Eysenck's theory

General personality theory

• Eysenck proposed that beh could be represented along two dimensions: introversion/extraversion and neuroticism/stability
• Later added psychoticism

Biological basis

• According to Eysenck, our presonality traits are biological in origin and come about through the type of nervous system we inherit
• Thus, all personality types have an innate, biological basis
• Extraverts have an underactive nervous system which means they constantly seek excitement, stimulation and are likely to engage in risk-taking beh 
• Also tend not to condition easily and do not learn from their mistakes
• Neurotic individuals tend to be nervous, jumpy and over-anxious, their general instability means their beh is often difficult to predict

The criminal personality

• Neurotic-extravert, a combination of all the charcteristics and behs described above 
• Eysenck also suggested that the typical offender will also score highly on measures of psychoticism-cold, unemotional and prone to aggression

The role of socialisation

• In Eysenck's theory, personality is linked to crim beh via socialisation processes
• Eysenck saw crim beh as developmentally immature in that it is selfish and concerned with immediate gratification
• Believed that people with high E and N scores had nervous systems…