Model Of Psychopathy Research Articles

Validity, Stability, and Change in Psychopathic Traits in Older Adults: A Registered Report

Despite the importance of psychopathy—a construct with robust relations with externalizing outcomes—little is known about how psychopathic traits manifest in middle-age to older adulthood. In the present investigation, we used a large and diverse sample of older adults from the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network to examine psychopathy’s nomological network and whether these traits change over four time points spanning approximately 10 years. We also explored whether these changes were associated with changes in other important constructs (e.g., physical and psychological functioning) across the same time span. Psychopathy was operationalized in two ways: (a) via the factors of the triarchic psychopathy model, Meanness, Disinhibition, and Boldness, and (b) using a more macro approach via the Five-Factor Model Psychopathy Resemblance Index. We found that (a) the nomological network of psychopathy appears to be consistent with what has been observed in samples of younger adults, (b) psychopathic traits remain stable over time as adults make the transition from midlife to later life, and (c) changes that were observed are significantly related to changes in several important outcomes, including physical health, mental health, relationship satisfaction, intimate-partner aggression, and social functioning.

Examining the Relationship Between the Dimensions of the Triarchic Model of Psychopathy and Externalizing Disorders in Male Adolescents

ABSTRACT The Triarchic model of psychopathy posits that psychopathy is a composite of phenotypic constructs related to boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. The present research aimed to examine the relationship between behavioral problems (e.g. externalizing disorders) and the dimensions of the Triarchic model of psychopathy (i.e. boldness, meanness, and disinhibition) in adolescents. Most research on psychopathy has focused on adults. In order to understand the origins and predictors of the emergence of psychopathy, there is a need for a study of predictors of the dimensions of psychopathy before adulthood, including adolescents. The study population consisted of 341 male high school students in MASKED FOR REVIEW, who were selected through convenience sampling. The participants completed the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) questionnaire and The Achenbach Self-Report Form for Behavioral Problems. The results were analyzed using stepwise regression analysis with SPSS version 23. Among the study variables, Disinhibition was most closely related to externalizing disorders. The stepwise regression analysis also showed a significant relationship between externalizing disorders and meanness. However, there was no significant relationship between boldness and externalizing disorders. The Psychopathy Measure holds promise for better assessment and understanding of the behavior problems potentially predictive of the dimensions of psychopathic personality in institutions and clinics.

Gender differences and the association between the phenomenological characteristics of autobiographical memories and psychopathic traits in a university student sample

ABSTRACT The study aimed to analyse the relationship between the dimensions of the triarchic model of psychopathy (meanness, boldness and disinhibition) and the phenomenological characteristics of Autobiographical Memory (AM) in a sample of university students, examining potential gender differences. Participants (N = 260; 55.4% women; aged 18-25) performed an AM task, followed by the Autobiographical Memory Characteristics Questionnaire and the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure. We found gender differences, with men scoring higher than women in meanness and disinhibition as well as in precision, accessibility, sharing and narrative coherence of AM. Correlations showed that boldness was negatively related to the valence and emotional intensity of the memory. Meanness was positively associated with precision, sensory details, accessibility, sharing, narrative coherence, distancing and preoccupation with emotions and negatively with recollection. Disinhibition was positively related to precision, sensory details and accessibility and negatively to intensity, distancing and preoccupation with emotions. Our results suggest that psychopathic traits could predict certain characteristics of AM, highlighting the predictive value of meanness, especially regarding memory quality characteristics (e.g., precision), as well as disinhibition, concerning the emotional content (e.g., preoccupation with emotions). Our results contribute to understanding psychopathy through an autobiographical perspective, showing how psychopathic traits may shape how people remember personal events.

Comparing the DSM-5 Dimensional Trait and Triarchic Model Conceptions of Psychopathy: An External Validity Analysis.

In the DSM-5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD), psychopathy is marked by the presence of attention seeking, low anxiousness, and lack of social withdrawal, along with traits from the domains of Antagonism and Disinhibition. The triarchic model of psychopathy (TriPM) posits three biobehaviorally based traits underlying it: disinhibition, meanness, and boldness. The current study directly compared relations for measures of the two models with the broad dimensions of externalizing, internalizing, and positive adjustment. Participants (1,678 adults) were surveyed regarding maladaptive personality traits, clinical symptoms, and positive adjustment features. The TriPM model explained more variance than the AMPD in substance use, positive adjustment, and empathy, whereas the AMPD model explained more variance in internalizing symptoms. In addition, AMPD Antagonism and the Psychopathy Specifier diverged from TriPM Meanness and Boldness in their associations with some specific outcomes. Overall, our study provides evidence for complementarity of the two models in characterizing the multifaceted nature of psychopathy.

