Female Psychopathy Research Articles

Psychopathy and its relation to personality psychopathology in a South African female forensic context

There is a paucity of research about personality pathology among female offenders. This study aims to address this gap in the forensic psychology empirical base by examining the relationship between female psychopathy, as measured by the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised, and personality disorders, as measured by the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III in a South African forensic context. Participants included 108 purposively sampled female offenders incarcerated in South Africa. The Kruskal–Wallis H test and Mann–Whitney U test revealed a number of significant differences in levels of personality pathology between groups. Importantly, the results support international findings that significantly higher rates of Cluster B personality pathology are found among psychopathic offenders compared to non-psychopathic offenders.

Childhood and Adolescent Characteristics of Women with High versus Low Psychopathy Scores: Examining Developmental Precursors to the Malignant Personality Disorder

Despite the growing number of studies on female psychopathy, our understanding of how to prevent and treat this malignant disorder remains limited in large part due to a lack of research on the developmental precursors and correlates. The aim of this study was to compare and contrast childhood characteristics of adult women presenting with high versus low psychopathy scores. We evaluated whether negative childhood characteristics and adverse experiences in four formative developmental time-periods (early childhood, late childhood, early adolescence, and late adolescence) could distinguish women with high PCL-R scores (>25) from women with low PCL-R scores (<25) in young adulthood. The sample consisted of 82 young adult women who had been removed from their family during their childhood, and placed in Youth Centres and were subsequently interviewed in young adulthood. Results suggest that compared to women with low psychopathy scores, women scoring high on psychopathic traits in young adulthood were more likely to manifest psychological, cognitive, and behavioural dysfunction in early childhood, to have been exposed to diverse forms of victimization, and to have a background marred by problematic parent-child relationships. Finally, the presence of a neglectful childhood and mother’s mental and personality problems leading to the foster care placement was negatively associated with elevated PCL-R scores while evidence of childhood impulsivity and paternal abuse positively predicted higher scores. The results point to the importance of early intervention as an essential means of reducing the long term and serious detrimental effects of child abuse on vulnerable children.

Dysfunctional error-related processing in female psychopathy.

Neurocognitive studies of psychopathy have predominantly focused on male samples. Studies have shown that female psychopaths exhibit similar affective deficits as their male counterparts, but results are less consistent across cognitive domains including response modulation. As such, there may be potential gender differences in error-related processing in psychopathic personality. Here we investigate response-locked event-related potential (ERP) components [the error-related negativity (ERN/Ne) related to early error-detection processes and the error-related positivity (Pe) involved in later post-error processing] in a sample of incarcerated adult female offenders (n = 121) who performed a response inhibition Go/NoGo task. Psychopathy was assessed using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). The ERN/Ne and Pe were analyzed with classic windowed ERP components and principal component analysis (PCA). Consistent with previous research performed in psychopathic males, female psychopaths exhibited specific deficiencies in the neural correlates of post-error processing (as indexed by reduced Pe amplitude) but not in error monitoring (as indexed by intact ERN/Ne amplitude). Specifically, psychopathic traits reflecting interpersonal and affective dysfunction remained significant predictors of both time-domain and PCA measures reflecting reduced Pe mean amplitude. This is the first evidence to suggest that incarcerated female psychopaths exhibit similar dysfunctional post-error processing as male psychopaths.

Psychodynamics in the Female Psychopath: A PCL-R/Rorschach Investigation

Abstract Female psychopathy has been conceived as a malignant form of hysteria organized at the borderline level of personality function. In this study, the PCL-R was used to assess psychopathy, and the Rorschach Comprehensive System, Extended Aggression Scores, Rorschach Defense Scales, Rorschach Oral Dependency, Trauma Content Index, and Primitive Modes of Relating scoring systems were used to examine psychodynamic variables in female psychopaths. Our findings support the conceptualization of female psychopathy as a malignant form of hysteria and lead us to suggest the need for modifying several PCL-R items with female offenders.

Neural correlates of moral and non-moral emotion in female psychopathy.

This study presents the first neuroimaging investigation of female psychopathy in an incarcerated population. Prior studies have found that male psychopathy is associated with reduced limbic and paralimbic activation when processing emotional stimuli and making moral judgments. The goal of this study was to investigate whether these findings extend to female psychopathy. During fMRI scanning, 157 incarcerated and 46 non-incarcerated female participants viewed unpleasant pictures, half which depicted moral transgressions, and neutral pictures. Participants rated each picture on moral transgression severity. Psychopathy was assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) in all incarcerated participants. Non-incarcerated participants were included as a control group to derive brain regions of interest associated with viewing unpleasant vs. neutral pictures (emotion contrast), and unpleasant pictures depicting moral transgressions vs. unpleasant pictures without moral transgressions (moral contrast). Regression analyses in the incarcerated group examined the association between PCL-R scores and brain activation in the emotion and moral contrasts. Results of the emotion contrast revealed a negative correlation between PCL-R scores and activation in the right amygdala and rostral anterior cingulate. Results of the moral contrast revealed a negative correlation between PCL-R scores and activation in the right temporo-parietal junction. These results indicate that female psychopathy, like male psychopathy, is characterized by reduced limbic activation during emotion processing. In contrast, reduced temporo-parietal activation to moral transgressions has been less observed in male psychopathy. These results extend prior findings in male psychopathy to female psychopathy, and reveal aberrant neural responses to morally-salient stimuli that may be unique to female psychopathy.

