Why punishment fails to deter people with these personality traits.
Being impatient and able to tolerate risk are personality traits that are strongly linked to criminal behaviour, a study finds.
However, it is being able to tolerate risk easily that is one of the strongest personality predictors of crime.
People who are risk tolerant tend to be less worried about being caught and punished.
Other studies have frequently linked a lack of self-control, personality disorders, psychopathy and childhood physical or psychological abuse with criminal behaviour.
Professor Claus Thustrup Kreiner, study co-author, said:
“The propensity to commit crime is twice as high for the most risk-tolerant individuals compared to the least risk-tolerant.”
Along with these personality traits, people low in cognitive skills are also more likely to commit a crime.
This may be at least partly because people with low intelligence tend to be restricted to very low-paid jobs in many countries.
Taking risks linked to property crime
The conclusions come from a study of over 7,000 young Danish men who were given a variety of tests that were cross-referenced with information about their socioeconomic conditions and any criminal record.
Professor Kreiner said:
“We have chosen to focus on crime among young men aged 15-20 because it is a group where a lot of crime is committed compared with other men and women in general.”
The results showed that different traits predicted different crimes, said Professor Kreiner:
“If we look at different types of crime, willingness to take risks is particularly relevant when it comes to predicting property offenses, such as theft.
If we are talking about violent, drug or sexual offences, problems with self-control are common among the individuals.”
Why punishment fails to deter crime
The irony of the study is that it shows that the kinds of people who are most likely to commit crimes are also the least likely to be worried about being caught or going to prison.
The criminal justice system supposedly relies partly on its deterrent effect, which is much weaker for the typical criminal.
Professor Kreiner said:
“Our study may be able to help explain why there is limited empirical evidence that increasing punishment works to reduce crime.”
Crime prevention should focus on changing these traits, Professor Kreiner said:
“Our study clearly shows that preferences such as risk tolerance, impatience and altruism predict the propensity to commit crime.
Other research suggests that it is possible to influence these behavioral parameters in children and young people, which can be very important in relation to the development of criminal behavior.”
The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Epper et al., 2022).
