Triarchic Conceptualization Of Psychopathy Research Articles

Psychopathy and COVID‐19: Callousness, impulsivity, and motivational reasons for engaging in prevention behavior

AbstractTwo direct replication studies were conducted to investigate the associations of psychopathic traits with engagement in COVID‐19 prevention behavior and motivational reasons for engaging in such behavior. College undergraduate students completed two self‐report measures of psychopathic traits based on the four‐factor conceptualization of psychopathy (callous affect, manipulative tendency, erratic lifestyle, criminal tendency) and the triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy (meanness, disinhibition, boldness). Participants then reported the degree to which they engaged in COVID‐19 prevention behavior currently and in the past, and reported their self‐focused and other‐focused motivational reasons for doing so. Results aggregated across both studies (N = 292) revealed that traits reflecting emotional callousness and impulsivity independently predicted lower levels of other‐focused reasons for engaging in prevention behavior. Moreover, controlling for other‐focused reasons appreciably reduced negative associations of emotional callousness and impulsivity with prevention behavior. The results provide insight into points of convergence in conceptualization and measurement of psychopathy from multiple theoretical perspectives and the importance of considering the impact of divisive personality traits on motivation to protect others during pandemics.

The TriPM and MMPI-2-RF Tri-Scales: a Direct Construct Validity Comparison

The triarchic psychopathy model has become a popular perspective from which psychopathic personality traits can be understood. Its constructs can be operationalized via multiple methods, including the scales developed for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form item pool (MMPI-2-RF; Ben-Porath, Y. S., & Tellegen, A. (2008)/2011. MMPI-2-RF: Manual for administration, scoring and interpretation. University of Minnesota Press. doi:10.1037/t15121-000). Early research has supported the validity and reliability of the MMPI-2-RF-Tri scales. However, no study has directly compared the concurrent validity of these indices with that of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM; Patrick, C. J. (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, Tallahassee). The current study was conducted using a sample of over 1000 university students at a large midwestern university. All participants were administered both the TriPM and the MMPI-2-RF, as well as other concurrent measures relevant to psychopathy. We found that the MMPI-2-RF-Tri scale scores yielded similar correlation patterns to the TriPM scores from the same sample. Most notably, we found that there was a negligible difference amongst the boldness convergent associations across the TriPM and MMPI-2-RF-Tri measures. Implications of these findings and limitations of this study are discussed.

Psychometric Properties of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory Triarchic Scales and Its Short Version in Chinese Male Juvenile Offenders

The triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy encompasses three distinct dispositional components: boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. The current study aimed to validate triarchic construct scales composed of items from the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) in a sample of Chinese male juvenile offenders (N = 613, mean age = 17.14 years, SD = 1.09 years). Although the CFA and ESEM models failed to support the three-factor structure for YPI-based triarchic scores, the convergent and criteria validity of the YPI-Tri and YPI-Tri-S were supported as they demonstrated the expected relation with other psychopathic traits or component measures and aggressive behavior measures. The internal consistency of the YPI-Tri and YPI-Tri-S scores ranged from marginal to good. The findings provide preliminary evidence for the YPI-based triarchic scores and support for the utility of the YPI-Tri and YPI-Tri-S in assessing psychopathy in Chinese male juvenile offenders.

Psychopathy and procrastination: Triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy and its relations to active and passive procrastination

The present study examined the relationships between potentially adaptive and maladaptive aspects of psychopathy distinguished within the triarchic model (i.e., boldness, meanness and disinhibition) and two types of procrastination, reflecting its functional and dysfunctional aspects (i.e., active procrastination and passive procrastination). Additionally, the potential mediating mechanisms underlying these associations were investigated. The results revealed that the three components of the triarchic model of psychopathy were related to different forms of procrastination in distinct ways. In particular, active procrastination displayed a positive link to boldness and meanness, whereas passive procrastination was found to be positively related to disinhibition and negatively to boldness. Furthermore, two parallel multiple mediation analyses demonstrated the mediating effects of individual difference variables (i.e., impulsiveness, negative affectivity, general self-efficacy) on these relationships. As hypothesized, impulsiveness and negative affectivity partially mediated the association between disinhibition and passive procrastination, while self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between boldness and active procrastination. The paper concentrated on the theoretical implications of these findings for understanding how different psychopathy-related traits are related to different aspects of procrastination.