Gender, psychopathy factors, and intimate partner violence.

The present study sheds light on relationships between distinct psychopathic traits and perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) in women versus men. Men and women with recent drug and/or violence histories (N = 250) were assessed for psychopathic traits using the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version and for their and their partner's use of IPV with the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale. The first goal was to examine the moderating role of gender in psychopathy factor relationships to IPV. Although both the interpersonal-affective traits (Factor1) and the impulsive-antisocial traits (Factor 2) of psychopathy were related to higher frequency of IPV perpetration, the relationship between Factor 1 and IPV was stronger in men. Our second goal examined the moderating role of psychopathy traits in the relationship between partner's perpetration of IPV and participant perpetration (mutual violence) in the 2 genders. Relationships between partner- and self-IPV were similar at both low and high levels of Factor 1 in men, although the partner- and self-IPV relationship was significantly stronger among women at low relative to high levels of Factor 1. The relationship between partner- and self-IPV was stronger at high levels of Factor 2 in men, whereas Factor 2 did not moderate mutual violence in women. These results indicate that relationships between psychopathy factors and IPV differ by gender, with psychopathy generally exacerbating IPV perpetration in men and Factor 1 traits playing a unique role in mutual violence in women. These findings add to the literature on female psychopathy and have important implications for future research on gender and IPV. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Television’s “Crazy Lady” Trope: Female Psychopathic Traits, Teaching, and Influence of Popular Culture

This article describes notable illustrations of female psychopathy on modern television to review various characters that will have utility in teaching students about female psychopathy in distinction to male psychopathy and to encourage consideration of the potential effects that viewing these countless examples may have on a generation of young women. The authors use examples from soap operas, crime procedurals, reality television, fantasy, comedies, and young adult programs to illustrate gender differences in psychopathy and make specific teaching points. They also review the research literature related to popular culture's impact on behavior and gender roles. Gender differences in real-world psychopathy are mirrored in television portrayals. For example, female psychopaths, on TV and in reality, use sexual manipulation, demonstrate unstable emotions, and employ social aggression to achieve their ambitions. The examples of female psychopathic traits are prevalent on TV and easily accessible for teaching purposes. Research does give some support for a popular culture impact on behavior and gender roles. As compared to male psychopathy, female psychopathy is less recognized, and there are some notable differences in how the psychopathic traits manifest. Television provides myriad teaching examples that can highlight the gender distinctions such as use of sexual manipulation, emotional instability, and social aggression. Research suggests that the prevalence of "crazy ladies" on television may be negatively impacting gender stereotypes and normalizing bad behavior in young women.

Revisiting psychopathy in women: Cleckley/Hare conceptions and affective response.

Despite increased interest in female psychopathy, more work is needed to establish commonalities between the nomological networks for psychopathy in men and women. The current study sought to advance understanding of affective deficits in female psychopathy, as assessed by the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Forty-eight female inmates were tested in an affect-startle paradigm involving passive viewing of emotional and neutral picture stimuli. Results showed that women scoring high on PCL-R psychopathy exhibited deficits in startle reactivity to unpleasant pictures, especially with regard to victim-distress scenes, highlighting a specific insensitivity to the vicarious distress of others. The deficient affective modulation was specific to interpersonal-affective features and not adult/child antisocial features. These data confirm deficits in affective responding among women high on psychopathy, with implications for fear- versus empathy-related conceptualizations of psychopathic women.

The Manifestation of Psychopathic Traits in Women: An Exploration Using Case Examples

The construct of female psychopathy is poorly understood. Progress in this area is hindered by the reliance on male psychopathy conceptualizations and measurement frameworks, and the failure to establish what the construct looks like in females. Case studies are a fundamental step in the development of a clearer female psychopathy conceptualization, yet one that has been neglected in the literature. This article explores the presentation and manifestation of psychopathic traits in two cases of women offenders with high levels of such traits, using two measures of psychopathy: the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP) and the Psychopathy Checklist Screening Version (PCL:SV). Findings are discussed in relation to what is known about psychopathy in women, and in men. Potential implications for clinical practice, including the assessment of psychopathy in women, are considered.

