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Personality is made up of a set of characteristics that are fixed; some researchers argue that temperament, which is an important aspect of personality, has a biological basis and therefore a person’s personality might explain why some people indulge in criminal behaviours whilst some do not.
Personality traits and measurement
In 1946, Hans Eysenck proposed a theory of personality suggesting that different traits and certain characteristics could be more prone to criminal behaviour but that the following traits were the basis of all personalities:
- Extraversion/introversion: an individual might be one of these, where extraversion is someone who is outgoing and sociable, whilst at the other end of the scale, introversion is someone who is reserved and shy
- Neuroticism: this refers to the nervous disposition of a person. If they are stable they will react calmly and logically to a situation, whereas if they are unstable, they may over react and show inappropriate behaviour
- Psychoticism: this refers to a personality trait where someone has a lack of empathy for other people
Eysenck invented the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) in which every question measures the specific traits shown above, giving someone a PEN score at the end.
How might personality be biologically based?
People who have a high E (extraversion) score when doing the EPQ test are thought to have low arousal levels (determined by their nervous system) and therefore they seek stimulation to raise their innate biological arousal levels by displaying attention-seeking behaviours.
People, on the other hand, who have high arousal levels, avoid attention and excitement in order to keep their arousal levels low.
People who are unstable neurotics (high on the N score) are thought to have very sensitive nervous systems, which respond quickly to stressful situations and therefore they over react. Those with a low N score have an under reactive nervous system and therefore tend to be calm in similar situations.
Eysenck was very unclear about how personality type P (psychoticism) was linked to biology, simply stating that this meant a person tended to be cold and lacking in compassion and empathy, often meaning that they are antisocial.
Criminal personalities
The majority of people who take Eysenck’s EPQ test will have moderate scores for all traits, which is why high PEN scores are thought to be linked to criminal behaviour, as this is rare in comparison to the norm. However, just because someone may have high PEN scores, this does not mean that their biological make-up is solely responsible for their behaviour. The PEN scores might be accountable for how someone interacts within their environment when they are being raised – a process referred to as socialisation. Children who behave badly are punished and they may therefore learn to associate anxiety with punishment.
People who have high PEN scores are thought, therefore, to have a biological nervous system, which makes socialisation harder because they are incapable of associating their antisocial behaviour with the anxieties of punishment. This means that to them, antisocial behaviour is exciting and attempts to control it are not successful.
Strengths and weaknesses of Eysenck’s theory
- One strength is that evidence from convicted criminals who have completed an EPQ test shows that there are relationships between high P and high N scores compared to non-criminals (although there was no relationship found between high E scores and criminal behaviour). This does, however, show some support for the theory overall
- The theory also has a strength in terms of it being holistic, as it takes into account biological, social and psychological factors when trying to explain criminal behaviour
- One weakness of this, however, is the assumption that traits are fixed and stable in all circumstances and this has shown not to be the case, as people are thought to change their behaviour dependent upon the circumstances in which they find themselves. This is why, it is argued, people in poverty are more likely to commit crimes than those who are not
- Much of the evidence which comes from this theory is based on findings from questionnaires. Evidence from these can be flawed as people can exaggerate, give socially desirable responses or simply lie when completing them, meaning that findings may not be reliable
