Eysencks personality theory Flashcards
characteristics of introverts
quiet, reserved, pessimistic
characteristics of extraverts
outgoing, sociable, optimistic, aggressive
characteristics of neurotics
anxious, moody, often depressed
characteristics of emotionally stable people
calm, controlled, unworried
what scales did Eyesenck find criminals scored high on?
high E scale
high N scale
what is conditioning?
we learn to seek pleasure (rewards) and avoid pain (punishment)
e.g if we misbehave, we get punished and don’t do it again
neurotics and conditioning
neurotics harder to condition into following societies rules due to high anxiety levels which prevent them from learning punishment for their mistakes
what is genetic inheritance?
we learn through conditioning but some people inherit a nervous system that causes them to develop a criminal personality
what type of people inherit a nervous system that causes a criminal personality
extraverts
what other personality type did Eyesenck later add?
psychoticism
are criminals more likely to be high or low on p scale
high
what characteristics does someone on high p scale have?
cruel, insensitive, aggressive, lack empathy
strengths of eyesencks theory
predicted high e,n & p scale lead to criminality is supported by evidence
theory useful in describing how some measurable tendencies could increase a persons risk of offending
weaknesses of eyesencks theory
Farrington examined a range of studies and found prisoners are psychotic, neurotic but not extraverts
evidence on prisoners shows link between personality and behaviour but doesn’t prove personality causes criminality
