Psychological explanation: Eysenck's theory

Question 1

What did Eyesenck propose

Answer 1

Behaviour can be explained through the 2 personality dimensions:

Introversion - Extroversion
Neuroticism - Stability

Question 2

What is the 3rd personality dimension that Eyesenck added later on

Answer 2

Psychoticism

Question 3

Describe what Eyesenck developed in order to measure the criminal personality

Answer 3

EPI - Eyesenck personality questionaire/inventory

Question 4

What is the biological basis

Answer 4

Suggested by Eyesenck

Personality traits have an innate biological basis as they develop through the type of nervous system people have

Question 5

Describe extraversion

Answer 5

Extraverts require high stimulation/excitement from the environment

Excitement is found through criminal acts

Extraversion is determined by the arousal level in the nervous system

Low arousal - More external stimulation is required so there’s a higher chance of criminal acts

Question 6

Describe neuroticism

Answer 6

High neurotic scores - Overly anxious, nervous, unstable and strong reaction to risky stimuli e.g. crime

Determined by stability levels in sympathetic nervous system(how much a person responds to threats)

Low neurotic scores - Stable, relatively unreactive nervous system

Question 7

Describe psychoticism

Answer 7

Related to high testosterone levels

Leads to less empathy and emotion

Men are usually on the higher end of spectrum

High levels = high psychoticism

Low levels = Low psychoticism

Question 8

How is Eyesenck’s theory and socialisation process linked

Answer 8

During socialisation process, children learn to delay gratification and learn to fit into society

Children also taught to be less selfish/taught morals

Individuals with high personality dimension scores are more difficult to condition and therefore are more likely to commit crimes

Question 9

Evaluate Eyesenck’s theory

Answer 9

Supporting research - Sybil and Hans Eysenck - 2070 male prisoners did EPI and scored higher than control group on personality dimensions. Counter - Offenders often scored high on only Psychoticism

Refuting research - Bartol and Holanchock - 6 groups of African American offenders in max security prison found to be less extraverted than control group

Biologicall deterministic - Suggests that theres no control of interactions with environment and how personality dimensions affect behaviour

Social desirability - EPI uses questionnaire and people may lie to seem more favourable