Personality Theories Flashcards
Personality
Relatively stable characteristics of a person that make their behaviour consistent across situatissues.
Eysenick (1964)
Originally argued, the great variation between people’s personalities can be reduced to just 2 dimensions which relate to underlying functioning of the individuals nervous system. extraversion and neuroticism can be measured using EPQ
Extraversion
People with high e scores are sociable, active, lively, and sensation seeking. E is determined by the overall level of arousal in the person CNS and ANS high E scorers have a low level of arousal and therefore need more stimulation from their environment.
Neuroticism
People with high N scores are anxious depressed and react very strongly to aversive stimuli. N is determined by the overall level of liability in the person’s CNS. Where N is low, the person has a stable, relatively unreactive nervous system where a high N score results in a high degree instability.
Psychoticism
He later added a third dimension of personality. High P scorers are aggressive antisocial, cold and egocentric e.g ted bundy. Was less clear on relation to the nervous system but says ENP are highly related to genes and the high scorers are rare.
ENP and criminal behaviour
- linked via socialisation as kids learn to associate anxiety with antisocial behavior but people with high E and N scores have nervous systems that make them hard to condition
Evidence
- Rushton and Christjohn (1981) compared E, N and P scores with self reports of delinquency they found that high delinquency also scored high.
- Putwain and Sammons (2002) E actually measures sociability and impulsiveness and criminality is associated with the latter not the former
Evaluation
- tells us that violent criminals are extraverted, neurotic and psychotic but not why so limited in its usefulness
- Howitt (2009) he addresses some of the real concerns of forensic psychologists
