Facets Of Psychopathy Research Articles

Antisocial personality traits as potential risk factors for cyberstalking: only aspects of psychopathy and narcissism matter

Cyberstalking is defined as the repeated pursuit of an individual using the Internet. The current study examined the relationship between Dark Triad constructs and cyberstalking among a large sample of adults (N = 1724) while addressing several limitations of previous research. Each construct was assessed using a validated measure; a newer measure of Machiavellianism was used to ensure that psychopathy and Machiavellianism could be distinguished; and separate models were run for each trait to avoid interpreting residuals from multivariate models. After controlling for age and sex, only the antisocial facet of psychopathy (early and repeated antisocial behaviour; odds ratio, OR = 2.74, 95% confidence interval, CI [1.73, 4.36]) and grandiose narcissism (inflated self-esteem and antagonism; OR = 1.27, 95% CI [1.08, 1.50]) were significantly related to cyberstalking perpetration within the past 12 months. While psychopathy and narcissism may be important factors for understanding antisocial behaviour, Machiavellianism appears to have limited predictive and practical utility.

Psychopathy checklist-youth version scores and recurring victimisation by an intimate partner in a justice-involved sample: A comparison of young men and women using longitudinal data.

People involved in the criminal justice system are at increased risk of recurring intimate partner violent (IPV) victimisation. Experience of trauma is linked to a variety of negative outcomes, including repeated experiences, so it is important to identify factors that may distinguish non-victims, single-event victims and recurring victims at an early stage as this could hold potential for intervention efforts. Research studies have identified individual-level risk factors for IPV victimisation but have not investigated psychopathy traits or sex differences. To examine sex differences in psychopathy scores and later IPV victimisation. Using the Pathways to Desistance study, a longitudinal study of 1354 adjudicated adolescent offenders, relationships between psychopathy checklist-youth version (PCL-YV) scores measured during the baseline wave, independent/control variables in wave 6 and self-reported IPV victimisation in wave 7 were explored using multinomial regression models. Among justice-involved young adults (average age 19), PCL-YV scores differentiated between non-victims, single-event victims and recurring victims. Higher total scores and higher ratings on the antisocial behaviours facet of psychopathy significantly increased the relative risk of recurring victimisation by an intimate partner overall, and specifically of emotional or physical intimate partner violence. For the young women but not the young men, a higher scoring on the interpersonal manipulation facet of psychopathy specifically increased the relative risk of being a recurring victim of any intimate partner violence. Sex-specific differences in relationships between high PVL-YV scores and recurring IPV victimisation can be used to screen for risk of repeated trauma for justice-involved young adults, which may change a trajectory of continued involvement in the criminal justice system to a trajectory of resilience and recovery.

Psychopathy and Gender in Three Faces of Homicide

ABSTRACT Few existing studies have explored the relationship between facet-levels of psychopathy and different types of homicide. This study analyzed Korean homicide offenders’ psychopathic traits that were assessed by the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) and compared family homicide offenders to those who killed complete strangers, and to those who killed nonfamily acquaintance victims. The study used the four psychopathy facet scores, age, education, and gender as predictors to postdict the three types of homicide. Multinomial logistic regression as well as Somer’s d tests revealed that psychopathic traits differentially contributed to the different forms of deadly violence. Compared to family homicide, stranger homicide scored higher on facet 2 (affective), facet 3 (lifestyle), and facet 4 (antisocial), but lower on facet 1 (interpersonal). In the similar sense, nonfamily homicide scored higher on facets 3 and 4, but lower on facet 1, when compared to family homicide. Family homicide offenders’ higher deficit in interpersonal traits (higher scores on facet 1) has been discussed, but merits further analysis. In addition, homicides by men tended to be extrafamilial, whereas killings by women were more likely to be intrafamilial. The study suggests interesting insights on differences in psychopathy and gender in the typology of homicide.

Dark Humour: The Associations Between Humour Style, Psychopathic Traits, and Empathy

This study investigates the relationship between styles of humour, facets of psychopathy, and three facets of empathy, aiming to discern whether these variables are interrelated and how. A sample of 884 undergraduate students completed a series of questionnaires online and results were analyzed via structural equation modelling and correlations. Key findings reveal a strong positive relationship between aggressive humour, psychopathic traits, and lack of motivational empathy and a strong positive relationship between affiliative humour, affective empathy, and motivational empathy. These findings reveal that empathy and humour are largely intertwined, and therefore humour styles consistent with a lack of empathy may be an important feature of psychopathy in non-clinical settings. For instance, negative humour may be utilized by non-criminal psychopaths to harm others without facing legal repercussions. This research contributes to the study of psychopathy and bridges the gaps in research by investigating the presentation of psychopathic traits outside of institutional environments.

