6. Psychological Explanations: Eysenck's Theory Flashcards Preview

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Flashcards in 6. Psychological Explanations: Eysenck's Theory Deck (12)
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1
Q

What was Eysenck’s general personality theory?

A

Eysenck proposed that behaviour could be represented along two dimensions:
Introversion-Extroversion
Neuroticism-Stability
He later added a third dimension - psychoticism

2
Q

What do the different dimensions create/show?

A

They combine to form a variety of personality characteristics or traits.

3
Q

Where did Eysenck believe our personality type came from?

A

Eysenck thought our personality type was determined by the type of nervous system we inherit - biological.

4
Q

What links did Eysenck between the type of nervous system and type of personality?

A

Extraverts - under active nervous system - constantly seek excitement and stimulation - risk-taking - don’t learn from mistakes.
Neurotics - nervous, jumpy and over-anxious - there general instability makes behaviour difficult to predict.
(Intraverts & Stable = opposite)

5
Q

What did Eysenck consider the criminal personality?

A

A neurotic-extravert - all of the above characteristics + they’ll score highly on the psychoticism scale. Psychotic personalities are cold, unemotional and prone to aggression.

6
Q

What is the significance of socialisation in Eysenck’s theory?

A

Eysenck saw criminal behaviour as developmentally immature - selfish, immediate gratification. Through socialisation children are taught to delay gratification and become more socially oriented. Eysenck thought people with high E & N scores were hard to condition - therefore they didn’t learn to respond to antisocial impulses with anxiety - so they’re more likely to commit antisocial behaviour when the opportunity presents itself.

7
Q

How did Eysenck measure the criminal personality?

A

He developed the Eysenck Personality Inventory - a form of psychological test which ranks respondents E & N - a later scale measuring psychoticism was introduced.

8
Q

What are the evaluation points for Eysenck’s theory for offending behaviour?

A

+ Supporting evidence
- The idea of a single criminal type
- Cultural bias
+ Biological basis

9
Q

What is the supporting evidence for Eysenck’s theory?

A

Hans & Sybil Eysenck found that 2070 male prisoners scored more highly than 2422 male controls in terms of extraversion and neuroticism - supports theory.

10
Q

What is the issue with Eysenck’s single criminal type theory?

A

Modern theories have suggested there are several different types of criminals - determined by when they first offend, how long they persist for, how conscientious they are etc. - therefore high E & N isn’t the only type of criminal and doesn’t necessarily make a criminal.

11
Q

How does Eysenck’s theory suffer from cultural bias?

A

Bartol & Holanchock found in there study that criminals of an African-American or Hispanic origin actually had lower extravert scores than a control group. This suggests Eysenck’s first sample was culturally biased and questions his criminal personality theory.

12
Q

How does Eysenck’s theory benefit and lose out from being biologically based/coherent?

A

By acknowledging that criminality may have a biological basis Eysenck’s theory is compatible with other biological explanations like Rane’s APD theory. However it also suffers from issues like biological reductionism as a result.