Foreniscs: Psycholgical Explanations: Eysencks Theory

Question 1

Outline the ‘general personality theory’ proposed by Eysenck

Answer 1

• Eysenck was an important figure in personality and intelligence research
• he proposed behaviour could be represented along 2 dimensions: introversion/extraversion (E) and Neuroticism/stability (N)
• the two dimensions combine to form a variety of personality characteristics or traits
• he later added a third dimension: ‘Psychoticism’

Question 2

Outline the biological basis of Eysenck’s theory

Answer 2

• our personality traits are biological in origin and Coe about through the type of nervous system we inherit
• so, all personality types - including the criminal personality type - have an innate, biological basis
• extroverts - under active nervous system (they constantly seek excitement,stimulation and engage in risk taking, they do not condition easily and don’t learn form their mistakes)
• Neurotic individuals - nervous, jumpy, over anxious. Their instability makes their behaviour hard to predict

Question 3

Outline the ‘criminal personality’ according to eysencks theory

Answer 3

• the criminal perosnality type is a neurotic - extrovert - a combo of all the characteristics and behaviours for both neurotics and extravert
• Eysenck suggested the typical offender will also score highly on measures of psychoticism

Question 4

Outline ‘the role of socialisation’ according to eysencks theory

Answer 4

• personality is linked to criminal behaviour via socialisation
• Eysenck saw criminal behaviour as developmentally immature - selfish/focused on immediate gratification
• the process of socialisation is where children are taught to become more able to delay gratification and more socially orientated
• people with high E and N scores had nervous systems that made them difficult to condition so they would not learn easily to respond to antisocial impulses with anxiety

Question 5

According to eysencks theory, how is criminal behaviour measured

Answer 5

• • he developed the eysenck personality inventory (EPI)
• a form os psychological test which locates respondents along the E and N dimensions to determine their personality type

Question 6

What are the three evaluation points for ‘psychological explanations: Eysencks theory’

Answer 6

• research support for Eysencks theory
• the concept of a ‘single criminal type’ is heavily criticised
• cultural bias

Question 7

Outline ‘ research support for eysencks theory’ as an evaluation point for eysencks theory

Answer 7

• Eysenck and Eysenck - compared 2070 males prisoners scores on the EPI with 2422 male controls
• groups subdivided into age groups ( from 16-69 years)
• on measures of psychoticism - extraversion and neuroticism - prisoners recorded higher scores than controls which supports eysencks theory
• C/A - Farrington et al - reviewed studies + found ppts scored high on P measures but not E and N.

Question 8

Outline ‘the concept of a ‘single criminal type’ is heavily criticised ’ as an evaluation point for eysencks theory

Answer 8

• Moffitt - proposed distinct types of adult male offender based on timing of first offence + how long offending persists.
• also, Eysencks criminal type is out of step with modern personality theories
• E.g. Digman’s five factor model of perosnality suggests alongside E + N, there are additional dimensions (openness, agreeableness etc)
• multiple combinations are available and a high N and E score doesn’t put mean offending = inevitable

Question 9

Outline ‘cultural bias ’ as an evaluation point for eysencks theory

Answer 9

• Bartol + Holanchock - explored cultural differences
• studied Hispanic + African American offenders in a maximum security prison in New York + divided them into 6 groups based on criminal history + nature of offence
• all groups found to be less extravert than a non criminal control group