Eyenck’s Theory Of Offending Behaviour

Question 1

What is eysenck’s theory of personality

Answer 1

• based on the idea that character traits cluster along 3 dimensions.
  -extraversion, neuroticism, psychoticism

Question 2

What is extraversion

Answer 2

• characterised as outgoing having positive emotions but getting bored easily

Question 3

What is neuroticism

Answer 3

• tendency to experience negative emotional states rather then positive ones

Question 4

What is psychoticism

Answer 4

• egocentric, aggressive, impulsive, impersonal, lack empathy and not concerned with welfare of other people

Question 5

What is a biological basis

Answer 5

• eysenck claimed each trait has a biological basis, which is mainly innate, he claimed that 67% of the variance for the traits is due to genetic factors

Question 6

How does the biological basis link to criminal behaviour

Answer 6

• can be explained in terms of arousal
• extraverts seek arousal and so engage in dangerous activities.
• neourotics are unstable so are prone to overreact to situations of threat
• psychos are agressive and lack empathy

Question 7

What supports eysencks theory that personality types have a biological basis

Answer 7

• twin studies, found a +52 correlation for identical MZ twins on neuroticism compared with +24 for non-identical dz twins showing a large genetic component
• for extraversion figures were +51 and +12
• this indicates some some genetic factors are involved in personality traits although correlation isn’t as high as eysenck suggested

Question 8

Why may personality not be consistent?

Answer 8

• people may be consistent in similar situations but not across situations. Eg: someone can be relaxed at home but neorotic at work.
• mischel and peake (1982) asked family, friends, strangers to rate 63 students in a variety of situations and found no correlation between traits displayed
• this means the notion of a criminal personality is flawed as people don’t have just 1 personality

Question 9

Why may personality tests lack validity

Answer 9

• depends on self report, lacks validity, social desirable responses
  This means evidence should be treated with caution

Question 10

What is the link between personality and criminal behaviour using criminals and non criminals

Answer 10

• Dunlop et al (2012) found extrovertism and psychoticism were good predictors of delinquency
• however in this all participants were students and freinds aged 15-75.
• so while there is some support for a link between personality trait and criminal behaviour it is inconsistent and limited

Question 11

What is the real life application of eysencks theory

Answer 11

• value of the theory lies in its way of identifying criminals or in offering treatment to reduce their criminal tendencies
• the 3 traits are good predictors of delinquency, but not enough to detect who’s likely to become one, it could also give ideas on how to prevent criminal behaviour
• this suggests that the personality trait theory could have some application in preventing or treating offending behaviour