Psychopathic Personality Features Research Articles

THE MODERATING EFFECTS OF VIOLENT GAMING UPON PSYCHOPATHIC PERSONALITY AND BULLYING BEHAVIOR IN PROBLEMATIC SMARTPHONE USERS

A psychopathic personality is a pattern of traits linked to impulsivity, lack of empathy & propensity to indulge in criminal behavior. It is significantly associated with bullying behavior, especially among problematic smart users. Present study explored the role of violent games on psychopathic personality and bullying behavior. Using the purposive sample approach, data was gathered from 801 young smartphone users. The results indicated a high association between psychopathic personality characteristics and bullying behavior. The results of study provide important information in reaching the conclusion and making suitable decisions about phenomena under considerations. In this regard, the findings of moderation analysis revealed that association between psychopathic personality and bullying has become strongest with violent video games. The findings would also assist psychologists in forming support groups and educational campaigns that facilitate young adults about the negative impacts of violent games and excessive smart phone use on mental health and thus study provides clues for future research.

Predicting Antisocial Personality Features among Justice-Involved Males and Females: The Effects of Violence Exposure in Childhood and Adolescence

The high rate of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) among individuals involved in the justice system represents a significant public health concern, as individuals with ASPD are more likely to reoffend after incarceration and to engage in longer-term offending behavior patterns over the lifespan. Research suggests that traumatic event exposure in childhood and adolescence may be one factor that contributes to the heightened risk for ASPD in adulthood, though findings are mixed depending on the operationalization of trauma exposure and demographics of study samples. The present study examined the impact of early and varied exposure to violence on the development of ASPD features in young adulthood. In addition, given evidence for gender differences in how youth respond to trauma, as well as disparate prevalence rates of ASPD among males and females, a secondary aim was to assess the impact of gender on the relationship between early trauma and antisocial personality outcomes. The study sample consisted of 1354 adolescents (86% male) who participated in a longitudinal research study of serious juvenile offenders. A series of linear regression analyses revealed that the magnitude of violence exposure participants endorsed at baseline significantly predicted antisocial personality features at six-year follow-up. Participants’ gender was not found to moderate the relationship between violence exposure and antisocial outcomes. Results suggest that targeting maladaptive cognitions and behaviors resulting from chronic exposure to early trauma may be a crucial component of treatment for justice-involved individuals exhibiting ASPD features.

Why Is Maternal Control Harmful? The Relation between Maternal Control, Insecure Attachment and Antisocial Personality Disorder Features in Chinese College Students: A Sequential Mediation Model.

Background: Previous work has indicated that a negative parenting style is associated with antisocial personality disorder features in Chinese college students, yet few studies have explored the unique role of negative mothering in children’s antisocial personality disorder. Methods: The current study mainly examined the sequential mediation effect of parental antipathy and neglect (PAN) and mother negative loving (a form of insecure attachment) in the association between mother control and adulthood antisocial personality disorder features (ASPD features) in the framework of attachment theory and cognitive–behavioral theory. A community sample of 1547 Chinese college students filled in the Parental Bonding Instrument, the Childhood Experience of Care and Abuse Questionnaire, the Adult Attachment Questionnaire and the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4+. Results: A sequential mediation model analysis showed that maternal control significantly predicted PAN, mother negative loving, as well as ASPD features. Conclusions: Mother control and mother negative loving appear to advance on the development and exacerbation of ASPD features in college students.

FACTOR STRUCTURE OF LEVENSON’S SELF-REPORT PSYCHOPATHY SCALE-REVISED URDU VERSION AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Objective: To find out the construct of psychopathy among undergraduate students whether they exhibit same pattern of psychopathic personality features or behavioural characteristics as seen among incarcerated population. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted between March 2017 to March 2018 on undergraduate students of Peshawar. Convenient sampling technique was used to recruit 500 participants in order to examine the construct of psychopathy in adolescents having not been involved in criminal justice system. Further, the study explored whether they exhibit same pattern of psychopathic personality features and behavioural characteristics seen in incarcerated population. The construct of psychopathy was measured by the Urdu Version of the Leven­son’s Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-Revised Urdu Version (LSRPS-RUV). Nineteen out of 26 items were used in the current study as used by previous researchers. Confirmatory Factor Analyses were conducted to analyze the data. Results: Results revealed that the undergraduate students showed moderate level of egocentricity and antisocial behaviour and low level of callousness. The values for CFI = 0.91, TLI = 0.90, RMSEA = 0.06, and RSMR = 0.04 indicate that the three-dimensional model of LSRPS adequately fits the data. Conclusion: Findings from confirmatory factor analysis provide evidence that the three-dimensional model of LSRPS-RUV fits the data adequately as compared to the two-factor and one-factor models.