Psychopathy in a noninstitutional sample: Differences in primary and secondary subtypes.

Early theoretical conceptualizations suggest psychopathy is a heterogeneous construct whereby psychopathic individuals are found in diverse populations. The current study examined male and female psychopathy subtypes in a large sample of undergraduate students (n = 1229). Model-based cluster analysis of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Short Form (PPI-SF) revealed two clusters in both male and female students. In males, the primary subtype evidenced greater psychopathic personality traits (i.e., Social Potency, Fearlessness, and Impulsive Nonconformity) and lower anxiety (i.e., higher Stress Immunity), whereas the secondary subtype displayed fewer psychopathic personality traits (i.e., Machiavellian Egocentricity and Blame Externalization) and higher anxiety (i.e., lower Stress Immunity). In females, the primary subtype exhibited higher scores across all PPI-SF subscales and lower anxiety whereas the secondary subtype reported lower PPI-SF subscale scores and higher anxiety. Across a diverse array of personality, affective, and behavioral external correlates, differences between the subtypes and with nonpsychopaths emerged. Implications for psychopathy in noninstitutional populations with respect to theory, research, and gender are discussed.

An investigation into the relationship between digit length ratio (2D: 4D) and psychopathy

This study investigates whether a higher level of pre‐natal testosterone, as indicated by the 2D: 4D digit ratio, is a correlate of psychopathy and cognitive empathy. The main research hypothesis predicts that 2D: 4D digit ratios will correlate negatively with psychopathy scores and positively with cognitive empathy scores. The study facilitates a within‐subjects correlational design, using a quasi‐experimental method consisting of questionnaires and digit measurements. Fifty‐four participants volunteered and were gathered via purposive and convenience sampling. Each participant completed a self‐report psychopathy scale, a cognitive empathy test, a verbal IQ test and a scan of both hands. The scans were later measured and computed for digit ratios. T‐tests, multiple partial correlations and multiple regression found that, contrary to the research hypothesis, a higher level of pre‐natal oestrogen, as indicated by a larger 2D: 4D digit ratio, is a positive correlate of psychopathy in females, and a positive correlate of callous affect (psychopathy sub‐scale) in males, at less than 0.01 probability levels. Gender is also a correlate of psychopathy, as males scored significantly higher than females at 0.01 probability levels. This result sheds an interesting new light on the physiological correlates of psychopathy and the role that pre‐natal oestrogen plays in organisational effects on the brain during pre‐ and post‐natal development.

Validating female psychopathy subtypes: Differences in personality, antisocial and violent behavior, substance abuse, trauma, and mental health.

Recent empirical investigations utilizing male prisoners have begun to validate clinical conceptualizations of primary and secondary psychopathy subtypes. We extended this literature by identifying similar psychopathic subtypes in female prisoners on the basis of personality structure using model-based cluster analysis. Secondary psychopaths (n = 39) were characterized by personality traits of negative emotionality and low behavioral constraint, an early onset of antisocial and criminal behavior, greater substance use and abuse, more violent behavior and institutional misconduct, and more mental health problems, including symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and suicide attempts. Primary psychopaths (n = 31) exhibited few distinguishing personality features but were prolific criminals especially in regards to nonviolent crime, and exhibited relatively few mental health problems despite substantial exposure to traumatic events. The results support alternative etiological pathways to antisocial and criminal behavior that are evident in personality structure as well as gender similarities and differences in the manifestation of psychopathic personalities.

Figuring out la femme fatale: conceptual and assessment issues concerning psychopathy in females

Despite the growing number of studies on psychopathy in females, the core characteristics of this personality disorder among females remain uninvestigated. Most studies on psychopathy in females have attempted to understand the disorder by applying male criteria to adult females: they have ignored putative gender differences in the constitution and expression of this disorder. Several issues require resolution: first, whether practitioners apply the same criteria to diagnose psychopathy in women, second, whether the instruments used to assess psychopathy are tapping the same construct across gender, third, whether the same types of behavioral expression of key traits are similar across genders, and fourth, whether the diagnosis possesses the same forensic utility across genders. The relevant literature is reviewed and issues of design and analysis are considered.

A Rorschach Investigation of Incarcerated Female Offenders With Antisocial Personality Disorder

Although male psychopathy has been linked to histrionic, narcissistic, and antisocial personality disorders (ASPD), less is known about female psychopathy. The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) and the Rorschach were used to explore the personality functioning of 45 incarcerated female offenders with ASPD delineated by their psychopathy level. Psychopaths (PCL-R > or = 30) and nonpsychopaths (PCL-R < 24) were compared on Rorschach measures of self-perception, interpersonal relatedness, and reality testing. Compared to female offenders with ASPD who were nonpsychopathic, female offenders with ASPD who were psychopathic exhibited marked disturbances in self-perception, interpersonal relatedness, and reality testing. Our findings highlight the heterogeneity of the ASPD diagnosis in women, support the utility of the psychopathy construct with female offenders, and implicate important differences between men and women with ASPD. These gender differences have relevance to the evaluation (PCL-R scoring) and treatment of female offenders. Our findings are discussed within the context of the female psychopath's hypothesized hysterical character style.

