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Eysenck's Theory of Criminality: A Test of Some Objections to Disconfirmatory Evidence
Author(s) -
BURGESS P. K.
Publication year - 1972
Publication title -
british journal of social and clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.479
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8260
pISSN - 0007-1293
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1972.tb00810.x
Subject(s) - neuroticism , extraversion and introversion , psychology , eysenck personality questionnaire , test (biology) , social psychology , clinical psychology , personality , big five personality traits , paleontology , biology
Eysenck has advanced a number of objections to empirical studies which have failed to find support for his theory of criminality. An attempt was made to test the validity of two such objections, by choosing samples of prisoners unlikely to have become ‘institutionalized’, and by selecting a control group equivalent in terms of neuroticism. Eysenck's hypothesis that the prisoners would exhibit higher mean extraversion scores was not confirmed, and doubts are cast on the suggestion that normal subjects with high neuroticism scores exhibit a correlation between extraversion and neuroticism. Theoretical objections to Eysenck's correlation arguments are advanced, and it is concluded that such arguments cannot be used to invalidate the studies failing to support Eysenck's theory.