Family and social environment associated with traits of antisocial personality disorder in the prison population of Peru.

Introduction The prison environment in Peru is one of the worst in the continent. In situations such as these, where there is considerable stress, many inmates can develop antisocial disorders, especially if they come from a conflictive family setting. Objectives To determine the association between family relationships, social environment and features of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) in the Peruvian prison population in 2016.Material and method Analytical cross-sectional study based on a sub-analysis of the First National Penitentiary Census of Peru in 2016. The sample is the prison population (≥18 years old) that participated in said census, which was carried out in 66 correctional facilities nationwide and reached a coverage of 98.8%.Results Of the 77,086 prisoners, 76,152 participated in the analysis. The prevalence of antisocial traits was 96% and half of the population met two criteria for the disorder. Independently associated factors were, being male (RPa: 1.35; 1.30-1.40), born outside the capital (RPa: 0.89; 0.88-0, 91), friends in the neighborhood who committed offences (RPa: 1.01; 1.00-1.02) and not living with a father (RPa: 1.00; 1.00-1.01).Discussion The prevalence of antisocial personality disorder traits in the Peruvian prison population was 96%. We found greater association with the male sex, in those born in Lima and in those who escaped from their home before the age of 15.

Psychopathy and violent video game playing: Multiple associations in a juvenile justice system involved sample.

Violent video game playing is a consistent risk factor for aggression, but research on its psychopathology and trait underpinnings are primarily based on community or university student samples, thus the ecological validity to adjudicated and juvenile justice system-involved youth lacks clarity. This is an important void in the literature because relative to youth in the general population, adjudicated and detained youth evince greater psychopathology, more severe delinquency and violence histories, and clinical psychopathic features. Negative binomial regression models using data from 252 youth in residential placements found that several psychopathic features are significantly associated with violent video gaming. The role of psychopathy operated differently across gender and arrest chronicity, and across models remorselessness emerged as an important correlate. Given the desensitization that can occur with violent video game play, it is of particular concern among delinquent youth with psychopathic personality features.

A Psycholinguistic Study of Psychopathic Offenders’ Speech: دراسة لغوية نفسية عن كلام المختلين النفسيين

The present study aims at studying the psychopathic speech of offenders and analyzing their behavior by using psycholinguistics. The following study involved a psycholinguistic analysis of psychopathic offenders’ speech. The research design was chosen to be descriptive and involved an observation of three offenders based on interviews done with them on YouTube. The descriptive model to be followed in analyzing the psychopathic offenders personality features is that of Hare (2003), and Hare et al's (1988).The first finding was that psychopaths were more likely than their counterparts to use explanatory and causally framed language concerning their criminal actions, with a relatively high level of subordinating conjunctions, indicating more cause and effect statements. This pattern suggested that psychopaths were more likely to have viewed the crime as a logical outcome of a plan (something that ‘had’ to be done to achieve a goal), their violence is indeed more instrumental and goal driven than that of other offenders. Secondly, we found that psychopaths used approximately twice as many words related to basic physiological and self-preservation needs, including eating, drinking, and money when describing their violence. This pattern is consistent with conceptualizations of psychopaths as being focused on a lower level of necessities, hierarchy of needs or in an earlier stage of ego development. Psychopaths generally lack the capacity for bonds and, presumably, the capacity for religious experience or spiritual enlightenment. As such, they continue to describe the crime in a cool, detached manner and in terms of the basic physiological needs they met at the time.

Reduced hippocampus and amygdala volumes in antisocial personality disorder

In the present paper, we aimed to investigate hippocampus and amygdala volumes in a group of patients with antisocial personality disorder and hypothesized that hippocampus and amygdala volume alterations would be observed. It was measured hippocampus and amygdala volumes of twenty patients with antisocial personality disorder and those of healthy control subjects. We found that both sides of hippocampus and amygdala volumes of patients with antisocial personality disorder were statistically significantly reduced compared to those healthy control subjects, and observed statistically important correlations between the left and right and left hippocampus and left amygdala volumes, and age, some results on scale scores. Consequently, the present study suggest that hippocampus and amygdala volumes of patients with antisocial personality disorder had abnormally smaller than those of healthy control subjects, considering that these abnormalities might be associated with at least some clinical features of antisocial personality disorder. However, longitudinal studies are needed to assess causality of this relationship.