A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Mentalization-Based Therapy With the Unified Protocol in the Treatment of Psychopathy and Comorbid Borderline + Antisocial Personality Disorders.

Those with cooccurring antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) are reported to be highly psychopathic and to represent a severe challenge to treatment efforts. In a sample of such individuals, the effects of two treatments, mentalization-based therapy (MBT) and the unified protocol (UP), were investigated on three outcomes: (i) the psychopathy trait domains of meanness, boldness and disinhibition proposed by the triarchic psychopathy model (TPM); (ii) antisocial and borderline symptom severity; and (iii) the severity of their common features including impulsivity, anger expression and self-harm. Of 163 individuals with BPD + ASPD screened for eligibility, 55 were randomized to MBT treatment and 53 to UP treatment. Outcomes of treatment were assessed at 6-month intervals to 36 months. Short-term reductions were seen following both treatments in traits of psychopathy, antisocial and borderline personality symptom severity, anger dysregulation, impulsivity and self-harm, but both treatment groups showed almost complete relapse of symptoms at the 36-month follow-up. UP had more durable effects than MBT. Despite being a considerably shorter treatment, UP was at least as effective as MBT and in some respects superior. Remission of symptoms was not achieved by either treatment in the long term. Psychopathy and borderline/antisocial comorbidity with which it is associated are to some extent remediable through psychotherapy, but only in the short term. Patients with high levels of impulsivity and disinhibition are likely to relapse following psychotherapy and should be closely monitored after treatment.

Boldness, meanness and disinhibition as predictors of indirect/direct type of aggressive behavior in youth.

Numerous studies show that a high level of psychopathic traits in youth is related to the propensity to use various types and forms of aggression. The presented study focuses on the relations between psychopathy and aggression, both indirect (relational) and direct in this age group. The triarchic model of psychopathy was used, according to which psychopathy is described as a configuration of boldness, meanness and disinhibition. It was assumed that boldness would be a predictor for indirect aggression and disinhibition - for the direct forms of aggressive behaviors. The sample consisted of 200 older adolescents (108 boys and 92 girls), aged 16-19. Two groups were distinguished for comparison: juveniles from youth fostering centers and youth not violating legal norms. For the measurement of the variables the following self-reports were used: Triarchic Psychopathy Measure, Indirect Aggression Scale (Aggressor Version) and Aggression Questionnaire. From among the dimensions of psychopathy, the strongest predictor for both forms of aggression (indirect and direct) was disinhibition. The study also revealed the differences in the intensity of psychopathic traits and aggressive behaviors with reference to gender and institutionalization. However, the hypothesis on the relationship between boldness and indirect aggression was not confirmed. The results showed that disinhibition and meanness can be considered as significant personality risk factors for aggressive behaviors and violence not only in adults but also in adolescents. The study supported also the heterogeneity of the triarchic model of psychopathy itself.

The personal cost of psychopathy: Impacts of triarchic psychopathy traits on impairment, internalizing, and life satisfaction

Although psychopathic traits have long been acknowledged as a public health concern, a growing body of evidence suggests there is a significant personal cost to living with psychopathy. However, much of the current literature on psychopathy impairment appears mixed in findings, varying by the traits examined and measured outcomes. The current paper aims to contribute to this field of research by examining how a triarchic model of psychopathy relates to a wide variety of potential consequences, including impairment, personality functioning, interpersonal functioning, internalizing, and perceived quality of life. Through two studies utilizing the Triarchic psychopathy model in undergraduate samples, significant psychopathy impairment was identified. Broadly, disinhibition was related to the most significant impairments across functioning domains. Boldness was more variable and elicited both positive (e.g., higher quality of life, lower self-harm) and negative (impairments in empathy and intimacy) outcomes. Meanness was primarily related to interpersonal difficulties; however, differences in measuring meanness led to different findings on its connection to personality functioning. By better understanding the consequences of psychopathy and how they vary by dimensional traits, interventions can be better tailored to alleviate both individual and societal suffering.

