PERSONALITY TRAITS AS PREDICTOR OF CRIME

Rom J Leg Med [29] 227-231 [2021]
DOI: 10.4323/rjlm.2021.227
© 2021 Romanian Society of Legal Medicine
FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY
PERSONALITY TRAITS AS PREDICTOR OF CRIME
Cristian Delcea 1 , Alexandra Enache 2,*
1
“Iuliu Hațieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca, 2 “Victor Babes” University of Medicine
and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania
Abstract: Researches and practitioners have long tried to identify potential predictors of crime. In this study,
psychoticism, extraversion, neuroticism, trait criminality and addiction are investigated as predictors of crime. Using a sample
of 492 adults (half in penitentiary, half not), with a mean age of 34 years, this study found that trait criminality and addiction
are linked to a higher probability of having committed a crime. However, no effect is found for psychoticism, extraversion,
neuroticism and having committed a crime. Future research is needed to replicate these findings and assess the link between
personality and specific types of crimes.
Keywords: psychopathological personality traits, crime, personality.
INTRODUCTION
Efforts have been made to identify the
personality traits that favor “criminal behaviour”
(Eriksson et al., 2017; Krueger et al., 1994). The
Eysenck three-factor model of personality, a grounding
theory of antisocial behaviour, describes vulnerability
to committing crime through three personality
dimensions: (1) psychoticism, describing individuals
as aggressive, selfish, and impulsive, (2) neuroticism
describing a maladaptive self, chronic fear, and a
tendency towards mood swings, and (3) extroversion
describing a tendency to seek out new and intense
sensations and show dominance in social relationships.
High levels of these traits are usually found in individuals
with a history of incarceration, repetitive criminal fines,
and penalties for delinquency.
Empirical research supports the association
between personality traits and delinquent behavior.
Higher participation in delinquent behaviours
was associated with a personality configuration
characterized by mood disorders, dysfunctional
negative emotions, and difficulties with controlling
impulses (Caspi et al., 2006). For example, Longato-
Stadler et al., (2002) referred to Cauffman’s studies
(Cauffman et al., 2016) on psychopathological
personality traits, who conducted a study of 130 male
detainees in Swedish prisons convicted of serious crime.
They found high scores on the Karolinska Personality
Scales (used to asses personality) for impulsivity,
hostility and aggression, sensation seeking, tension
and nervous stress, and cognitive-social anxiety. The
authors found low scores on the socialization scale,
which reflects a high degree of personality traits related
to psychopathy. Similarly, more recent studies showed
that lower levels of emotionality (i.e., neuroticism)
and lower agreeableness are associated with criminal
behavior (Međedović, 2017; O’Riordan, & O’Connell,
2014). Further, research also links addiction (e.g., use
of psychoactive substances, alcohol, gambling) to crime
and delinquent behavior (Brochu et al., 2001; Jennings
et al., 2015; Lind et al., 2015). As shown by Fehrman
et al., (2019) on 1885 respondents (drug users), certain
personality traits (i.e., impulsivity and sensations
seeking) are also stronger in substance abusers
compared to non-consumers. Finally, trait criminality,
describing a tendency to ignore the desires and rights
of others is also considered to be linked with crime and
recidivism (Pitariu et al., 2008)
This paper aims to assess the association of
personality traits and crime. It will build and extend
on previous research by evaluating not only the three
*Correspondence to: Enache Alexandra, MD, PhD, “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, Romania, E-mail:
esanda2000@yahoo.com
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C. Delcea and A. Enache
personality dimensions described by Eysenck, but also
two other important psychopathological characteristics:
addiction and criminality. Further, a large sample is
used, including both participants convicted for crime,
and participants that did not commit crime (as selfreported).
Given past research and Eysenck three-factor
model of personality, it is expected that: Psychoticism,
extraversion, neuroticism, criminality and addiction
will emerge as predictors of crime, such that high scores
on these personality dimensions will be associated with
a higher probability of having committed crime.
METHODS
Sample and Procedure
For this study, a convenience sample was
used. Data collection took place in 2018, between the
month of March to December. An initial group of 400
of detainees from Romanian penitentiary were asked
to participate in research requiring the completion of
a set of questionnaires. To be eligible to participate,
they had to be aged 18 or older, to have committed
the crime of aggravated murder and to have followed
at least eight years of education. Additionally, a
number of 399 adults (older than 18 years of age),
were approached to also complete the questionnaires.
