Extroversion, Neuroticism, and Self-Reported Delinquent Involvement

Abstract

Eysenck's theory—which predicts that those engaging in illegal behaviors are more extroverted and neurotic than nonoffenders- was tested on a male high school sample which responded to questionnaires measuring extroversion, neuroticism, and and self- reported illegal behaviors. It was found that Eysenck's predictions regarding a direct, linear relationship between extroversion and involvement in illegal behavior was generally supported; however, there was little support for a similar relationship between neuroti cism and involvement in illegal behavior which his theory also pre dicts. The relationship between neuroticism and involvement in illegal behavior was found to be curvilinear but weak. Discrepan cies between present and past results are discussed in terms of the nature of the subjects and the analytic approaches used.