Facial Expression of TIPI Personality and CHMP-Tri Psychopathy Traits in Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)

Honest signalling theory suggests that humans and chimpanzees can extract socially relevant information relating to personality from the faces of their conspecifics. Humans are also able to extract information from chimpanzees’ faces. Here, we examine whether personality characteristics of chimpanzees, including measures of psychopathy, can be discerned based purely on facial morphology in photographs. Twenty-one chimpanzees were given naïve and expert personality ratings on the Ten Item Personality Inventory (TIPI) and the Chimpanzee Triarchic Model of Psychopathy (CHMP-Tri) before and following behavioural observations. Characteristics relating to openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and disinhibition could be distinguished from the faces of chimpanzees. Individuals higher on disinhibition have lower scores on conscientiousness and emotional stability and higher scores on extraversion, while those higher on meanness have lower conscientiousness and agreeableness. Facial expressions are linked to personality traits present in the TIPI and CHMP-Tri models: the Relaxed Face and the Grooming Face were displayed more by chimpanzees higher on agreeableness, whereas the Compressed Lips Face was observed more in those individuals higher on boldness, and the Full Open Grin was displayed more by chimpanzees higher on extraversion but lower on emotional stability and conscientiousness. Facial expressions were also found to be associated with particular behavioural contexts, namely the Grooming Face in affiliative contexts and the Relaxed and Relaxed Open Mouth Faces in neutral contexts. Dominant chimpanzees display higher levels of boldness and more Compressed Lips Faces, Relaxed Open Mouth Faces, and Grooming Faces than subordinate individuals. These findings support and extend evidence for an honest signalling system and a personality structure shared between humans and chimpanzees. Future research could further explore how personality is conveyed through the face, perhaps through more than just singular aspects of character, and maybe reflecting what chimpanzees themselves are able to do.

Triarchic Model of Psychopathy and Intimate Partner Violence: An Empirical Study on the Italian Community.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious and recurrent phenomenon in many societies with severe physical and psychological consequences. In the present study, we aimed to explore the role of triarchic dimensions of psychopathy (disinhibition, boldness, and meanness) across gender in this occurrence. A questionnaire on inflicted (self) and experienced (partner) IPV and the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure were administered to a sample of 1,149 individuals from the Italian community. In general, self and partner IPV were moderately correlated. Bayesian regression analysis showed that disinhibition was positively correlated to both self and partner IPV (psychological and physical). In addition, boldness was negatively associated with perpetrated psychological IPV. Interactions by gender showed that meanness was positively related to perpetrated IPV in women (psychological and physical), whereas men with disinhibition features inflicted more physical violence than women. A high externalizing tendency (i.e., disinhibition) is therefore an important correlate of both perpetrated and reported IPV; moreover, boldness was associated with less psychological violence in general, whereas the effect of meanness depended on the gender of the individuals involved. Interestingly, the association between IPV and self-reported delinquent activities was low in magnitude (Spearman's Rho around .20) suggesting limited overlap between these two constructs.

Cool under fire: Psychopathic personality traits and decision making in law-enforcement-oriented populations.

Compared with other jobs, the law enforcement profession is a high-stakes occupation that has the potential to greatly impact public safety, and officers must face daily dangers not experienced in other professions. Previous research indicates that many law enforcement officers exhibit varying degrees of psychopathic traits, which suggests that it may be useful to examine police officer performance, specifically proxies of excessive use of force, through the lens of the triarchic psychopathy domains. We predicted that high boldness and high meanness would be associated with greater justification of excessive use of force, whereas low boldness, high meanness, and high disinhibition would relate to greater errors in high-stakes decision making ("trigger bias"). We employed criterion profile analysis to elucidate optimal profile configurations in both law enforcement and undergraduate samples in relation to justification of use-of-force scenarios and decision making in high-pressure situations (i.e., police officer's dilemma shooter task). In general, combinations of triarchic psychopathy traits accounted for similar variance in performance criteria as individual psychopathy trait domains. In particular, trait elevations in meanness were associated with ratings of unjustified-use-of-force vignettes, and disinhibition was associated with commission errors on the shooter task (although effect sizes were small for the latter). The findings of this study support the conceptual validity of the separate dimensions of the triarchic psychopathy model and substantiate the moderate utility of personality indicators (e.g., antagonism, difficulties with impulse control) in relation to career-related performance in law enforcement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychopathic Traits in a Swedish Court-Ordered Forensic Sample: Preferential Associations of Boldness, Meanness, and Disinhibition.

