Psychopathy Factors Research Articles

Emotion-modulated startle in psychopathy: clarifying familiar effects.

The behavior of psychopathic individuals is thought to reflect a core fear deficit that prevents these individuals from appreciating the consequences of their choices and actions. However, growing evidence suggests that psychopathy-related emotion deficits are moderated by attention and, thus, may not reflect a reduced capacity for emotion responding. The present study attempts to reconcile this attention perspective with one of the most cited findings in psychopathy, which reports emotion-modulated startle deficits among psychopathic individuals during picture viewing. In this study, we evaluate the potential effects of a putative attention bottleneck on the emotion processing of psychopathic offenders during picture viewing by manipulating picture familiarity and examining emotion-modulated startle and late positive potential (LPP). As predicted, psychopathic individuals displayed the classic deficit in emotion-modulated startle during novel pictures, but they showed no deficit in emotion-modulated startle during familiar pictures. Conversely, results for LPP responses revealed psychopathy-related differences during familiar pictures and no psychopathy-related differences during novel pictures. Important differences related to the two factors of psychopathy are also discussed. Overall, the results of this study not only highlight the differential importance of perceptual load on emotion processing in psychopathy, but also raise interesting questions about the varied effects of attention on psychopathy-related emotion deficits.

Bargaining with the devil: Using economic decision-making tasks to examine the heterogeneity of psychopathic traits

We examined the three key dimensions of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R), Fearless Dominance (FD), Self-Centered Impulsivity (SCI), and Coldheartedness, to obtain a comprehensive view of the implications of the trait components of psychopathy for economic decision-making. 210 university undergraduates completed four economic tasks and five personality instruments with the aim of ascertaining the correlates of different factors of psychopathy. FD, SCI, and Coldheartedness were associated with distinct behavioral responses and personality scores: Coldheartedness and SCI were predictive of economic selfishness, whereas FD was largely uncorrelated with behavioral tasks. Implications for the conceptualization of the factor structure of psychopathy are presented, and a phenotypic approach to psychopathic traits confluent with the recently proposed dimensional restructuring of personality disorders is discussed.

Impaired cognitive empathy in criminal psychopathy: Evidence from a laboratory measure of empathic accuracy.

Empathy deficits feature prominently in theoretical accounts of psychopathy, yet studies that have examined various aspects of emotional processing related to empathy have produced a mixed body of findings. We created a laboratory measure of cognitive empathy based on the empathic accuracy paradigm (i.e., the ability to accurately infer others' emotions in a simulated interpersonal interaction) and used it to examine relationships between psychopathy (assessed with the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised) and cognitive empathy in a sample of incarcerated male offenders. Psychopathy was inversely associated with empathic accuracy performance, as well as with the number of responses when rating the emotional states of others. Empathic accuracy performance was most strongly associated with the behavioral/antisocial and lifestyle features of psychopathy. When the emotional content of target vignettes was examined, psychopathy was associated with poorer empathic accuracy for negatively valenced emotions only (fear and sadness), although nonsignificant moderate effect sizes were also observed for joy. Whereas the interpersonal/affective factor of psychopathy was associated with poor empathic accuracy for joy, the behavioral/antisocial factor was associated with poor overall empathic accuracy for negatively valenced emotions. At the psychopathy facet level, the interpersonal and lifestyle features of psychopathy were associated with poor empathic accuracy for positively valenced emotions, whereas the affective and antisocial features of psychopathy were inversely associated with empathic accuracy for negatively valenced emotions. In contrast to its association with poor empathic accuracy performance, psychopathy was not associated with ratings of perceived task difficulty.

Impulsivity and response modulation deficits in psychopathy: Evidence from the ERN and N1.

The response modulation hypothesis of psychopathy states that psychopaths' inability to adapt their behavior to changing circumstances results from an inability to process peripheral cues in the midst of a dominant response. The current study examined this relationship between psychopathic traits and response modulation using a lexical decision stop signal task and event-related potentials to assess deficits in stimulus and error processing. Overall, the impulsive antisocial (IA) factor of psychopathy was related to poor behavioral performance, particularly in relation to response inhibition. Additionally, IA was related to reduced processing of the stop signal itself as well as subsequent inhibition errors. This deficient processing of the stop signal was found to significantly mediate the relationship among IA, behavioral performance, and the processing of inhibition errors, indicating that a deficit in processing peripheral cues may be responsible for subsequent behavioral and error processing deficits in IA.

Analysis of monoaminergic genes, childhood abuse, and dimensions of psychopathy.