They were workers, students in professional schools
and university students. They did not have a history of
murder or other associated crimes (as self-reported).
An equal proportion of males to females was desired in
both groups (participants recruited from penitentiary
and from universities). The inclusion and exclusion
criteria lead to a total number of 492 participants
included in the analysis (50% males, Mage = 34.14;
SDage=10.66; Meducation=11.28; SDeducation =2.01).
From these, 246 adults have committed crime, and 246
had no history of crime. Compared to those outside
penitentiary, participants that have committed crime
were older t (488.88) = -6.936, p < .001, d = .62 (30.95
vs 37.32 years), and less educated t(478.44) = 3.910, p <
.001, d = .35 (11.63 vs. 10.93).
Eligible participants for this study signed
a consent form for their participation in the study.
The recruitment procedure was according to the
standards imposed by Romanian law: The National
Agency of Penitentiaries of Romania (ANP) approved
conducting research in the institutions. Throughout the
completion of The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-
Revised-EPQ-R for the assessment of personality traits,
respondents received the support and information
necessary for the proper conduct of the assessment. A
pen-and pencil form of the EPQ-R was used. The raw
results were entered manually in the software program of
each EPQ-R questionnaire, and after the computerized
interpretation and profiling, from the software program
of the test, the T scores were evaluated. The scores were
than introduces in the SPSS database.
MEASURES
Personality
The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-
Revised-EPQ-R (Eysenck S. B. G., Eysenck H. J.,
1991), revised version and adapted on the Romanian
population was used (Pitariu et al., 2008). The scale
measures the following psychopathological dimensions
of personality: psychoticism, neuroticism, extroversion,
lie, addiction and criminality. The EPQ-R questionnaire
is used in the psychiatric and forensic clinics as well
as in penitentiaries. The EPQ-R questionnaire has
106 items and takes around 30 minutes to complete.
The psychological profiles resulted from the test
can be interpreted through the different personality
dimensions, ranging from high to low scores.
ANALYSIS
To test the hypotheses, the program IBM SPSS
Statistics for Windows, version 25 was used (IBM,
2017). Prior to running the analysis, all scores were
standardized. Descriptive statistics were run to get an
overview of the data, providing the overall mean scores,
standard deviations, and Pearson correlations between
the variables. Logistic regression was performed to
predict the crime. Six models were run to test the
effect of each trait independently on crime, while
controlling for age, gender, and education (the sixth
model contained only the demographic variables as
predictors, introduced simultaneously). Note that the
both B-coefficients (B) and odds ratios (Exp(B)) were
reported, to ease interpretation of the predictors in the
models.
RESULTS
Table 1 shows descriptive statistics for all
variables. Significant, moderate positive associations
were found between psychoticism and neuroticism
(r = .41, p < .01), meaning that in this sample,
individuals higher on neuroticism also scored higher
on psychoticism). Moderate associations were found
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Personality traits as predictor of crime
between psychoticism and trait criminality (r = .46,
p < .01) and between psychoticism and addiction (r
= .56, p < .01). A small positive association (r = .12,
p < .01) was observed between extraversion and
criminality. Large significant associations were found
between neuroticism and addiction (r = .71, p < .01)
and neuroticism and criminality, r = .70, p < .01 (those
higher on neuroticism scored higher on addiction and
criminality). A small negative association (r = -.11, p
< .01) was found between education and criminality
(those less educated scored higher on trait criminality).
With respect to the variables of main interest for
this study, a negative small association was observed
between having committed a crime and education
(r = -.17, p < .01), such that those less educated were
also those more likely to report a crime. Small positive
association emerged between addiction and crime (r =
.15, p < .01) and between trait criminality and crime (r
= .12, p < .01), meaning that higher scores on addiction
and criminality were associated with crime.
As can be seen from Table 2, controlling for the
other demographic predictors (age, gender, education)
had a significant effect on crime, such that the lower the
education the higher the probability to have committed
crime (B = -.18, Exp(B) = .83, 2 (1) = 14.28 (Wald
Test), p < .001, CI95 = .75; .91). Age had also an effect
on crime, such that in this sample, the higher the age,
the higher the probability of committed crime (B =
.064, Exp(B) = 1.07, 2 (1) = 40.83 (Wald Test), p < .001,
CI95 = 1.05; 1.09).