The intersection of sociodemographic characteristics within the nomological network of the triarchic psychopathy model in a forensic sample

PurposeSystematic investigations into the interplay of sociodemographic factors in the relations of psychopathic traits to criminal behaviors, criminogenic, and treatment-related factors are underdeveloped, particularly concerning the triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy (Patrick, Fowles, & Krueger, 2009). The current study examined the potential moderating roles played by sociodemographic factors within the triarchic psychopathy framework in relation to criminal history and pertinent external correlates. Broadly, we anticipated stronger relations between psychopathic traits and external correlates for European-Americans compared with African-Americans, at lower levels of SES, and for males. MethodsUsing a forensic mental health clinic sample (n = 1058), primary hypotheses were evaluated by modeling interaction effects, estimated using 10,000 bootstraps in PROCESS v.2.16 (Hayes, 2013). ResultsPsychopathic traits largely manifested equivalent relations to external criteria across race, SES, and gender, with a few notable exceptions. For example, relations of psychopathic traits (Meanness, Disinhibition) to some legal history variables were unexpectedly more pronounced in African-Americans. However, the nuanced relations across psychopathic traits were consistent with theoretical conceptualizations of the triarchic framework. ConclusionsIn all, this study supports the use of the triarchic psychopathy framework within diverse samples in forensic settings, but some findings may additionally reflect well-established racial and social disparities in legal decision-making.

Psychopathic traits and politics: Examining affiliation, support of political issues, and the role of empathy

The relation of psychopathy to morality has been extensively examined, yet few studies have considered relations to political attitudes, which involve moral decision-making. We examined how psychopathic traits relate to political affiliation and opinions on political issues, using the triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy (Patrick, Fowles, & Krueger, 2009) and testing empathy components as mediators. Interpersonal-affective (Boldness and Meanness) traits were higher in Republicans compared to Democrats. Moreover, Boldness was associated with conservative opinions on economic issues, while Meanness evinced stronger relations to conservative opinions on social issues. Triarchic domains also evidenced unique associations to issues concerning minorities or discrimination. Further, empathy mediated relations between Meanness and decreased support for certain issues (e.g., affirmative action). Overall, psychopathy, particularly the interpersonal-affective traits, appear pertinent to political attitudes, while empathy deficits may statistically account for unique effects of Meanness.

Integrating the HEXACO model with the Triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy

The current study contributes to the ongoing debate about the nature of psychopathic traits by examining the convergence between a measure of the Triarchic model of psychopathy (Boldness, Meanness, and Disinhibition; Patrick, Fowles, & Krueger, 2009) and the HEXACO model of personality (e.g., Ashton & Lee, 2007) using a sample of 545 undergraduates. There was substantial overlap between the two inventories. Boldness was primarily associated with (low) Emotionality and Extraversion. Meanness was mostly associated with (low) Honestly-Humility and Emotionality whereas Disinhibition had a strong negative correlation with Conscientiousness. Measures of the Triarchic traits provided some evidence of incremental utility over the HEXACO domains in predicting scores on relevant external correlates (e.g., self-esteem, maladaptive personality traits). Results further clarify the Triarchic constructs and support arguments that many psychopathic traits are extreme variants of normal personality traits.

Risk taking and the triarchic model of psychopathy

ABSTRACTIntroduction: High risk behaviors, such as aggression, criminality, sexual promiscuity, drug use, and gambling, are often associated with psychopathic traits. Such behaviors might arise due to a lack of fear of the consequences (boldness) or due to impulsive actions (disinhibition). We examined risk taking behavior in the laboratory setting using the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART), where an individual can inflate a balloon to earn a reward, but will lose this accumulated reward if the balloon bursts. The task reflects the willingness to take risks under conditions where the risk-taking behavior is understood and is made clear to the individual. Method: BART performance was measured in a mixed community and offender sample, and psychopathy was characterized via the triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy, which proposes that psychopathy is a combination of boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. Results: Total psychopathy score was correlated with greater risk taking on the BART, and this effect was mainly due to the Boldness scale rather than the Meanness or Disinhibition scales. These relationships were not moderated by the nature of the sample (offender vs. community) or by gender. Conclusions: Individuals with high psychopathy scores appear more willing to take risks on this simple laboratory task, and this behavior appears due to boldness rather than being related to an impulsive disposition.