Psychopathy is a multidimensional construct characterized by an interpersonally manipulative and emotionally detached personality profile that differentiates it from other antisocial syndromes. Previous research with youth has linked the long allele of the serotonin transporter gene in the presence of environmental stress with the interpersonal and affective traits of psychopathy, but these relationships have yet to be examined in relation to adult psychopathy. Consequently, we examined how serotonin transporter (5-HTTLPR) polymorphisms, monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) variants, and childhood abuse measured with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire relate to dimensions of psychopathy in a forensic sample of 237 men with elevated levels of environmental adversity. We found that the emotional deficits characterizing the affective factor of psychopathy, as measured by the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version, were highest among carriers of the 5-HTT long allele. Furthermore, the impulsive and irresponsible lifestyle features of psychopathy were higher among low-activity than high-activity MAO-A carriers. These genetic effects were unexpectedly not moderated by a history of childhood abuse. Results provide evidence on the molecular genetics correlates of psychopathic traits in adulthood, relationships that should be investigated further in future research.

Using self-esteem to disaggregate psychopathy, narcissism, and aggression

Past research offers conflicting conclusions regarding the associations between self-esteem, psychopathy, narcissism, and aggression. The current study clarified these associations by examining self-esteem level and stability as it relates to the factors of psychopathy and narcissism predicting aggression. Self-report assessments were administered to 118 undergraduates. While self-esteem instability was not related to psychopathy or narcissism, it was positively correlated with aggression. Additionally, those with the healthier aspects of narcissism and Factor 1 features of psychopathy had high self-esteem and less aggression, while those with more pathological narcissism and Factor 2 features of psychopathy had lower self-esteem and more aggression. Specifically, the relationship between psychopathy Factor 1 and aggression was partially mediated by lower self-esteem.

Relationships between dimensional factors of psychopathy and schizotypy

Existing research has suggested that comorbid psychopathy may explain one trajectory of violent behavior in a subset of individuals with schizophrenia. However, it remains unclear which specific traits and symptoms are responsible for this relationship and whether it is limited to clinical and/or forensic categories, or if it reflects a dimensional relationship found in the general population. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine differential relationships between specific factors of psychopathy and schizotypy in a non-psychiatric and non-forensic sample. Two hundred and twelve undergraduate students (50% female) completed the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ) and the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R). After controlling for age and sex, regressions showed that the total SPQ score was positively related to the total PPI-R score and the Self-Centered Impulsivity factor, and negatively related to the Fearless Dominance factor. Self-Centered Impulsivity was positively related to all three SPQ factor scores, with the strongest relationship found with the Cognitive-Perceptual factor. In contrast, Fearless Dominance was negatively related to only the Interpersonal and Disorganized factors of the SPQ, with the strongest relationship found with the Interpersonal factor. Findings suggest that the comorbidity of schizotypy and the self-centered impulsivity aspect of psychopathy is not limited to extreme discrete populations, but exists in a more dimensional manner within a non-psychiatric sample. In addition, it appears that schizotypy is negatively related to the fearless dominance aspect of psychopathy, which appears to be a novel finding. Results provide preliminary findings that may have implications for developing appropriate prediction, assessment, and treatment techniques for violent behavior in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.

Heterogeneity in content and psychopathies: Comment on Marcus et al.

Comments on the original article by Marcus et al. (see record 2011-23134-001). Marcus et al. report a fascinating set of meta-analyses examining the correlations of fearless dominance (FD), self-centered impulsivity (SCI), and coldheartedness (CH) with each other, other psychopathy factors, and personality variables from four important higher-order domains. Across these studies, the factors of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005) were essentially uncorrelated, raising questions about the precise nature of psychopathy. Their meta-analyses also demonstrated that there was significant heterogeneity of effect sizes across analyses. The form of the PPI and the nature of the populations from which the samples were drawn often explained the heterogeneity in the relationships between the PPI factors and criterion-related variables. However, in a point raised by the authors, the content of the measures subsumed within the personality analyses in particular might also account for some of the unexplained heterogeneity. In this commentary, I will focus first on potential facets of the higher-order factors of personality and psychopathy that might explain conceptually the heterogeneity of effect sizes.

