Perception of relative size of authority figures and subjects figure by sociopaths and normals.

Abstract

Both the etiology and description of sociopathy are conceptual problems that have plagued the research on this phenomenon. One reason for this, as Barocas (1970) indicates, is that a specific group of behaviors that constitutes sociopathy has yet to be pinned down. The present study investigated the perception of human size as one behavior that n~ay have significance for the description of sociopathy. Perception of human size has been shown to be a good indicator of certain pathological conditions in several studies (Beller & Turner, 1964; Hamersma & Papson, 1973; Zahn, 1959). In the present study, a group of adolescent sociopaths constituted the experimental group and a group of normal adolescent Ss constituted the control group. Classification of Ss into the sociopathic category was done on the basis of clinical interviews and psychometric testing. The control group was randomly selecred from a high school and then the selected Ss were checked for possible pathology. The method used to test the perception of both groups was to have both groups adjust slides on a screen containing pictures of: S himself, a male authority figure, and a female authority figure. Ss adjusted the figure's size on a screen from both an ascending and descending position. Data were collected in five separate phases. In Phase 1, both groups adjusted their own pictures on the screen. In Phase 2, both groups adjusted the size of the male authority figure. In Phase 3, both groups adjusted the size of the female authoriry figure. In Phases 4 and 5, both groups had to adjust their own size in relation to the male and female figures which were projected on the screen. Means were computed for the five phases of the study and a t test was conducted for each phase. Two phases, where S compared himself with the male and female authority figure, were significant (p < .05); sociopaths overestimated themselves more than the normals. In Phase 4, where both groups adjusted self figures to a male authority figure the sociopaths overestimated themselves more than the normals (t = 2.45, df = 27, 0 = .05), and in Phase 5 where both groups adjusted rhemselves in relation to a female authority figure the sociopaths again overestimated their size (t = 2.33, df = 27, p = .05). These results indicate that there is a significant difference in the way sociopaths and normals perceive themselves in relation to male and female authority figures presented in this study.