Forensic psychology - Psychological explanations for offending behaviour: Eysenck's theory of the criminal personality

Question 1

What was Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality?

Answer 1

• Eysenck stated that personality type has a biological basis and that criminal personality is due to the type of nervous system we inherited
• There are three personality dimensions:
• Extravert to introvert
• Neurotic to stable
• Psychoticism

Question 2

What is arousal?

Answer 2

-How easily the nervous system responds to a stimulus, influencing behaviour which leads to innate offending behaviour

Question 3

What are the characteristics of an individual who has an extraverted personality?

Answer 3

• Extraverts have a chronically under-aroused nervous system
• This means they display attention seeking behaviour for stimulation
• Extraverts are hard to condition/socialise

Question 4

What are the characteristics of an individual who has a neurotic personality?

Answer 4

-Individuals with a neurotic personality are easy to upset, overly anxious and display obsessive behaviours due to a nervous system which is easily triggered by threats

Question 5

What are the characteristics of an individual who has a psychotic personality?

Answer 5

-Psychoticism is measured on a scale of low to high, psychotics are emotionally cold and do not feel compassion

Question 6

What are the average scores of the three personality dimensions?

Answer 6

• Most people score low on psychoticism
• Normally people are equally distributed between extraverted and introverted & neurotic and stable
• The criminal personality is high on extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism measures

Question 7

How does research conducted by McGurk and McDougall support Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality?

Answer 7

• McGurk and McDougall conducted a study in which they gave Eysenck personality questionnaires to 100 convicted inmates and 100 trade based students
• A higher number of people with extravert, neurotic and psychotic personality types were seen in the delinquent group

Question 8

What is a weakness of Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality?

Answer 8

• Eysenck’s theory depends on one stable personality type over time
• Moffit argues that this is too simplistic and suggests a dual taxonomy
• Moffit suggests that people with a criminal personality are either:
• Life course persistent, people who are stable in offending behaviour over their life
• Adolescent limited, those who stop anti-social behaviour in adulthood
• This better explains offending figures that show 10x higher levels of crime in adolescents

Question 9

How is Digman’s 5 factor model an improvement on Eysenck’s original theory of the criminal personality?

Answer 9

-Digman’s 5 factor model includes other important dimensions of personality like conscientiousness and agreeableness, a lack of these traits may be more important in criminality as not all individuals with ENP (Extraverted, neurotic, psychotic) personality types become criminals

Question 10

What is a weakness of Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality?

Answer 10

-Suggesting criminality is based on the type of nervous system that is inherited raises the issue of biological determinism