Legal cynicism: Independent construct or downstream manifestation of antisocial constructs? New evidence

Researchers have found that legal cynicism is a significant predictor of crime. Although legal cynicism developed as a form of anomie, it is also plausible that legal cynicism is itself a deviant rationalization to justify one's criminal behavior. As such, legal cynicism might be a derivative manifestation of other individual-level constructs that bear on criminal propensity. We test this possibility by controlling for temperament traits related to antisocial behavior and psychopathic personality features in a sample of residentially incarcerated youth (N = 253). Results from negative binomial models revealed that legal cynicism was significantly associated with self-reported delinquency (including violence), but not total arrests. The significant associations with general delinquency and violence held even when controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. However, the associations were rendered either non-significant or greatly attenuated when we included temperament and psychopathy measures in the models. Overall, findings are convergent with the notion that legal cynicism is a consequence or product of antisocial traits and criminal propensity.

Shall we serve the dark lords? A meta-analytic review of psychopathy and leadership.

Both scholars and the popular press have expressed concern regarding the potential prevalence of individuals with psychopathic tendencies in corporate leadership positions and the negative effects they may have on both individual workers and their organizations as a whole. However, research to date has been inconclusive as to whether such individuals are more likely to emerge as leaders or whether they are (in)effective leaders. To clarify the state of the literature, we conducted a meta-analysis on the association between psychopathic personality characteristics and leadership emergence, leadership effectiveness, and transformational leadership. Our results, based on data from 92 independent samples, showed a weak positive correlation for psychopathic tendencies and leadership emergence, a weak negative association for psychopathic tendencies and leadership effectiveness, and a moderate negative correlation for psychopathic tendencies and transformational leadership. Subgroup analyses on methodological factors did not indicate any differences from the main results. However, moderator analyses showed a gender difference in these associations such that psychopathic tendencies in men were weakly positively correlated with leadership emergence and effectiveness and negatively correlated with transformational leadership, while psychopathic tendencies in women were negatively associated with effectiveness and transformational leadership, and largely unassociated with emergence. In addition, small but consistent curvilinear associations were found for all leadership criteria. Overall, these results suggest that concern over psychopathic tendencies in organizational leaders may be overblown, but that gender can function to obscure real effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Associations between Psychopathic Traits and Readiness for Change: An exploratory analysis

Readiness to change (RTC) indicates an individual's recognition of a problem as well as confidence in their ability to change (Gaume, Bertholet, & Daeppen, 2016), and is hypothesized to play an important role in therapeutic processes aimed at changing offending behaviors (Polaschek & Ross, 2010). However, prior research has generally failed to consider RTC among severe offender subgroups (Hodge & Renwick, 2002; Howells & Day, 2007) such as those with psychopathic personality features whom have often been characterized as resistant to treatment (Harris & Rice, 2006; Salekin, 2002). In the current sample of formerly incarcerated persons (N = 70), we explore the relationship between psychopathic personality traits, as measured by the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM; Patrick, 2010), and the unique components of RTC, as measured by an originally constructed assessment called the Change Readiness Scale (CRS). Each item of the CRS has been empirically supported and combined to form five subscales of change readiness (recognition, action, social bonds, human agency, and self-efficacy). Results show unique associations between the subscales of the TriPM and aspects of the RTC construct, yielding it necessary to further explore these relationships to better understand how these factors may contribute to treatment and justice system outcomes.

Does helping promote well-being in at-risk youth and ex-offender samples?

Numerous theories attempt to explain humans' extraordinary prosociality, but predictions are rarely tested among antisocial individuals, whose dampened concern for others offers a particularly strong test of generalizability for prosocial action. To build upon past research demonstrating the emotional benefits of prosociality among non-offending populations and broaden our understanding of how far this relationship may extend, we examined whether the emotional benefits of prosocial spending are detectable in samples of delinquent youth and recent criminal offenders reporting elevated antisocial tendencies and psychopathic personality features. Findings reveal that, controlling for baseline happiness, ex-offenders (N = 501) report greater positive affect after recalling a time they spent money on others than after recalling a time they spent money on themselves. Similarly, delinquent youth (N = 64) and ex-offenders (N = 777) randomly assigned to purchase an item for a needy child reported greater positive affect than those who purchased an item for themselves. Finally, a large pre-registered replication (N = 1295) suggests the immediate emotional benefits of prosocial spending are detectable among ex-offenders when controlling for baseline happiness. Together, these findings demonstrate the emotional rewards of recalled and immediate acts of giving in a new and theoretically relevant population.