The Effects of Psychopathy Facets on Treatment Involvement.

The current study explored the relations between patient characteristics and psychopathic traits in predicting treatment involvement. We rated treatment involvement using detailed archival clinical files of 218 individuals committed to the Massachusetts Treatment Center (MTC). Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) scores had been rated from a previous study on the same sample. Overall, PCL-R Facets 2 and 4 significantly predicted decreases in treatment involvement, suggesting the characteristics associated with these facets have the most disruptive effects on treatment involvement. Exploratory analyses were also conducted assessing the relations between the PCL-R facets and the individual treatment involvement components. Whereas Facet 2 significantly predicted lower levels in all three individual treatment involvement components, Facet 4 only significantly predicted lower levels in two, highlighting the differentiating effects of these facets. Identifying the components that have either positive or negative effects on treatment involvement can allow clinicians to tailor treatments to optimize treatment involvement and outcome.

Exploring a paradox: Psychopathy, Morality and Organisational Citizenship Behaviour

AbstractStudies of the association between psychopathic traits and prosocial behavior are limited, with explanatory mechanisms of such dynamics being similarly scant within the empirical literature. Using a large sample of people in leadership roles, we explore the associations between the three facets of psychopathy (TriPM, Patrick CJ (2010) Operationalizing the triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy: preliminary description of brief scales for assessment of boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. Unpublished test manual, Florida State University, pp. 1110–1131), and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB, Smith et al (1983) J Appl Psychol 68:653–663). We examine the mediating role of individualizing and binding moral foundations (MFQ, Graham et al. (2013) Adv Exp Soc Psychol 47:55–130) within these relationships. Correlation analysis revealed that boldness was positively correlated with OCB, while both meanness and disinhibition were negatively correlated with OCB. Mediation analysis demonstrated that only individualizing moral foundations (IMF) mediated the relationship between meanness and OCB, such that meanness led to lower IMF and reduced levels of OCB. Our findings signal that lower IMF enables the nefarious behavior of people with darker psychopathic traits, while moral foundations as a whole play no role in advancing the prosocial behavior of people with so-called adaptive psychopathic traits. The contributions of these findings to the literature are discussed.

Online and Unkind: Examining the Personality Correlates of Online Political Incivility

Many forms of online political incivility threaten democratic norms, contribute to polarization, and are often directed at women and racial minorities. Recent research shows that online political incivility may come from a minority of users that are just as hostile offline as they are online, meaning that individual differences in personality traits may be an important predictor of online political incivility. Drawing upon a large sample of adults living in Canada (N = 1725), we examined the association between personality traits and online political incivility using robust measures of psychopathy, narcissism, Machiavellianism, and the general traits of the HEXACO. While controlling for a variety of sociodemographic and political variables, we found that people who score higher in honesty-humility, agreeableness, and conscientiousness, as well as the planfulness facet of Machiavellianism, are less likely to report engagement in online political incivility. People who score higher in extraversion, several facets of psychopathy, grandiose and vulnerable narcissism, and antagonistic Machiavellianism, by contrast, are more likely to report engagement in online political incivility. In general, the personality traits that predict offline aggression and antisocial behaviour tend to be the same traits that predict self-reports of vulgarity, stereotyping, and threats in online political discussions. Interventions to reduce online incivility may benefit from considering the dispositional tendencies of uncivil users.

The relationship between psychopathy facets and types of criminal offences

AbstractThe Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL‐R) is a widely used measurement of psychopathy comprising interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, and antisocial facets representing narrow‐band characteristics associated with the construct. However, there is little research on whether the distinct facets of psychopathy show specialised relationships with different types of criminal offences. The PCL‐R was administered to 138 adults incarcerated at a county jail. Arrests were coded into broad categories (i.e., crimes against persons, property or society), as well as for specific offence types (e.g. burglary, assault) using US crime definitions. Zero‐order correlations and zero‐inflated regression models showed significant relationships between: the lifestyle facet and property and societal crimes, mainly drug offences; the affective facet and crimes against persons; and the antisocial facet with all three major crime categories, as well as burglary, motor vehicle theft, robbery and assault. Overall, these results indicate that the PCL‐R facets offer unique information about specific forms of criminal behaviour.

Social exclusion evokes different psychophysiological responses in individuals high on the psychopathy facets fearless dominance and self-centered impulsivity.

