Social and emotional intelligence moderate the relationship between psychopathy traits and social perception

Abstract

This research explored how psychopathy relates to individuals' ability to discriminate trustworthy and untrustworthy faces and faces displaying Duchenne versus non-Duchenne smiles. Participants (N=150) categorized faces as trustworthy or untrustworthy in Study 1. Participants (N=151) categorized faces as displaying Duchenne or non-Duchenne smiles in Study 2. Participants in both studies then completed measures of psychopathy, emotional intelligence, and social intelligence. In Study 1, higher levels of secondary psychopathy were associated with reduced trustworthiness detection for individuals lower in emotional intelligence. Both primary and secondary psychopathy were associated with reduced trustworthiness detection for individuals lower in social intelligence. In Study 2, higher levels of primary psychopathy were associated with reduced accuracy at discriminating Duchenne from non-Duchenne smiles for individuals lower in emotional and social intelligence. Independent of social and emotional intelligence, higher levels of secondary psychopathy were associated with reduced accuracy in discriminating trustworthy from untrustworthy faces and Duchenne from non-Duchenne smiles; primary psychopathy was unrelated to trustworthiness and smile discrimination accuracy. These studies suggest that the relationship between psychopathy and accurate identification of trustworthiness and affiliation cues in faces is influenced by the dimension of psychopathy and levels of emotional and social intelligence, respectively. Implications of these findings are discussed.