Clinical symptoms of ADHD and psychopathy in perpetrators

ADHD and psychopathy are both associated with poor social adaptation and antisocial behavior. Previous studies have also suggested that ADHD and psychopathy share some symptomatology. The current study attempted to further uncover the relationship between ADHD and psychopathy in perpetrators by investigating the possibility of underlying common factors of ADHD and psychopathy using standardized instruments. Correlation analyses and principal component analyses were performed on ADHD-SB self-rating questionnaires and the PCL-SV from a population of 314 offenders. Further, subjects without ADHD, full ADHD and partially remitted ADHD according to DSM-IV were compared regarding psychopathic traits. ADHD and psychopathy rating scores were found to be correlated. Only psychopathic features related to unstable and antisocial lifestyle, but not related to affective features of psychopathy accounted to this association. Findings on the principal component analysis suggest that ADHD and psychopathy are unrelated on a symptomatic level, with the exception of impulsivity, which is a common feature that seems to combine both constructs.

Comparing the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) and the Psychopathy Checklist–Youth Version (PCL-YV) Among Offending Girls

Using a multimeasure longitudinal research design, we measured psychopathy with the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) and the Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version (PCL-YV) among 122 offending girls. We examined the psychometric properties of the YPI, investigated the association between the YPI and the PCL-YV, and assessed their concurrent and longitudinal association with externalizing problems on the Youth/Adult Self-Report and violent and delinquent behaviors on the Self-Report of Offending. Alphas for the YPI were adequate and there were small to moderate correlations between the YPI and PCL-YV, suggesting that each assesses distinctive personality features. The YPI and the PCL-YV were approximately equivalent in their association with concurrent and longitudinal outcomes with two exceptions, where the YPI demonstrated a stronger association with antisocial behavior. Concurrently, there was a divergent relationship between the psychopathy factor scores and antisocial outcomes. Within 2 years, the psychopathy affective factor, which constrained the YPI and PCL-YV to be equivalent, was associated with externalizing behaviors and the YPI affective factor was associated with violent offending. Approximately 4½ years later, neither measure was significantly related to antisocial behavior after accounting for past behavior. Reasons for continuity and discontinuity in risk identification are discussed.

Gender and factor-level interactions in psychopathy: Implications for self-directed violence risk and borderline personality disorder symptoms.

Women with antisocial and psychopathic traits have a more extensive history of self-directed violence, as well as borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms, than their male counterparts (Chapman, Specht, & Cellucci, 2005; Warren et al., 2003). To inform this area of research, we examined gender differences in the relationship between psychopathy factors and risk for self-directed violence, as measured by a history of suicidal ideation, self-harm, and suicide attempts, across 2 studies. In both studies, we found that the interaction of the interpersonal-affective (Factor 1) and impulsive-antisocial traits (Factor 2) of psychopathy, a combination considered to exemplify high psychopathy, was associated with ideation, self-harm, and suicide attempt histories specifically in women. In men, Factor 2 traits were associated with these risk indices for self-directed violence, regardless of Factor 1. In Study 2, we extended our analysis to examine whether BPD accounted for the relationship between psychopathy and self-directed violence differentially in women and men. Results suggested that BPD symptoms partially accounted for the effects of Factor 2 on self-directed violence (both self-harm and attempts) in both genders but fully accounted for Factor 1 protective effects only in men. These findings underscore the notion that the same psychopathic trait liabilities, at least as they are currently assessed, may confer risk for different forms of behavioral maladjustment in women versus men.

Is Low Anxiety Part of the Psychopathy Construct?

Low anxiety has traditionally been considered a feature of psychopathy, but there has been mixed research support for this conceptualization. We investigated the PPI-R-SF Stress Immunity subscale (a measure of low anxiety) in relation to 2 widely used self-report psychopathy scales in a sample of 346 undergraduate students. Results indicated that PPI-R-SF Stress Immunity was nearly unrelated to other indicators of psychopathy, showing a near-zero loading on the common psychopathy factor defined jointly by the scales of the PPI-R-SF and SRP-III. Stress Immunity also showed a pattern of personality and temperament correlates much different from those of other psychopathy subscales. Finally, Stress Immunity had a slight negative correlation with self-reports of diverse antisocial acts. These results suggest that despite its historical importance in the conceptualization of psychopathy, low anxiety is likely not a core feature of psychopathy.