Psychopathy and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Revisited: Results From a Statewide Population of Institutionalized Youth.

Suicide is the leading cause of death for incarcerated youth, and up to half of all juveniles in confinement experience suicidal ideation in addition to other psychopathology, including psychopathic personality features. Unfortunately, limited research has investigated the psychopathy-suicidality link among juvenile delinquents and using newer psychopathy measures. Based upon a statewide population of incarcerated juvenile offenders, we found that psychopathy was a significant risk factor for suicidal ideation and lifetime suicide attempts, but the latter relationship was attenuated by lifetime depression diagnosis. In addition, certain affective psychopathic features such as Stress Immunity conferred protection against suicidality, whereas behavioral and lifestyle components including Carefree Nonplanfulness, Blame Externalization, and Rebellious Nonconformity were positively linked to suicidal thoughts among the youth offenders. As these risk factors are routinely screened for in juvenile justice settings, this study's findings have considerable implications to applied practice and prevention among juvenile justice involved youth.

Antisocial features are not predictive of symptom exaggeration in forensic patients

PurposeTo investigate the predictive value of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and features of ASPD (i.e., lack of remorse, blame externalization, and deceitfulness) for symptom exaggeration.MethodsA sample of forensic psychiatric patients (N = 57) was asked to complete several self‐report instruments (measuring symptom exaggeration, lack of remorse, blame externalization, and offense minimization) and a semi‐structured interview about their most recent offense. To quantify patients’ deceitfulness, the information collected via the semi‐structured interview was checked against the official records of patient's offenses. Additionally, patient's mental disorders and the extent to which patients denied their delinquency were determined by gathering clinician's judgement on this matter from patient records. The relation between symptom exaggeration and the potential predictors of symptom exaggeration was examined through correlational analyses and cross‐tabulation of prevalence rates of symptom exaggeration with prevalence rates of the potential predictors.ResultsAntisocial personality disorder was not a useful predicator of symptom exaggeration. Also, patients who showed little regret for their offenses, or tended to blame their offenses on external factors, or minimized their delinquency, or were inaccurate when reporting their delinquency, had similar levels of symptom exaggeration as those without these tendencies.ConclusionsNeither ASPD nor antisocial traits, including lack of remorse, blame externalization, and deceitfulness, were meaningfully related to symptom exaggeration and therefore should have no place in the assessment of symptom validity or the detection of malingering. On the contrary; focusing on antisocial traits as indicators of symptom exaggeration is likely to result in large portions of misclassifications.

Unraveling the Personality Profile of the Sexual Murderer.

Although sexual homicide offenders (SHOs) evince personality disorders, few prior studies have examined all personality disorders or utilized control groups of offenders. Drawing on data from 616 adult male sex offenders including 85 who were SHOs, the current study examined the personality profile of the SHOs, by comparing them with a group of violent nonhomicidal sex offenders (VNHSOs) and a group of nonhomicidal sex offenders (NHSOs) on clinical diagnostics of personality disorders and various crime characteristics. The personality profile of SHOs is comprised primarily of Schizoid and Borderline Personality Disorders, and these offenders were significantly likely to select a victim, use a weapon, and use drugs and alcohol before their offenses, but less likely to force their victim to engage in sexual acts or humiliate them. The comorbidity of Schizoid, Borderline, and Antisocial Personality Disorder features presents unique personality dysfunction that facilitates the lethal sexual violence of SHOs relative to their nonhomicidal sexual offender peers.

Personality Disorder Features and Paraphilic Interests Among Undergraduates: Differential Relations and Potential Antecedents.

We examined the relations between: (1) narcissism, psychopathy, DSM-5 personality disorder symptom counts; and (2) paraphilic interests among undergraduates (N = 608). Base rates of paraphilic interests were appreciable. The disinhibition and meanness features of psychopathy and the entitlement and exploitativeness features of narcissism were robustly associated with paraphilic interests, particularly sexual sadism, whereas the boldness features of narcissism and psychopathy were essentially unrelated to these interests. Narcissism and psychopathy features typically manifested the most pronounced relations with paraphilic interests, although antisocial personality disorder features were also strong predictors. By and large, these relations were comparable across gender. Lastly, there was no evidence that erotophilia mediated the relations between the narcissism and psychopathy features and paraphilic interests, most likely because erotophilia was generally unrelated to paraphilic interests. Relative to other dimensions of personality disorders, facets of meanness and disinhibition from psychopathy and entitlement/exploitativeness facets from narcissism were most associated with paraphilic interests.

