Crime, Personality And Intelligence: How Are They Related?
Psychological research has tried to determine the relationships between crime and psychological variables mainly through correlational methods, which pose difficulties in establishing causality because the different possible effects frequently overlap.
In this article we will analyze theoretical proposals and empirical studies regarding the relationship of crime with personality and intelligence However, as we will see, psychosocial and economic factors seem to have a relatively greater weight in the appearance of antisocial behavior.
Various authors have related personality traits to crime. It should be noted Eysenck’s theory of criminal personality according to which criminal behavior is due to failures in the acquisition of moral conscience.
This would develop through conditioning to avoid punishment and anxiety associated with antisocial behavior.
1. Extraversion
According to Hans Eysenck, extraverted people have a low level of cortical activation, which leads them to constantly seek stimulation; This can be associated with certain criminal behaviors, such as substance use, which in turn promotes antisocial behavior.
Likewise, this author’s research reveals that Extraverts have more difficulty conditioning stimuli and responses Therefore, in these cases the deficits in the conditioning of moral behavior could be explained in part from a biological perspective.
2. Neuroticism
Eysenck theorized that emotionally unstable people also have conditioning difficulties, as they react intensely and long-lasting to stressful stimuli. Thus, they probably detect to a lesser extent the difference between their normal physiological reactions and those due to aversive conditioning.
The trait that Eysenck labeled “psychoticism” includes hostile and aggressive behaviors at an interpersonal level so it is not surprising that people with high scores in this temperamental dimension more frequently commit criminal behaviors, which also tend to be more violent and repetitive.
Like extraversion, psychoticism is related to the need for continuous stimulation. Zuckerman proposed that impulsivity and sensation seeking are more relevant, two characteristics that Eysenck includes within this macrotrait.
4. Impulsiveness and low self-control
People with self-control deficits have trouble delaying gratification, that is, to resist the temptation to obtain reinforcement in exchange for obtaining a different one later. It has been found that juvenile delinquents tend to be impulsive, which may be due to deficits in learning reflective behavior (thinking before acting).
5. Search for sensations
Zuckerman drew attention to this personality trait and popularized its use in different fields. Sensation seeking, which is associated with extraversion and psychoticism, is defined as the active predisposition to experience emotions and stimuli new even if they involve taking risks.
6. Low empathy
Empathy is the ability to understand and identify with the emotions and cognitive content of other people. The lack of discrimination of the mental states of others facilitates the commission of crimes that harm others; The lower the degree of empathy, the less emotional relevance the victim’s suffering has for the person.
How does intelligence influence crime?
In the past authors such as Lombroso and Goring stated that criminal behavior was basically due to cognitive deficits Furthermore, according to the theory of degeneration, “moral weakness” was transmitted and intensified from generation to generation, which in turn explained social classes. Fortunately, these hypotheses have been largely abandoned.
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), the correlation between crime and IQ is significant but low, approximately -0.2. This indicates that, on average, people who commit crimes are slightly less intelligent than those who do not commit them – or those who commit them and are not caught.
Specifically, it has been found that there is a particularly large number of people who have committed crimes in the range of between 80 and 90 IQ points, which corresponds to borderline intelligence, that is, below average but without reaching disability. intellectual.
However, in these cases the intelligence scores They tend to be lower in verbal IQ than in manipulative IQ, which tends to be normal. More specifically, verbal, visual-spatial and visual-motor deficits frequently occur; It has been suggested that these results actually indicate mild cognitive deficits due to socioeconomic variables.
Personal history and socioeconomic factors
Despite the human tendency to give unicausal and internalist explanations for behavior, the truth is that social and economic conditions are more relevant in the appearance of criminal behavior. Even so, we must not underestimate the weight of temperamental and cognitive factors.
Early personal history is key to explaining delinquency. Children of parents who abuse them neglect their responsibilities, do not develop a secure attachment or consume alcohol and drugs are more likely to consolidate antisocial behavior patterns. The same thing happens with conflictive families and families with many children.
Furthermore, as is obvious, young people born into neglectful families or disadvantaged environments have fewer opportunities to adjust satisfactorily to society (eg find a decent job) and redirect their maladaptive behavior patterns. Negative modeling by significant others also influences this.
Some psychosocial factors particularly relevant in crime are unemployment and learning difficulties, especially those related to reading. Children with delays in cognitive development and academic problems are more likely to end up having a low IQ and commit crimes.
