • Early mortality
  • Overeating
  • Unsafe sex
  • Drunk driving
  • Psychiatric disorders
  • Work absenteeism
77
Q

What did Moffitt et al. (2011) find?

A

That self-control is malleable - examined 1037 children from birth to 32yrs and measured outcomes in terms of health, wealth, and crime
• Those with better self control had better outcomes at 32 years old, as did those who increased in SC over the course of the study.
• Those with lower SC make early ‘mistakes’ (early smoking, teenage unplanned pregnancy, leaving school early) that ensnare them in harmful lifestyles.
• Preschool SC predicts outcomes at 32 years - SC is only malleable to an extent.

78
Q

What are the advantages of Moffitt et al. (2011)?

A

+ Controlled for SES and IQ, etc.
+ Used various measures - parental opinion, teacher ratings, own and peer assessment.
+ When applied to the spiral theory of how ASB starts, this can be used to figure out the optimal time at which to intervene.

79
Q

What conclusions can be made about the role of personality in crime?

A

It’s complex. There’s lots of evidence for individual differences, but potential moderation by factors such as education, parental background, peer group, poverty and self control.

C82PIN (12 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions