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Today’s session You are learning about... You are learning to... Eysenck’s theory of the criminal personality Apply psychological concepts to explain and predict behaviour Use evidence to evaluate psychological theories

Eysenck’s personality theory Biological Psychological Social Functioning of the nervous system Stable psychological traits Responses to socialisation (reinforcement & punishment) Behaviour in situations where criminal behaviour is a possible outcome

Eysenck’s personality theory People’s personality varies along two dimensions: Extraversion – how much stimulation they need Neuroticism – how emotionally unstable they are

People who have very changeable emotions; prone to anxiety and depression High N These traits are normally distributed. Most people have moderate scores; few people have extreme scores. Low E High E People who need little external stimulation People who need lots of external stimulation Low N People who have very stable emotions

E & N and the nervous system Eysenck suggests that E and N measure characteristics of 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 N-scorers are also hard to condition.

Nomological reductionism 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). What makes this a nomological view? What makes this a reductionist view?

Psychoticism Eysenck later added a third dimension (P). High P-scorers tend to be: Cold Uncaring Solitary Aggressive He also believed P to be largely genetically determined.

Which pattern of E, N and P scores is most likely to lead to criminal behaviour? Why?

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 Concepts Circular definitions – what does P measure? Personality trait may not be stable across situations

Evaluating Eysenck’s theory Usefulness 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