A Further Evaluation of the Triarchic Conceptualization of Psychopathy in College Students

The current study provides additional information about the nomological networks of the personality dimensions associated with the triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy – boldness, meanness, and disinhibition (Patrick et al. 2009). All analyses were based on a sample of college students (N = 633 to 637; 50 % women). We evaluated correlations between measures of the triarchic constructs and measures of the facets and domains of the Five-Factor Model (FFM). We also evaluated associations between triarchic constructs and measures of self-esteem, narcissism, aggression and antisocial behavior and tested whether the triarchic measures increment measures of the FFM for predicting these variables. We replicated and extended previous studies concerning the correlates of boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. We also found evidence that measures of the triarchic dimensions incremented measures of the FFM, especially when considering self-reported antisocial behavior.

Boldness Explains a Key Difference Between Psychopathy and Antisocial Personality Disorder

Although antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) has represented the current operationalization of psychopathy since DSM‑III, it has long been recognized as failing to capture the full range of the construct. The current study examined the degree to which Boldness, a trait domain within the triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy that captures fearlessness, dominance and low stress reactivity, represents a distinct difference between psychopathy and ASPD. Utilizing a sample of 152 male prison inmates, the current study examined the extent to which Boldness, relative to Meanness and Disinhibition (indexed by the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure [TriPM]), accounted for incremental variance beyond ASPD symptom counts (indexed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‑IV Axis II Disorders ASPD module) in predicting psychopathy (as indexed by Psychopathy Checklist-Revised [PCL‑R] total, factor and facets scores). TriPM Boldness added to the incremental prediction of PCL‑R Factor 1 (Interpersonal/Affective) and Facet 1 (Interpersonal) scores above and beyond ASPD scores.

A New Measure of Attitudes Toward Sexually Predatory Tactics and Its Relation to the Triarchic Model of Psychopathy

Psychopathic personality traits are associated with a variety of sexually coercive behaviors. The current study introduced a new measure of attitudes toward sexually predatory tactics and used the triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy as a framework for understanding the association between psychopathy and sexual coercion. The new measure, in which respondents rate the behaviors of men employing various sexually coercive tactics, had a two-component structure and was associated with other measures of problematic sexual behaviors. For the vignettes describing manipulative behaviors, men who were bolder, meaner, and more disinhibited rated these behaviors as more acceptable and as behaviors they would be more likely to enact. There was also an interaction between boldness and disinhibition: At higher levels of boldness, disinhibition became a stronger predictor of positive attitudes toward these behaviors. Only disinhibition was related to reporting more positive attitudes toward vignettes describing more extreme and potentially criminal predatory behaviors.

Triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy: Developmental origins of disinhibition, boldness, and meanness

The clinical concept of psychopathy ("psychopathic personality") is generally considered to entail persistent behavioral deviancy in the company of emotional-interpersonal detachment. However, longstanding debates continue regarding the appropriate scope and boundaries of the concept. Here, we review alternative historic descriptions of the disorder together with empirical findings for the best-established assessment instruments in use with adolescents and youth as a basis for formulating an integrative, triarchic model of psychopathy. The essence of the triarchic model is that psychopathy encompasses three distinct phenotypic constructs: disinhibition, which reflects a general propensity toward problems of impulse control; boldness, which is defined as the nexus of social dominance, emotional resiliency, and venturesomeness; and meanness, which is defined as aggressive resource seeking without regard for others ("dysaffliated agency"). These differing phenotypic components are considered in terms of relevant etiologic and developmental pathways. The triarchic conceptualization provides a basis for reconciling and accommodating alternative descriptive accounts of psychopathy, and a framework for coordinating research on neurobiological and developmental processes contributing to varying manifestations of the disorder.