Late childhood interpersonal callousness and conduct problem trajectories interact to predict adult psychopathy.

Studies have demonstrated a robust association between interpersonal callousness (IC) and the development of severe and chronic conduct problems (CP) in youth. Although children exhibiting IC are also believed to be at particularly high risk for developing psychopathic personality features in adulthood, there is little longitudinal evidence supporting this assumption, particularly after controlling for co-occuring CP severity. This study used data collected on a longitudinal cohort of boys (n=508), with an oversampling of youth exhibiting elevated conduct problems. Analyses examined the unique and interactive association between latent growth curve trajectories of IC and CP assessed bi-annually from late childhood to early adolescence (~ages 10-13) and features of psychopathy in early adulthood (age~24) assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist - Short Version (PCL:SV; Hart, Cox, & Hare, 1995). Growth curve analysis indicated that initial levels of IC and CP in childhood (~age 10 intercept) both uniquely predicted the development of the interpersonal/affective features of adult psychopathy, and boys with a combination of high initial levels of IC and CP were at particularly high risk for developing the impulsive/antisocial features of the disorder. Boys who exhibited systematic increases in CP from late childhood to early adolescence also demonstrated higher adult psychopathy scores, but changes in IC across this developmental period did not significantly add to the prediction of adult psychopathy. Findings highlight the importance of developing targeted interventions for boys exhibiting severe IC and CP in childhood, as they appear to be at high risk for developing adult psychopathic features.

Examining Positive and Negative Reactions and Conciliatory Behaviors After Partner Violence Perpetration.

This study investigated positive and negative reactions and conciliatory behaviors after perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV). The goals were to examine the rates of these reactions and their associations with key attitudinal and personality factors. During program intake at a community agency, 172 partner violent men completed assessments of positive reactions (e.g., feeling justified) and negative reactions (e.g., feeling ashamed) after IPV, conciliatory behaviors after IPV (e.g., buying flowers for the partner), frequency of physical assault and abuse perpetration, and motivational readiness to change. In addition, a subset of participants ( n = 64-71) completed assessments of outcome expectancies of IPV and borderline, antisocial, and psychopathic personality characteristics. The vast majority of participants (89.8%) reported negative reaction(s) after IPV; 32.7% reported positive reaction(s), and 67.5% reported conciliatory behavior(s). Positive reactions after IPV were associated with positive outcome expectancies of IPV, more frequent abuse perpetration, and antisocial features. Negative reactions after IPV were associated with greater motivation to change, more frequent abuse perpetration, and borderline features, and were inversely linked to psychopathic traits. Conciliatory behaviors were associated with motivation to change, borderline characteristics, and lower levels of psychopathic traits. Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions to IPV may be important for stimulating clinical discussion of motivations and barriers to change, and can inform the functional analysis of IPV.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Psychopathic personality characteristics amongst high functioning populations

ABSTRACTIn recent years there has been a substantial increase in publications on the topic of the so-called corporate psychopath, and a number of theories have been proposed to account for these higher functioning manifestations of psychopathy. It is acknowledged that psychopathy is most commonly found in criminal, rather than community samples, with estimated prevalence rates being 20% and 1% respectively. Recent research has found rates of psychopathy in business populations, assessed using various psychopathy measures, ranging from 4% to 20%. There has been debate in the literature surrounding the core defining features of psychopathy, and whether antisocial/ criminal behavior is a necessary aspect of the personality construct. This debate is crucial to the definition and measurement of psychopathy in the corporate context with some arguing that the core characteristics of psychopathy are incompatible with successful functioning. The current article reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on c...

Psychopathy and Criminogenic Thinking in Adult Male Prisoners

Crime persists in plaguing society, with most crimes committed by repeat offenders. This causes an increase in the incarcerated population and strains correctional systems. Understanding why individuals who have been incarcerated continue to recidivate remains an important focus for investigation. Psychopathic personality traits and criminogenic thinking have both been shown to predict recidivism. However, there is currently little research that focuses on the relationship between these two risk factors, and no prior research has examined this relationship specifically among incarcerated offenders. To address this gap, the present study examined psychopathy and criminogenic thinking among 399 adult males incarcerated in the Mississippi Department of Corrections. Results indicated that after controlling for demographic variables, increased primary and secondary psychopathy significantly predicted increased overall and particular subtypes of criminogenic thinking. Implications for addressing psychopathic personality characteristics and criminogenic thinking conjointly in prison-based treatment programming to reduce recidivism are discussed.