Lesson 5 - Eyenck's theory of the criminal personality

Question 1

Eyenck’s main theory

Answer 1

our personality traits are biological in origin and come about through the type of nervous system we inherit from our parents. thus all personality types have an innate biological basis

Question 2

what are personality traits shown by offenders

Answer 2

neuroticism , extraversion and psychoticism

Question 3

what characteristics do people with extraversion have

Answer 3

impulsive and sensation seeking which draws them towards criminal behaviour

Question 4

what characteristics do people with neuroticism have

Answer 4

they are unstable and unpredictable .
they don’t learn from their mistakes easily

Question 5

what characteristics do people with high psychoticism have

Answer 5

cold , lack of empathy and prone to aggression

Question 6

• Eval of Eyenck’s theory

Answer 6

-offenders scored higher in psychoticism but not on extraversion and neuroticism when compared to non offenders
-all offending behaviour being explained by one personality type is too simplistic
-study may be culturally biased bcs hispanic and African americans are less extraverted than non criminal groups
-it’s possible to measure personality through psychological tests. psychologists believe there is no such thing as a stable personality and it changes every day