The construct validity of the triarchic psychopathy model has yet to be evaluated in the Swedish forensic psychiatric context. We examined associations between the three phenotypic constructs of the triarchic model of psychopathy (i.e., boldness, meanness, disinhibition), self-assessed empathy and anxiety, and clinical variables in 91 individuals undergoing pretrial forensic psychiatric evaluation in Sweden. Participants completed the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) and self-report measures of empathy and anxiety. Clinical variables, including psychiatric diagnoses and criminal behavior, were collected from the forensic psychiatric evaluations (FPE). All three subscales of the TriPM displayed significant and predominantly anticipated correlations with empathy and trait anxiety measures. TriPM Disinhibition was the only subscale with significant associations with the clinical variables collected from the FPEs. The results provide evidence for the reliability and construct validity of the Swedish translation of the TriPM in a pretrial forensic setting.

Expression and detection of triarchic psychopathy traits in the self-defining memories of U.S. undergraduates

Research linking psychopathic personality to autobiographical memory and narrative identity is limited. We present preliminary evidence suggesting that traits from the triarchic model of psychopathy (measured via self-report) predict self-reported affect as well as researcher-coded affective themes, event specificity, and meaning making in self-defining memories (SDMs). We observed this in a small sample that was well-powered for multilevel modeling (1200 SDMs total obtained from 120 undergraduate participants from the U.S.). Additionally, we present preliminary evidence – using an extreme-groups approach – that raters can detect the expression of the triarchic psychopathy traits in written SDM transcripts. Ten research assistants (working independently, and without prior training in assessment) used prototype descriptions of the triarchic traits to rate 40 participants on each trait. Their ratings correlated meaningfully with a range of relevant self-reported traits. Thus, aspects of psychopathy could be detected, albeit imperfectly, solely from written autobiographical memories. This research contributes to the literatures on person perception, psychopathy, and narrative identity. It also supports the status of autobiographical narratives as a unique source of data in personality research and clinical inference.

Prototypical Validity and Factor Structure of the French Version of the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP) Model

In a study undertaken to examine the content validity of the French-language version of the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP), a lexically-based conceptual model and clinical assessment of psychopathy, 204 French-speaking mental health professionals rated the symptoms covered by the CAPP for prototypicality. The majority of the symptoms were deemed to be “moderately” to “highly” prototypical of psychopathy. Of the model’s six domains, Dominance, Attachment and Self were considered more prototypical than Emotional, Behavioral and Cognitive. Results were consistent with those of other prototypicality studies. Descriptives analyses suggested that the ratings of English-speaking mental health professionals were higher than their French-speaking counterparts. However, the effect sizes were small according to the Cohen’s d analyses. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that Attachment was the only unidimensional domain. Finally, exploratory factor analysis yielded three factors—Egotism, Interpersonal rigidity, and Lack of responsibility. These factors were primarily underpinned by symptoms that entailed interpersonal and social cognitive traits.

Associations between the triarchic traits and mental health symptoms: the role of coping styles as mediators.

We investigated relationships between the triarchic model of psychopathy, coping styles, and externalizing and internalizing symptoms, and verified the mediating effect of coping styles. Participants were 957 adults responding to the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure, Inventory of depression and anxiety symptoms expanded version, and Crime and Analogous Behavior Scale. Data were analyzed using four path analyses to test our hypothesis, indicating each triarchic trait is differently associated with psychological symptoms and coping styles. We also observed the preference for some coping styles affecting the association between triarchic traits and psychological symptoms. Our findings suggest that coping styles affect only the associations between boldness*distress and boldness*fear, indicating that specific coping strategies can account for variations in distress and fear linked to boldness.

Psychopathy and associations with reward responsiveness and social networks in emerging adults

Psychopathy is characterized by bold, callous, and disinhibited personality features. Research in psychopathy primarily focuses on associations with negatively-valenced social and affective constructs, but less work has investigated positively-valenced constructs. The present investigation examined self-reported psychopathy and associations with reward responsiveness and social networks among first-year university students (n = 245). Results indicated that the triarchic psychopathy facets uniquely mapped onto two different domains of reward; specifically, boldness predicted increased reward responsiveness whereas disinhibition predicted increased delay discounting. With respect to social networks, boldness predicted increased, and meanness predicted decreased, self-reported quantity and quality of peer relationships. These findings provide insight on reward-relevant models of psychopathy as well as the socially adaptive and maladaptive outcomes of psychopathy during emerging adulthood.

Construct Validity of Triarchic Model Traits in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study Using the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire.