Psychopathy in Violent Female Offenders in Finland

Background: The base rate and construct of psychopathy in violent female offenders were examined. Sampling and Methods: More than half of all violent female offenders in Finland who where either hospitalised (n = 12) or incarcerated (n = 46) during the year of the study were assessed by the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), Structured Clinical Interview II for DSM-IV, Beck Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory-II and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised. Results: PCL-R mean scores and a base rate of psychopathy were found to be in line with earlier studies, showing both lower values and prevalence in females. The PCL-R correlated with symptoms of cluster B personality disorders as well as with depressive personality disorder. Factor 2 was observed to positively correlate with anxiety and depression and negatively with verbal cognitive ability. Logistic regression analysis on the PCL-R items revealed that the items shallow affect, lack of remorse or guilt, conning/manipulation and lack of realistic goals seem to be important indicators of female psychopathy together with callous/lack of empathy, impulsivity and failure to accept responsibility for own actions. Conclusion: The finding indicates that the prevalence of psychopathy is lower among female offenders than among male offenders, but further research is needed to examine the base rate of psychopathy in women, and whether the symptoms of psychopathy are expressed differently in women than in men.

Psychopathy in Female Offenders

Psychopathy is an important clinical construct in explaining criminal behavior, determining the likelihood of treatment response, and evaluating risk assessment. The majority of past research has focused on male offenders or male forensic patients. Psychopathy in females is relatively unexplored. The current study was designed to further investigate the underlying dimensions of psychopathy in females. Utilizing a sample of 119 female inmates from a large metropolitan area jail, a series of confirmatory factor analyses was undertaken. Previous research and clinical tradition suggest the use of a two-factor conceptualization of psychopathy. More recent research suggests that a three-factor model may better capture the underlying dimensions of psychopathy. Two-factor models of psychopathy were not confirmed. However, the three-factor model reproduced the data extremely well. Clinical and research implications of this finding are addressed.

Sex differences in psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder: A review and integration

Although the correlates and causes of psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) have been the subject of extensive investigation, researchers in this area have until recently focused almost exclusively on males. As a consequence, relatively little is known about psychopathy and ASPD in females. In this paper, we review the empirical literature on sex differences in the base rates, mean symptom levels, correlates, and factor structure of psychopathy and ASPD. In addition, we discuss the potential sex-differentiated phenotypic expressions of psychopathy and ASPD (e.g., somatization disorder [SD]) as well as sex differences in the developmental trajectories of these conditions. There is suggestive evidence that these conditions may be differentially expressed across biological sex, although further investigation of this issue is warranted. We conclude with recommendations for future research in this area, including suggestions for embedding the study of sex differences in psychopathy and ASPD within a construct validational framework.

Response perseveration in psychopathic women.

Recent attempts to validate the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) as a measure of psychopathy in female offenders have been limited by a failure to examine laboratory correlates of the syndrome. We assessed 112 incarcerated women by using the PCL-R and examined their performance on a card perseveration task that has been used to demonstrate response perseveration in psychopathic men. Contrary to prediction, psychopathic women did not perseverate responding when the PCL-R was used either dimensionally or categorically. The authors discuss the implications of the results for the PCL-R and for female psychopathy more generally.

Psychopathy, Gender, and Gender Roles: Implications for Antisocial and Histrionic Personality Disorders

Several authors have proposed that antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and histrionic personality disorder (HPD) are sex-typed manifestations of the same underlying predisposition, namely psychopathy. In a sample of 180 undergraduates (90 males, 90 females), we tested three hypotheses: (1) psychopathy underlies both ASPD and HPD traits; (2) the relation between psychopathy and both ASPD and HPD traits is moderated by biological gender, with psychopathic males tending to exhibit an antisocial pattern and psychopathic females a histrionic pattern; and (3) the relation between psychopathy and both ASPD and HPD traits is moderated by gender roles, with psychopathic individuals possessing stereotypically “masculine” features tending to exhibit an antisocial pattern and psychopathic individuals possessing stereotypically “feminine” features tending to exhibit a histrionic pattern. The latter hypothesis was tested both across and within gender. Structural equation modeling applied to self-report measures of psychopathy, gender roles, and ASPD and HPD traits provided support for the first two hypotheses but not the third. Implications of these findings for the differential expression of psychopathy in males and females, as well as future directions for research, are discussed.