personality Flashcards
personality is what makes us who we are. it explains our interests, how we interact with others and our overall attitude to life. our characteristics influence our decisions and how we behave.
Hans eysencks theory
looked at personality traits of an individual - the enduring characteristics that makes us who we are.
he examined the dimensions of:
1. extroversion and introversion
2. neuroticism and stability
3. psychoticism was later added to his theory
he argued that the differences in peoples personalities could be reduced to these dimensions, which related to the underlying functioning of the individuals nervous system.
according to eysenk psychotisicm , extroversion and neuroticism explain criminality
high p scores = self centred, cold, lack empathy, aggressive, antisocial
high e scores= crave excitement, sociable, active, sensation seeking, tend not to condition easily
high n scores = anxious, react very strongly to aversive stimuli, difficult to predict
arousal theory
believed these characteristics influenced our bio. he used arousal theory to explain the casual roots of the three dimensions of personality.
1. he explained extroversion/ introversion in terms of cortical arousal in the brain via the ascending reticular activating system ARAS. activity here stimulates the cerebral cortex leading to higher cortical arousal.
means that;
introverts - higher levels of cortical
- requires less external arousal
extroverts - underachieve ARAS
require more external arousal
outgoing
- neuroticism in terms of activity in the limbic system.
neurotic individuals have greater activation levels and lower thresholds within limbic system.
easily upset - provided a bio exp for personality trait for psych in terms of hormones such as testosterone.
gender
testosterone:
said to explain psych and most people high in psych is me.
- found that women have a larger frontal brain area in relation to the limbic regions than men do and this might show my women have more control over impulses so are less often found at high end.
evidence
:) eysencks theory is supported by research which shows the relevance of his theory in modern society.
high levels of extroversion in inmates who had high levels of re offence. this gives validity to the argument that suggests that extroversion is linked.
this provides credibility for the notion that reoffending may occur as a result of the need for excitement of the ARAS.
CA= personality is measured through self reports, therefore the theory itself as an explanation of crime may be based on biased and subjective methods.
also difficult to establish cause and effect.
application
:) approproate medication
ca= may create a self fulfilling prophecy
S/W
:( reductionist eg. personality is not stable and fluid nature of personality and therefore the impact on crime may be ignored.
ca= being reductionist allows for isolation of variables leading to crime
which could be advantageous in research and treatment
:) can explain gender differnces in crimes that are committed by those that are high on the psych scale. this is because psychotic episodes are associated with higher levels of test.
alternative
social learning theory
conc- personality theories explain some criminal behaviour but are reductionist because they can’t explain crimes that are not consistent with the personality of the individual eg. crimes of passion.
