psych explanations- Eysenck

Question 1

what did Eysenck (1947) propose about behaviour?

Answer 1

could be represented along two dimensions: Introversion/ Extroversion and Neuroticism/ Stability
combine to form variety of traits
psychoticism-sociability (later added)

Question 2

biological basis

Answer 2

these characteristics/ all personality types (including criminal) have an innate biological basis
come about through type of nervous system we inherit

Question 3

extraverts

Answer 3

have an under-active nervous system which means they constantly seek excitement, stimulation and are likely to engage in risk-taking behaviours
they also tend not to condition easily and do not learn from their mistakes

Question 4

neurotic individuals

Answer 4

sympathetic nervous system- respond quickly to situations of threat (fight or flight)
tend to be nervous, jumpy and over-anxious
behaviour difficult to predict

Question 5

psychotic

Answer 5

higher levels of testosterone
unemotional
prone to aggression

Question 6

criminal personality

Answer 6

neurotic-extravert-psychotic
cold, unemotional, prone to aggression
neurotics unstable, prone to overreact to situations of threat
extraverts seek more arousal, dangerous activities
psychotics aggressive, lack empathy

Question 7

how is personality linked to offending behaviour?

Answer 7

personality is linked to offending behaviour via socialisation processes

Question 8

how did Eysenck view offending behaviour?

Answer 8

as developmentally immature- selfish and concerned with immediate gratification
offenders impatient and cannot wait for things

Question 9

process of socialisation

Answer 9

children are taught to become more able to delay gratification, and become more socially oriented

Question 10

why does the process of socialisation not work with offender behaviour?

Answer 10

people with high E and N scored have nervous systems that make them difficult to condition
less likely to learn anxiety responses to antisocial impulses- more likely to act antisocially in situations

Question 11

measuring criminal personality

Answer 11

Eysenck believed that personality could be measured
Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ)
form of psychological test which locates respondents along the E, N and P dimensions to determine their personality type

Question 12

research support

Answer 12

eysenck and eysenck (1977) compared 2070 prisoner’s scores on EPQ with 2422 controls. prisoners higher average scores on measures of extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism (across all age groups sampled) than controls.

agrees with predictions that offenders rate higher than average across 3 dimensions eysenck identified

Question 13

counter

Answer 13

farrington (1982) meta-analysis of relevant studies. ofenders score higher on measures of psychoticism, but not extraversion and neuroticism.
kussner (2017)- inconsistent evdience of differences on EEG measures between extraverts and introverts. doubt physiological basis of theory.

some central asummptions of theory challenged

Question 14

limitation

Answer 14

moffitt (1993)- distinction between adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent offending behaviour.
personality traits alone poor predictor of how long offending behaviour would last. considered persistance to be result of reciprocal process between individual personality traits and environmental reactions to traits.

eysenck theory too simplistic. more complex, determined by interaction between personality and environment.

Question 15

culturally limited

Answer 15

bartol and holanchock (1979) studied hispanic and african-american offenders in new york maximum security prison. divided into 6 groups based on offending history and nature of offences.
all 6 groups less extravert than non-offender control group. contradicts eysenck’s theory. suggested bc diff cultural group than eysenck investigated.

may be culturally relative concept. not generalisable to all cultures.