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• Fill in the questionnaire. Don’t think too hard
about your answers.
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• What do you think the questionnaire
measures?
Today’s session
You are learning about...
You are learning to...
•
•
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Apply psychological
concepts to explain and
predict behaviour
Use evidence to evaluate
psychological theories
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Eysenck’s theory of the
criminal personality
Eysenck’s personality theory
Behaviour in
situations
where
criminal
behaviour is
a possible
outcome
Psychological
Biological
Stable psychological
traits
Functioning of the
nervous system
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Social
Responses to
socialisation
(reinforcement &
punishment)
Eysenck’s personality theory
• People’s personality varies along two
dimensions:
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– Extraversion – how much stimulation they need
– Neuroticism – how emotionally unstable they are
High N
These traits are normally
distributed. Most people
have moderate scores; few
people have extreme
scores.
Low E
People who have very
changeable emotions;
prone to anxiety and
depression
High E
People who need little
external stimulation
Low N
People who have very
stable emotions
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People who need lots
of external stimulation
E & N and the nervous system
– E measures your central and autonomic arousal level.
The lower this is, the more stimulation you need from
your environment and the harder you are to condition
successfully.
– N measures how strongly your nervous system reacts
to aversive stimuli. The stronger your responses the
more extreme your emotional changes. High Nscorers are also hard to condition.
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• Eysenck suggests that E and N measure
characteristics of the nervous system:
Nomological reductionism
– What makes this a nomological view?
– What makes this a reductionist view?
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• Eysenck suggests that each person’s unique
personality is determined by their particular
pattern of E and N, which is determined by
their nervous system (and, probably, their
genes).
Psychoticism
• Eysenck later added a third dimension (P).
High P-scorers tend to be:
• He also believed P to be largely genetically
determined.
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– Cold
– Uncaring
– Solitary
– Aggressive
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• Which pattern of E, N and P scores is most
likely to lead to criminal behaviour? Why?
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• Eysenck’s theory predicts that people who
have high E, N and P will run a higher risk of
offending, principally because it is difficult for
them to learn to control their immature
impulses.
Evaluating Eysenck’s theory
• Evidence
– Fairly consistent support for high N and P scores
but not high E scores
– Response bias from self-report measures
– Sampling bias when using convicted offenders
– Circular definitions – what does P measure?
– Personality trait may not be stable across
situations
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• Concepts
Evaluating Eysenck’s theory
• Usefulness
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– Makes broad statements about criminals in
general; does not address specific crimes
– May assist in identifying those at risk of later
offending so prevention can take place