The role of gender expectations, stereotypes, and self-identification in rating psychopathy using the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP)

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the role of gender expectations, stereotypes, and self-identification when rating psychopathy using the 33-item Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP). Firstly, we established how laypersons conceptualize psychopathy at a general level using gender prototypicality ratings with a sample of 1054 participants. As expected, most of the CAPP items and domains were rated significantly more prototypical of male than female psychopathy. Secondly, the potential for gender bias was explored by examining if rater characteristics or differences in client presentation influenced symptom severity ratings. A sample of 596 participants was randomly assigned to one of six conditions where they read a brief vignette and completed symptom severity ratings. Two one-way MANCOVAs were performed; no main effects or interaction effects were significant after controlling for the effects of the covariates. Each vignette was rated similarly, suggesting that client presentation does not influence symptom ratings for psychopathy. Therefore, laypersons consider the symptoms of psychopathy to be more prototypical of males, but these gender expectations did not translate into bias when rating symptom severity. Self-identification as belonging to an underrepresented racial group and a greater acceptance of male gender role stereotypes were found to influence symptom ratings.