Somatic aphasia: Mismatch of body sensations with autonomic stress reactivity in psychopathy

BackgroundAlthough one of the main characteristics of psychopaths is a deficit in emotion, it is unknown whether they show a fundamental impairment in appropriately recognizing their own body sensations during an emotion-inducing task. MethodSkin conductance and heart rate were recorded in 138 males during a social stressor together with subjective reports of body sensations. Psychopathic traits were assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) 2nd edition (Hare, 2003). ResultsNonpsychopathic controls who reported higher body sensations showed higher heart rate reactivity, but this verbal-autonomic consistency was not found in psychopathic individuals. This mind–body disconnection is particularly associated with the interpersonal-affective factor of psychopathy. ConclusionsFindings are the first to document this body sensation–autonomic mismatch in psychopaths, and suggest that somatic aphasia – the inaccurate identification and recognition of one's own somatic states – may partly underlie the interpersonal-affective features of psychopathy.

Borderline personality disorder as a female phenotypic expression of psychopathy?

Evidence suggests that the combination of the interpersonal-affective (F1) and impulsive-antisocial (F2) features of psychopathy may be associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD), specifically among women (e.g., Coid, 1993; Hicks, Vaidyanathan, & Patrick, 2010). However, empirical research explicitly examining gendered relationships between BPD and psychopathy factors is lacking. To further inform this area of research, we investigated the hypothesis that the interplay between the two psychopathy factors is associated with BPD among women across two studies. Study 1 consisted of a college sample of 318 adults (51% women), and Study 2 consisted of a large sample of 488 female prisoners. The interpersonal-affective (F1) and impulsive-antisocial psychopathy (F2) scores, measured with self-report and clinician-rated indices, respectively, were entered as explanatory variables in regression analyses to investigate their unique contributions to BPD traits. Across two independent samples, results indicated that the interaction of high F1 and F2 psychopathy scores was associated with BPD in women. This association was found to be specific to women in Study 1. These results suggest that BPD and psychopathy, at least as they are measured by current instruments, overlap in women and, accordingly, may reflect gender-differentiated phenotypic expressions of similar dispositional vulnerabilities.

The effects of sertraline on psychopathic traits.

We examined whether antidepressants alter expression of psychopathic personality traits in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Data were collected from a double-blind, placebo-controlled 8-week trial evaluating the efficacy of sertraline (50-200 mg/day) combined with either tri-iodothyronine (T3) or matching placebo in adult outpatients with major depressive disorder. Administration of sertraline was open-label; T3/placebo was double-blind. At the baseline and week 8 visits, patients completed the short form of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), a well-validated self-report measure assessing two major factors of psychopathy: Fearless Dominance (PPI-1) and Self-Centered Impulsivity (PPI-2). Change in PPI scores were assessed using paired t-tests for all participants who completed a baseline and postrandomization PPI. Ninety patients (84 completers and six who terminated the trial early) were eligible for the analysis. Both PPI factors changed significantly from baseline to endpoint, but in opposing directions. The mean score on PPI-1 increased significantly during treatment; this change was weakly correlated with change in depression scores. In contrast, the mean score on PPI-2 decreased significantly, but these changes were not correlated with changes in depression scores. Independent of their effects on depression, antidepressants increase adaptive traits traditionally observed in psychopathic individuals, such as social charm and interpersonal and physical boldness. Antidepressants reduce other, more maladaptive, traits associated with psychopathy, including dysregulated impulsivity and externalization.

Psychopathy, intelligence and conviction history

The current study examined the relationship between psychopathy, intelligence and two variables describing the conviction history (length of conviction and number of prior convictions). It was hypothesized that psychopathy factors (interpersonal and antisocial factors assuming a 2-factor model or interpersonal, affective, lifestyle and antisocial factors assuming a 4-factor model) would be related in different ways to IQ scores, length of conviction and number of prior convictions. Psychopathy and IQ were assessed using the PCL:SV and the CFT 20-R respectively. Results indicated no association between interpersonal psychopathy features (Factor 1, two-factor model), IQ and the number of prior convictions but a positive association between Factor 1 and the length of conviction. Antisocial features (Factor 2, two-factor model) were negatively related to IQ and the length of conviction and positively related to the number of prior convictions. Results were further differentiated for the four-factor model of psychopathy. The relationship between IQ and psychopathy features was further assessed by statistically isolating the effects of the two factors of psychopathy. It was found that individuals scoring high on interpersonal features of psychopathy are more intelligent than those scoring high on antisocial features, but less intelligent than those scoring low on both psychopathy features. The results underpin the importance of allocating psychopathic individuals to subgroups on the basis of personality characteristics and criminological features. These subgroups may identify different types of offenders and may be highly valuable for defining treatment needs and risk of future violence.