Individuals with psychopathic personality traits are generally thought to have difficulties in processing and experiencing emotions. These difficulties could also translate to emotionally charged social situations such as social exclusion. Being socially excluded is often experienced as stressful and unpleasant, potentially even leading to selfish or aggressive behavior-both of which are linked to certain aspects of psychopathy. The current study investigated self-report and physiological responses to social exclusion in the cyberball paradigm in a carefully selected community sample of individuals either scoring high on primary (N = 24) or secondary psychopathy traits (N = 17). Across the sample, the cyberball paradigm decreased experiences of joy and approach motivation, increased subjective anger reports, and induced changes in heart rate. In contrast, individuals scoring high on secondary psychopathy traits (Self-Centered Impulsivity group) displayed stronger physiological reactivity during a habituation phase of prolonged social exclusion than individuals scoring high on primary psychopathy traits (Fearless Dominance group), indexed by changes in skin conductance level. Moreover, a potential mismatch between self-reported and physiological arousal seemed to be only observable in individuals with high secondary psychopathy traits. Overall, the current results suggest diverging patterns of emotional processing and regulation in a social exclusion situation when comparing well-functioning individuals with varying psychopathy traits. It seemed as if individuals high on primary psychopathy traits were insensitive to contextual social cues, while individuals high on secondary psychopathy traits were more affected by the potentially threatening social situation. Cautiously transferring the current findings to forensic samples, they support the idea of moving from a behavioral understanding of the psychopathy construct to a more clinical picture with distinct cognitive and emotional processing patterns in individuals high on either primary or secondary psychopathy traits.

Emotional Processing and Psychopathy Among Women: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT Psychopathy in women has gained the attention of the scientific community, but research on the emotional processing in individuals with psychopathic traits and its role in criminal behavior is still scarce. The present systematic review aims to aggregate existing literature that analyze emotional processing in women with psychopathy traits. The search terms, conducted in six databases, identified 13 relevant studies, meeting the following criteria: women, 18 years or older, prison or community contexts, and written in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. Studies pointed to a compromise in the understanding, management, and categorization of emotions, especially those with negative valence, and the presence of alexithymia in women with higher scores of psychopathic traits. Some studies revealed that women with psychopathy had reduced limbic activation, cortical deficits in emotional processing, and an absence of aversive startle response when exposed to aversive stimuli. Significant relationships between psychopathic traits, heart rate, and skin conductance response were documented. Additionally, the interpersonal-affective facet of psychopathy was linked to emotion management difficulties, while the antisocial-impulsive dimension seems linked to alexithymia and deficits in the processing of negatively valenced emotions. These findings carry practical implications for interventions with psychopathic women.

Psychopathic Traits Partly Explained the Reduced Vagal Tone of Batterers Coping with Acute Stress

ABSTRACT The importance of psychopathy for perpetration and maintenance of intimate partner violence (IPV) has been speculated. However, less is known about whether psychopathy would explain a psychophysiological response (cardiorespiratory and electrodermal) of IPV perpetrators dealing with acute stressors. Therefore, we first aimed to assess whether IPV perpetrators (n = 58) showed differences in psychopathic traits and their psychophysiological response to acute stress compared to nonviolent men (n = 53). Second, we examined in both groups whether psychopathic traits would explain a psychophysiological response when dealing with acute laboratory stress. Our results revealed that IPV perpetrators differed from controls in all the psychopathic traits, scoring higher on all psychopathy scales. Moreover, IPV perpetrators showed lower total respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) levels than controls. Finally, regarding high total psychopathy scores, factor 1 and affective facet entailed low RSA levels in both groups and scoring high in lifestyle facet of factor 2 explained reduced heart rate (HR) changes in response to acute stress in both groups. All these results highlighted that a reduced vagal tone could be characteristic of psychopathic traits, especially for the affective facet of psychopathy. Therefore, it would be important to incorporate biological markers in combination with psychological measurements to clearly diagnose IPV perpetrators before starting intervention programs. This would increase our ability to improve IPV intervention therapeutic targets and reduce risk of recidivism.

