Eysenck’s model is one of the most important works in personality psychology. As we explore his model, we realize that the psychologist offers a broad view of the elements that define this concept.
Crime was (and is) one of the greatest unknowns that human beings have ever tried to explain, in some situations successfully, but in others without very correct results, in this sense one of the relationships in which we have deepened is that of personality. ; therefore, we will focus on explaining Eysenck’s model of criminal personality.
- Most of the personality theories that have been created originate from Greek thought.
- One of the most important approaches since then has been that of Hippocrates.
- Whose theory of temperament was developed from that articulated by Empédocle.
He believed that everything in nature consisted of four elements: air, earth, fire and water. Subsequently, Hippocrates linked these elements to bodily fluids; at the same time, they had a certain characteristic that defined a specific temperament based on the predominance of each case.
The importance given to Eysenck’s model is based on the characteristics that define it: layoutal, hierarchical, dimensional and psychobiological, all of which, in the end, will be linked to each other.
The model proposed by Eysenck is considered dispositional, since the? Psychological trait? occupies a central place in the development of your study. In this sense, a trait or disposition would be the tendency that we have to behave in a stable way in similar situations.
That is, there would be a certain inertia in us, created by our personal variables, to always outsource the same behavior to similar stimuli, so a relationship between behavior and situation will be created.
Eysenck’s model pyramidally establishes the structure that follows the construction of personality. This will start with the most specific steps until you reach the largest and most general step:
In Eysenck’s model there are three fundamental dimensions: extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism, which combine to form a particular type of personality, these three elements form a three-dimensional space, in which people are distributed according to the degree of each dimension has their personality.
With this, personality would be the result of the combination of these three dimensions; at the same time, each of them, separately, is on a two-dimensional plane, which means there will be an opposite.
For each dimension, there is a specific physiological and hormonal structure that links its activities according to the dimension to which it is associated.
To explain the criminal personality through this model it is necessary to take into account the concept of “crime”, which implies extreme behavior, as well as a lack of empathy for the material and personal possessions of others. Therefore, according to Eysenck model, the criminal personality would have the following combination:
Regardless of the other theories that may have arisen later, Eysenck’s work, adapted to the world of crime, was a real step forward in trying to explain why crime from a more psychological point of view in relation to personality.