NCJ Number
46978
Journal
Psychological Reports Volume: 40 Dated: SPECIAL ISSUE (JUNE 1977) Pages: 1023-1028
Date Published
1977
Length
6 pages
Annotation
TO EXAMINE PERSONALITY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PRISONERS AND CONTROLS, A BY-AGE COMPARISON OF SCORES ON THE EYSENCK PERSONALITY QUESTIONNAIRE (EPQ) FOR 2,070 MALE BRITISH INMATES AND 2,442 MALE CONTROLS WAS UNDERTAKEN.
Abstract
IT WAS HYPOTHESIZED THAT PRISONERS WOULD SHOW ELEVATED SCORES ON EXTRAVERSION (E), NEUROTICISM (N), AND PSYCHOTICISM (P) SCALES OF THE EPQ. A TABLE OF MEANS AND STANDARD DEVIATIONS FOR PRISONERS AND CONTROLS GROUPED BY AGE RANGING FROM 16 TO 69 YEARS OLD FOR E, P, AND N IS PRESENTED. IT IS CLEAR THAT PRISONERS SCORE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN ALL AGE GROUPS ON P AND N. FOR E, SCORE DIFFERENCES ARE INSIGNIFICANT PRIOR TO 30 TO 39 YEARS OF AGE, WHEN THEY ARE IN THE PREDICTED DIRECTION. IN ADDITION, ALL THREE SCORES DECLINE WITH INCREASING AGE FOR BOTH PRISONERS AND CONTROLS. AN ANALYSIS OF LIE (L) SCALE SCORES FOR BOTH GROUPS INDICATES THAT PRISONERS UP TO AGE 30 HAVE HIGHER L SCORES THAN CONTROLS, WHILE AT HIGHER AGE LEVELS THE POSITIONS ARE REVERSED. OVERALL, PRISONERS HAVE SLIGHTLY LOWER L SCORES THAN CONTROLS. THESE DATA SUGGEST THERE IS LITTLE DIFFERENCE IN DISSIMULATION BETWEEN THE TWO GROUPS. FURTHER, CORRELATIONS BETWEEN L SCORES AND E, P, AND N SCORES FOR BOTH GROUPS ARE RELATIVELY LOW SUGGESTING THAT NEITHER GROUP WAS FAKING RESPONSES. ACCORDING TO PERSONALITY THEORY, PSYCHOTICISM, NEUROTICISM, AND EXTRAVERSION ARE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES; CONSEQUENTLY, THEIR EFFECTS COMBINED SHOULD PRODUCE A BETTER PREDICTION OF CRIMINALITY OR SOCIAL DEVIANCE. ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT 22 PERCENT OF THE PRISONERS SCORED HIGH ON ALL THREE SCALES AS COMPARED TO 15 PERCENT OF THE CONTROLS AND 5 PERCENT OF THE PRISONERS SCORED LOW ON ALL THREE SCALES AS COMPARED TO 13 PERCENT OF THE CONTROLS. WHILE THESE DIFFERENCES ARE AGAIN IN THE HYPOTHESIZED DIRECTION, THEY HAVE NO PREDICTIVE CAPABILITY. REFERENCES, GRAPHS, AND TABLES ARE INCLUDED. (JAP)