Attentional impulsivity accounts for the association of antisociality with craving and mental health problems in incarcerated individuals with substance dependence

PurposePrisoners with substance use disorder (SUD) are at risk of mental health problems. Given the common co-occurring of psychopathic traits with SUDs, probably because of underlying impulsive traits (Ellingson et al., 2018), this study aims to examine the relation between psychopathy (impulsive antisociality and fearless dominance) and the functioning of incarcerated individuals with SUD. The authors investigated whether impulsivity (motor, nonplanning and attentional) can account for the relationship between one psychopathy facet (impulsive antisociality) and craving and mental health problems.Design/methodology/approachThe authors assessed self-reported impulsivity, psychopathy, craving and mental health problems in 121 male incarcerated individuals with SUD and calculated cross-sectional linear regression analyses and mediation models.FindingsImpulsive antisociality was positively related to all impulsivity facets, craving and mental health problems. Attentional impulsivity mediated the relationship of impulsive antisociality with craving and mental health problems. Fearless dominance was related to lower attentional and nonplanning impulsivity, craving and mental health problems.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies should investigate these relations in longitudinal studies and evaluate tailored approaches, for example, mindfulness interventions.Practical implicationsInterventions to reduce craving and improve mental health might be important for those who display self-centered, antisocial behavior but are less relevant for those with fearless, dominant interpersonal behavior. Addressing attentional impulsivity may be of special interest in this regard.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study was the first to investigate the mediating role of different impulsivity facets for the association of impulsive antisociality with craving and with mental health problems in incarcerated individuals with SUD.

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.

A Pre-Registered Examination of the Relationship Between Psychopathy, Boredom-Proneness, and University-Level Cheating.

Academic cheating is a prevalent problem in all educational institutions. Finding solutions for cheating requires an understanding of who is more likely to engage in these behaviors. In this pre-registered study (including an a priori power analysis), we investigated the relationship between the four facets of psychopathy, boredom-proneness, and academic cheating in undergraduate university students (N = 161) while controlling for demographic factors (age, sex, and socioeconomic status) and attitudes supportive of cheating. Students were asked whether they had cheated in the fall 2021 term (yes/no) and about the different types of cheating behaviors they engaged in. Overall, 57% of students admitted to cheating, with online cheating being the most frequently reported behavior. Participants scoring higher on the antisocial facet of psychopathy and endorsing more positive attitudes towards cheating were more likely to report cheating in fall 2021 and engaged in a higher number of different types of cheating behaviors. Those scoring lower on the affective facet of psychopathy (i.e., more emotional) were also more likely to engage in a higher number of cheating behaviors. Boredom-proneness was correlated to both cheating outcomes in the bivariate analyses, but this effect disappeared once controlling for psychopathy and other known correlates. Understanding the features of students who engage in cheating behaviors allows for a critical examination of the potential effectiveness of anti-cheating policies and the development of more preventative classroom practices.

Intra and Extra-Familial Child Sexual Abuse: The Role of Psychopathy

The present study analyses the relationship between psychopathic traits, the four facets of psychopathy (i.e., interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, and antisocial), and the type of crime committed (i.e., intrafamilial and extrafamilial child sexual abuse; and nonsexual crimes). The Self-Report Psychopathy Scale – Short Form (SRP-SF) and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale – Short Form were completed by 110 male individuals who sexually offended minors (ISOMs) and 146 individuals convicted for nonsexual crimes. Four binary logistic regression analyses were conducted, controlling for sociodemographic, criminal, and individual variables. ISOMs are less likely to score high in the SRP-SF total score and the interpersonal facet and more likely to score high in the affective facet than individuals with nonsexual crimes. Besides, ISOMs are less likely to have a prior history of alcohol and drug abuse and to have previous contact with the justice system but are more likely to have a history of psychological problems. Therefore, only the prior alcohol and drug abuse history emerged as predictors for ISOMs subtypes. According to our results, psychopathic traits should not be considered in the assessment and intervention of ISOMs, and the focus of the intervention should be on the affective dimension and the level of psychopathology.

The “zipper model of empathy” applied to violence in schizophrenia: A search for social cognitive underpinnings of lack of empathic behavior

BackgroundThe “zipper model of empathy” has been proposed for psychopathy. It postulates that empathic behavior may fail to arise due to impaired facial emotion recognition. In this study, we examined if the model may be of relevance for schizophrenia. MethodsIn a sample of participants with schizophrenia and a history of severe interpersonal violence, associations between measures of social cognition (emotion recognition, theory of mind) and aspects of psychopathy (lack of empathy, lack of remorse) were investigated. A non-violent sample experiencing schizophrenia served as a control group. ResultsCorrelation analyses revealed a specific and statistically significant association between facial emotion recognition and lack of empathy in the violent sample. Follow-up analyses identified that neutral emotions were of particular importance. Logistic regression analyses confirmed that impairments in facial emotion recognition predicted levels of empathy in the violent sample experiencing schizophrenia. ConclusionsOur results suggest that the “zipper model of empathy” may be relevant for schizophrenia. The findings further point to the potential benefit of including social cognitive training in the treatment of persons with schizophrenia and a history of interpersonal aggression.