The triarchic model of psychopathy emphasizes the role of three phenotypic personality domains (boldness, meanness, and disinhibition) that have been operationalized using the well-established Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. The present study sought to further validate the MPQ-Tri scales and examine their temporal stability and predictive validity across two time points (ages 18 and 26) from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a population-representative and longitudinal sample (N = 1,037). This investigation necessitated modification of the MPQ-Tri scales to enable their use in a broader range of samples, including the Dunedin Study. The revised MPQ-Tri scales demonstrated good temporal stability, and correlation and multiple linear regression analyses predominantly revealed associations consistent with theoretical expectations. Overall, the findings provide support for the MPQ-Tri scales as reliable, stable, and valid measures of the triarchic constructs, which provide a unique opportunity to examine highly novel research questions concerning psychopathy in a wide variety of samples.

The implicit measurement of psychopathy

This study explored whether psychopathic traits might be measured using indirect or “implicit” measures. Three Implicit Association Tests, reflecting each domain of the Triarchic model of psychopathy: Boldness, Meanness and Disinhibition, were completed by mixed-gender, community-based samples (ns = 334, 376, 358). Each IAT demonstrated good internal reliability and showed concurrent validity. Associations with self-report scores on a validated explicit measure of Triarchic psychopathy exceeded those generally reported in the personality IAT literature. The IATs displayed discriminant validity, only correlating with their counterpart domain scores, predictive validity to some explicit measures of known correlates of psychopathy (e.g., aggression), and were robust to socially desirable responding. With further development, the IATs may be a useful research tool alongside self-report psychopathy measures.

Associations between the triarchic traits and mental health symptoms: the role of coping styles as mediators.

We investigated relationships between the triarchic model of psychopathy, coping styles, and externalizing and internalizing symptoms, and verified the mediating effect of coping styles. Participants were 957 adults responding to the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure, Inventory of depression and anxiety symptoms expanded version, and Crime and Analogous Behavior Scale. Data were analyzed using four path analyses to test our hypothesis, indicating each triarchic trait is differently associated with psychological symptoms and coping styles. We also observed the preference for some coping styles affecting the association between triarchic traits and psychological symptoms. Our findings suggest that coping styles affect only the associations between boldness*distress and boldness*fear, indicating that specific coping strategies can account for variations in distress and fear linked to boldness.

Moderation effects in personality disorder research.

Tests of statistical interactions (or tests of moderation effects) in personality disorder research are a common way for researchers to examine nuanced hypotheses relevant to personality pathology. However, the nature of statistical interactions makes them difficult to reliably detect in many research scenarios. The present study used a flexible, simulation-based approach to estimate statistical power to detect trait-by-trait interactions common to psychopathy research using the Triarchic model of Psychopathy and the Psychopathic Personality Inventory. Our results show that even above-average sample sizes in these literatures (e.g., N = 428) provide inadequate power to reliably detect trait-by-trait interactions, and the sample sizes needed to detect interaction effect sizes in realistic scenarios are extremely large, ranging from 1,300 to 5,200. The implications for trait-by-trait interactions in psychopathy are discussed, as well as how the present findings might generalize to other areas of personality disorder research. We provide recommendations for how to design research studies that can provide informative tests of interactions in personality disorder research, but also highlight that a more realistic option is to abandon the traditional approach when testing for interaction effects and adopt alternative approaches that may be more productive. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The relationship between psychopathic personality, well-being, and adaptive traits in undergraduates

Although psychopathy is commonly considered exclusively maladaptive, there is growing literature on the benefits and positive outcomes observed in a subset of individuals displaying high levels of psychopathic traits. The aim of the present study was to explore the relationship between adaptive traits known to correlate with the psychopathic personality and psychopathic traits on measures of well-being. Participants were N = 2209 (84 % females) Canadian university students who completed self-report measures of adaptive traits, psychopathic traits, and well-being. A cluster analysis based on adaptive and psychopathic traits resulted in four groups: individuals above-average on both traits (HT), individuals with under-average psychopathic traits and above-average adaptive traits (AP), individuals with above-average psychopathic traits and under-average adaptive traits (NP), and those under-average on both traits (LT). Our findings suggest that individuals with high levels of adaptive traits display higher levels of well-being (i.e., durable happiness, satisfaction with life, and self-esteem). These high levels of well-being were observed in both HT and AP groups, suggesting that individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits may not display lower well-being, so long as they also possess sufficient levels of adaptive traits. Our results are discussed through the different models of successful psychopathy.