Moral emotions in predatory and impulsive offenders using implicit measures

Abstract

To date, no study has systematically investigated moral emotions in impulsive versus predatory psychopathy. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate whether these two subtypes of psychopathy differed in their sense of moral emotions. In the current study, 55 prison inmates completed two implicit computer tasks: one task measuring the association between moral cognitions of good and bad, while the other measured attentional biases regarding moral emotions of guilt and regret. Additionally, two questionnaires were administered, measuring psychopathy, and predatory and impulsive aggression. Results show that the predatory dimension best predicted a lack of moral cognitions of good and bad, while the general construct of psychopathy predicted a lack of guilt. The impulsive dimension was not specifically correlated with any of our measurements on moral cognitions. By investigating moral emotions and attentional biases in predatory and impulsive offenders, this study contributes to a better differentiation between diverse variations of psychopathy. Implications of the current findings in relation to treatment are discussed. (Netherlands Journal of Psychology, 63, 144-155.)