Psychopathy facets, perceived power, and forms of aggression.

Despite research indicating that exerting dominance and control is characteristic of psychopathy, no research has examined the role that feelings of and desire for power plays in psychopathy-related aggression. Borrowing from various literatures and novel conceptualizations, we investigated the contributions of feeling powerful and/or desiring power and distinct psychopathy facets in explaining aggression manifested in different forms (i.e., physical, verbal, indirect) across 4 samples. Results from regression analyses within each sample and a meta-analysis across the samples indicated that the impulsive facet of psychopathy was generally related to multiple forms of aggression, and the unique variance in the affective facet was primarily related to physical aggression across samples. In contrast, the unique variance of the interpersonal facet showed a primary relationship with indirect aggression (e.g., relational, passive). Desiring power made unique contributions in relation to multiple forms of aggression, whereas feeling powerful was generally unrelated and/or negatively related to aggression. In sum, the unique variance in the psychopathy facets showed fairly specialized relationships with forms of aggression, and desire for power may be an independent explanatory construct for multiple forms of aggression proneness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Identifying distinct profiles of impulsivity for the four facets of psychopathy.

Psychopathy comprises antagonistic personality traits and antisocial behaviors that are associated with critical outcomes for the individual and society (e.g., violent behavior). Since its inception, impulsivity has been theorized as a core feature of psychopathy. Research supports this assertion, yet psychopathy and impulsivity are both multifaceted constructs. As such, the associations commonly observed between psychopathy and impulsivity may obscure more nuanced profiles of impulsivity that are only observable at the facet-level. To address this gap in the literature, we collected data from a community sample using a clinical psychopathy interview along with dispositional and neurobehavioral measures of impulsivity. We regressed each of the four facets of psychopathy onto eight impulsivity variables. We followed these analyses with bootstrapped dominance analyses in order to determine which of the impulsivity variables shared the most variance with each psychopathy facet. Our analyses revealed that positive urgency was the most important aspect of impulsivity to all four facets of psychopathy. We further identified distinct profiles of impulsivity linked to each psychopathy facet-the interpersonal facet was typified by sensation seeking and temporal impulsivity. The affective and lifestyle facets were both typified by general trait impulsivity and affective impulsivity. The antisocial facet was typified by affective impulsivity and sensation seeking. Such distinct profiles of impulsivity suggest that specific behaviors linked with each facet (e.g., manipulativeness and the interpersonal facet) may be explained in part by the distinct forms of impulsivity aligned with them.

Criminal characteristics and psychopathy in women in prison.

To compare the factors and facets of psychopathy based on criminal characteristics in a sample of women in prison. Descriptive, comparative, cross-sectional study composed of a sample of 41 women incarcerated in the Ambato prison in Ecuador. In an individual session, the Hare Psychopathy Scale Revised was applied. Recidivist women, with a juvenile criminal history and who are admitted to the maximum-security ward, have a higher score in the affective facet of the PCL-R. In addition, those women who are in the maximum-security pavilion have scored high in factor 2 (social deviance), mainly in the antisocial aspect. This subgroup of women in prison is characterized by lack of remorse, emotional insensitivity, manipulation, inability to accept responsibility for their own actions, and superficial affection. Further expansion of the study of psychopathy in women is required.

The association between callous–unemotional traits and suicide ideation among youth: A conditional process analysis

BackgroundThe relationship between callous–unemotional (CU) traits (the affective facet of psychopathy and the psychopathy that occurs during childhood and adolescence) and suicide ideation (SI) remains unclear. The mechanisms underlying this association still have a gap in the literature. The aims of this study were to determine whether and how callous–unemotional traits were associated with suicide ideation, and to evaluate the mediating effect of negative affect (includes irritability, depression, and anxiety) and the moderating effect of future orientation on the association. MethodsData were extracted from a longitudinal study involving middle and high school students, with 1,913 students (55.3% girls) aged 11 to 19 years (14.9 ± 1.6 years) completing a self–reported online survey. The conditional process analysis was examined using Mplus 8.3. ResultsWe found that callous–unemotional traits positively predicted youths' current suicide ideation, with the observed positive relationship partly mediated by negative affect. However, callous–unemotional traits did not predict the worst–point suicide ideation, which indicated the connection fully mediated by negative affect. Furthermore, future orientation moderated these indirect effects. LimitationsUse of self–report measures and cross–sectional design. ConclusionsThese findings provided evidence for current debates and conflicting conclusions, and set the foundation for future research, as well as implied the important intervention goals for reducing suicide ideation in youth.