The relationship between crime, personality and intelligence

Psychological research has tried to determine the relationships between delinquency and psychological variables mainly through correlational methods, which make it difficult to establish causality because the different possible effects overlap with frequency.

In this article we will analyze theoretical proposals and empirical studies about the relationship of delinquency 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.

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Relationship between crime and personality

Various authors have related personality traits to delinquency. worth noting Eysenck's criminal personality theory, according to which criminal behavior is due to failures in the acquisition of moral conscience.

This would develop by conditioning the avoidance of punishment and anxiety associated with antisocial behavior.

1. extraversion

According to hans eysenck, the extraverted people they have a low level of cortical activation, which leads them to constantly seek stimulation; this can be associated with certain criminal behaviours, such as substance use, which in turn favors antisocial behaviour.

Likewise, the investigations of this author reveal that extraverts have more difficulty conditioning stimuli and responses. Therefore, in these cases, the deficits in the conditioning of moral behavior could be partly explained from a biologist perspective.

2. neuroticism

Eysenck theorized that emotionally unstable people also have conditioning difficulties, as they react intensely and lastingly to stressful stimuli. Thus, they probably detect less of the difference between their normal physiological reactions and those due to aversive conditioning.

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3. psychoticism

The trait that Eysenck labeled “psychoticism” picks up hostile and aggressive behaviors on an interpersonal level, so it is not surprising that people with high scores on this dimension temperamental commit criminal behaviors more frequently, 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 encompasses 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 a reinforcement in exchange for obtaining a different one later. Juvenile delinquents have been found to tend to be impulsive, which may be due to deficits in learning reflective behavior (thinking before acting).

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5. sensation seeking

Zuckerman drew attention to this personality trait and popularized its use in various fields. Sensation seeking, which is associated with extraversion and psychoticism, is defined as the active predisposition to experience emotions and stimulinew, 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 other people's mental states facilitates the commission of crimes that harm others; the lower the degree of empathy, the less emotional relevance the suffering of the victim has for the person.

How does intelligence influence crime?

In the past authors such as Lombroso and Goring affirmed that criminal behavior was basically due to cognitive deficits. In addition, according to the theory of degeneracy, "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 rather than those who commit crimes 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 are usually lower in verbal IQ than in manipulative, which tends to be normal. More specifically, verbal, visuospatial, and visuomotor deficits occur frequently; it has been suggested that these results actually indicate mild cognitive deficits due to socioeconomic variables

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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 behavior criminal. Even so, the weight of temperamental and cognitive factors should not be underestimated.

Early personal history is key to explaining delinquency. The children of parents who mistreat 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 happens with troubled families and with many children.

Also, as is obvious, young people born into neglectful families or disadvantaged backgrounds have fewer opportunities to adjust successfully to society (p. and. find a decent job) and redirect their maladaptive behavior patterns. This is also influenced by negative modeling by significant others.

Some particularly relevant psychosocial factors in delinquency are unemployment and learning difficultiesespecially those related to reading. Children with cognitive development delays and academic problems are more likely to end up with low IQs and commit crimes.

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