With respect to personality traits, controlling for
education, gender and age, psychoticism, extraversion,
neuroticism and lie did not predict crime. Controlling
for gender, age and education, addiction had a positive
effect on crime (B = .03, Exp(B) = 1.03, 2 (1) = 9.86
(Wald Test), p = .002, CI95 = 1.01; 1.05). This means
that the larger the score on addiction, the larger the
predicted probability that a person committed a crime
(or, for every one unit increase in addiction, the odds
of crime increase with 1.03). Trait criminality has also a
significant effect on crime, meaning that the larger the
addiction score, the larger the predicted probability that
a person committed a crime (B = .015; Exp(B) = 1.02,
2 (1) = 6.01 (Wald Test), p = .014, CI95 = 1.00; 1.03). In
other words, for every one unit increase in criminality,
the odds of having committed crime increase with 1.02.
DISCUSSION
The aim of this study was to investigate the
predictive effect of personality on crime. It was found
that addiction and trait criminality were linked to a
Table 1. Descriptive statistics for variables of the study
Variable M SD Age Educ. P E N L A C
Age 34.14 10.66
Educ. 11.28 2.01 -.02
P 51.33 9.87 .01 .06
E 51.47 8.91 -.06 -.01 .05
N 51.92 9.70 .03 -.04 .41** .07
L 57.58 11.52 .02 -.04 -.04 .03 -.08
A 49.26 11.73 .04 -.04 .56** -.04 .71** -.22**
C 56.54 15.76 .01 -.11* .46** .12** .70** .06 .73**
Crime - - .30** -.17** .06 -.04 .07 -.04 .15** .12**
* Corresponds to p

C. Delcea and A. Enache
higher probability to have committed crime, which is
in line with my hypothesis. However, no effect of trait
psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism on crime
was found.
An association between addiction and crime
was previously found, with different types of addictive
behaviors being linked to criminal behavior (use of
psychoactive substances, alcohol, gambling; Brochu et
al., 2001; Jennings et al., 2015; Lind et al., 2015). Further,
the association between trait criminality and having
committed a crime is to be expected, as those higher in
this trait have a tendency to ignore the desires of others,
while also showing symptoms of emotional instability
(Pitariu et al., 2008). However, the non-finding for
the PEN traits on crime is surprising given some past
literature (Boduszek et al., 2013; Bourke et al., 2013; Van
Dam et al., 2005). For example, Van Dam et al., (2005)
have linked psychoticism and extraversion to juvenile
delinquency or recidivism. Psychoticism in the direction
proposed by PEN model of Eysenck (high scores on
psychoticism linked to delinquency) and extraversion in
the opposite direction, with the offender’s group being
lower on the trait than the comparison group composed
of students. Interestingly, when linking personality traits
with recidivism, they found different results for official
reports (police reports) and self-reports of recidivism. It
could thus be that different finding for the association
between personality and delinquency result depending
on how the latter was assessed: self-report or objective
assement. Following the similar line of thought, different
findings could result on incarcerated versus nonincarcerated
samples, or on specific subtype of offenders.
A similar conclusion was drawn by Bourke et al., (2013),
who also failed to find support for Eysenck’s theory (Popa-
Nedelcu R., Delcea C., Siserman C., Carmen Domnariu
D. C., 2020). More studies are thus needed to test
Eysenck`s propositions, and also assess the personality
– crime link, an association of high importance for
clinicians and practitioners (i.e., personality change;
Leal, 2017).
Some limitations of this research need to be
taken in account when considering these results. First,
even if the present sample was balanced in terms of
sex (50% female, 50% male), participants recruited
from universities had followed more years of education
compared to those in penitentiary (Siserman C.,
Giredea C., Delcea C., 2020). However, the difference
was small (with a small effect size, as defined by
Cohen`s d; Cohen, 1988), with those in penitentiary
having followed on average 10.39 years of education
while those recruited outside penitentiary 11.63 years
(Siserman C., Delcea C., Vladi Matei H., Vică L. M.,
2019). It is therefore improbable that this would affect
the present results. Second, this study did not distinguish
between the types of crime committed. Future research
is thus need to distinguish a possible differential impact
of personality on specific types of crime.
In conclusion, using a large sample of adults
older than 18, the current study does not find support
for Eysenck`s PEN model. However, this paper finds an
association between trait criminality and addiction on
one hand, and having committed crime on the other.
More research is needed to replicate these findings.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of
interest.
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