psychological explanations of offending : Eysenck's theory

Question 1

theory

Answer 1

3 dimensions of personality

Question 2

extraversion vs introversion

Answer 2

extraverted = outgoing, sociable, impulsive, aggressive = seek high stimulation
introverted = reserved, thoughtful, serious, pessimistic

Question 3

neuroticism vs emotional stability

Answer 3

neuroticism = less stable emotions - anxious, moody - respond quickly to fight or flight
emotionally stable = calm and controlled

Question 4

psychoticism vs socialisation

Answer 4

psychoticism = lack empathy, aggressive, insensitive - higher testosterone

Question 5

criminal personality

Answer 5

neurotic-extravert-psychotic
-personality is linked to criminal behaviour via socialisation processes
-those with this are developmentally immature and selfish with immediate gratification

Question 6

measuring the criminal personality

Answer 6

Eysenck personality questionnaire
-measures personality in 3 dimensions
-plotted on the spectrum

Question 7

strength - research support

Answer 7

-compared prisoners and controls
-prisoners scored high on extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism
COUNTER EVIDENCE
-meta-analysis found that there were only higher psychoticism scores

Question 8

weakness - too simplistic

Answer 8

-only used personality test
-cannot predict length of criminality
MOTIF
-comes from personality traits and environment reactions to those traits

Question 9

weakness - Etic (culture bias)

Answer 9

-African Americans and Hispanic were found to be less extraverted in all 6 groups
-only explains criminality in western
-cannot be generalised out of original sample