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Eysenck's Theory of Criminality Applied to Women Awaiting Trial

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Leonard I. Barack  and
Cathy Spatz Widom
Leonard I. Barack
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Department of Psychology and Social Relations, William James Hall, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, U.S.A.
Cathy Spatz Widom
Affiliation:
Harvard University, Department of Psychology and Social Relations, William James Hall, 33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, U.S.A.
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Summary

American women awaiting trial were administered the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Compared to a heterogeneous control group, these women scored significantly higher on the neuroticism and psychoticism scales and on Burgess's ‘hedonism’ variable, though they did not differ with respect to extraversion or lie scale scores. Women awaiting trial were more likely to fall in the neurotic-extravert quadrant (a trend more marked for non-white women). In general, the results support Eysenck's theory of criminality and the usefulness of Burgess's ‘hedonism’ variable.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 133 , Issue 5 , November 1978 , pp. 452 - 456
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1978 

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