Eysencks personality Flashcards
what are the 4 different personality types?
Extraversion, Introversion, Neuroticism, Pschoticism
what does it mean when someone is an extravert?
sociable, and prefer to be with people than be alone. they take risks, crave excitement, and act on a spur of the moment.
what does it mean when someone is an introvert?
they are quiet and enjoy their own company, have fewer friends but sustain deeper relationships and like a structured life.
what does it mean if someone is neurotic?
there can be a number of factors to having a high level of neurocisiom such as - anxiousness, depression, low self esteem, irrationality, shy and mood, low emotional stability these can either be high or low depending on wether you are neurotic/stable.
what does it mean if you have high levels of psychoticism?
you are cold, aggressive, egocentric, impersonal attitude, impulsive, antisocial.
what does it mean if you have low levels of pschcoticism?
empathic, unselfish, altruistic, warm, peaceful and pleasant.
what is the gender difference with neuroticism and pschoticism?
Eysenck found that women tend to have higher neuroticism than men, but men have higher levels of pschoticism.
what is the PEN scale?
it is a questionnaire that people can take to see how high they are in the 3 personality traits. Eysenck suggested that people who have high N scales had a hard time learning new behaviours, criminals have high E and N scores and P scores become higher later on. most people have a balance of E and N and low P so do not commit a crime.
what is the biological element of extraversion?
have an under aroused CNS which makes them crave excitement to stimulate the CNS which is why they partake in risk taking activities. also a stronger dopamine pathway which means they respond more positively to reinforcers like sex and money which may lead them to acquire these illegally.
what is the biological element to neuroticism?
people with high N scores may have an overactive limbic system which regulates the fight or flight response, as this is high then they may be more likely to overreact to threats and be more irrational. their parasympathetic system is slower to respond so they cannot control their emotions.
what is the biological element to Pschoticism?
they may have a an excess of dopamine in the brain which makes them crave more excitement in their life to get pleasure, this is why they are lead into crimes like rape, assault or burglary.
what is the evidence for and against Eysencks personality theory?
McGurk and McDougall found that out of 100 students who were identified os delinquent and 100 who weren’t the PEN test found that people who were labelled as delinquent some had high N and E and some who had high N, E, and P. this supports the findings of Eysenck.
Mischel (1968) - argues that consistency of peoples behaviour is an illusion that we usually see people in similar situations. this means that peoples personality may change on a daily basis, depending on the situation we are in.
what is the application for Eysencks research?
we could be able to prescreen people who have these high PEN scores and this could lead to them being monitored more when they are younger so they don’t commit as many crimes.