Psychopathic Traits in Adolescence and the Five Factor Model of Personality

The present study aimed to expand work on psychopathic traits and the Five Factor Model (FFM; Costa and McCrae 1992). The associations between the three factors of psychopathy and personality traits—assessed by means of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI, Andershed et al. 2002) and the Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R; Costa and McCrae 1992)—were explored in a community sample of 152 male adolescents and young adults. The unique relations of each YPI subscale with the NEO domains/facets were examined by computing partial correlations controlling for the scores on the other two YPI psychopathy subscales. The YPI Callous/Unemotional dimension exhibited negative associations with Extraversion, Openness, and Agreeableness. The YPI Impulsive/Irresponsible factor was positively associated with Extraversion and negatively with Conscientiousness. The YPI Grandiose/Manipulative factor displayed positive associations with Openness and Conscientiousness. We discuss the implications of the differential associations of the three psychopathy factors with the Five Factor domains/facets for theories of the etiology of psychopathy.

Both Self-Report and Interview-Based Measures of Psychopathy Predict Attention Abnormalities in Criminal Offenders

Historically, psychopathy has been viewed as a clinical syndrome with a unitary etiology, assessed via clinical interview. However, factor analytic studies suggest that psychopathy may also be understood as a combination of two subfactors consisting of (a) interpersonal-affective and (b) lifestyle-antisocial traits. Furthermore, evidence supports the use of self-report measures to assess psychopathy and these subfactors. This investigation employed a Stroop-like task to determine the relationship of the two psychopathy factors, as assessed by both interview-based and self-report measures, to attention-related abnormalities in psychopathy. For both instruments, the factors interacted to predict performance (i.e., interference), though the unique main effects were nonsignificant. The results suggest that the anomalous selective attention of psychopathic offenders is specific to individuals with high scores on both factors. Moreover, these results have important implications for the two-factor model of psychopathy and provide preliminary support for the functional similarity of self-report and interview-based measures of psychopathy.

An examination of the structure of self-report psychopathy measures and their relations with general traits and externalizing behaviors.

Self-report assessment of psychopathy is plagued by inconsistencies among the relations of the various psychopathy factors. We examined the factor structure of 3 prominent self-report measures of psychopathy-the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-III (SRP-III; Williams, Paulhus, & Hare, 2007), the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP; Levenson, Kiehl, & Fitzpatrick, 1995), and the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-R (PPI-R; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005). A coherent 4-factor structure resulted from conducting an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the psychopathy subscales along with the domains from the five-factor model. Two of these factors were consistent with traditional conceptualizations of a 2-factor structure of psychopathy (i.e., Factor 1, which loaded negatively with Agreeableness; Factor 2, which loaded negatively with Conscientiousness), while 2 additional factors emerged, 1 of which emphasized low Neuroticism and 1 of which emphasized traits related to novelty/reward-seeking and dominance-related personality traits (high Extraversion). We also investigated the relations of these factors with a variety of externalizing behaviors (EB). The psychopathy scales indicative of interpersonal antagonism (i.e., Factor 1) were most consistently and strongly related to EB. Our findings are discussed in terms of the importance of a trait-based perspective in the assessment of psychopathy.

Temperament traits and psychopathy in a group of patients with antisocial personality disorder

Objective The Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R) and Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) have been used extensively in research of personality disorders; however, no previous study has investigated the relation between psychopathy factors and temperament and character traits in patients with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Our aim was to fill this gap in the literature. Methods The PCL-R Factor scores and the TCI temperament and character scores were evaluated in 68 men with ASPD and 65 healthy male controls. Results The ASPD cases had significantly higher PCL-R Factor 1, Factor 2, and Total scores, as well as significantly higher TCI Novelty Seeking and Harm Avoidance scores, whereas the control group had higher TCI Reward Dependence, Persistence, Self-Directedness, and Cooperativeness scores. Correlation analysis revealed that, in the whole study group, PCL-R Factor 1, Factor 2, and Total scores were positively correlated with Novelty Seeking and Harm Avoidance scores and negatively correlated with Reward Dependence, Persistence, Self-Directedness, and Cooperativeness scores. When each group was analyzed separately, the correlations were not significant. Regression analysis supported the main findings. Conclusion Our results showed that both PCL-R Factor 1 score, which is claimed to reflect “core psychopathy,” and PCL-R Factor 2 score, which reflects criminal behaviors, were positively correlated with Novelty Seeking and Harm Avoidance and were negatively correlated with Reward Dependence in the whole sample. The reduced variance of PCL-R in each group might lead to nonsignificant associations within groups. Without the subjects with severe psychopathy in the present study, it might not be possible to show the association.