Psychopathy, Delinquency & Attachment: Testing the Meditational Relationship in Adolescence

<p>Research on psychopathy in adolescence has increased substantially over the last two decades. The majority of this research has focussed on the developmental trajectory of psychopathy and the predictive reliability for future offending (Lynam et al., 2007). There has been a recent shift towards an understanding of potential protective factors that may act as a buffer against negative outcomes for young people with psychopathic characteristics. Attachment has been proposed as one of these potential mediators (Saltaris, 2002). The current research hypothesised that attachment to parents and peers would act as a mediator between psychopathy and self-reported delinquency. Two separate populations were sampled, undergraduate university students (predominantly late adolescent and young adult), and high school students (adolescents aged 16 to18). Participants completed self-report measures of psychopathy, delinquency and attachment to peers and parents, with the university sample doing so at three separate time points. Results indicate that attachment to parents, but not peers, acted as a significant protective factor, reducing the strength of the relationship between psychopathy and delinquency for the university sample only. This finding was stable over a 16-week period. Although male participants reported higher levels of psychopathy than females across both samples, undergraduate females report increasing levels of primary psychopathy over the three time points. Additionally, high-school females report significantly higher levels of primary psychopathy than university females. The focus on adolescent self-report psychopathy is a first in this country. While further research is needed in this area, these findings point to the significance of bonds between adolescents and their caregivers.</p>

Psychopathy, Delinquency & Attachment: Testing the Meditational Relationship in Adolescence

<p>Research on psychopathy in adolescence has increased substantially over the last two decades. The majority of this research has focussed on the developmental trajectory of psychopathy and the predictive reliability for future offending (Lynam et al., 2007). There has been a recent shift towards an understanding of potential protective factors that may act as a buffer against negative outcomes for young people with psychopathic characteristics. Attachment has been proposed as one of these potential mediators (Saltaris, 2002). The current research hypothesised that attachment to parents and peers would act as a mediator between psychopathy and self-reported delinquency. Two separate populations were sampled, undergraduate university students (predominantly late adolescent and young adult), and high school students (adolescents aged 16 to18). Participants completed self-report measures of psychopathy, delinquency and attachment to peers and parents, with the university sample doing so at three separate time points. Results indicate that attachment to parents, but not peers, acted as a significant protective factor, reducing the strength of the relationship between psychopathy and delinquency for the university sample only. This finding was stable over a 16-week period. Although male participants reported higher levels of psychopathy than females across both samples, undergraduate females report increasing levels of primary psychopathy over the three time points. Additionally, high-school females report significantly higher levels of primary psychopathy than university females. The focus on adolescent self-report psychopathy is a first in this country. While further research is needed in this area, these findings point to the significance of bonds between adolescents and their caregivers.</p>

Psychopathy and Occurrence of Gambling Problems: The Role of Gambling Protective Strategies and Urgency

Background Psychopathy has been an increasing area of clinical and personality research and is associated with numerous problematic outcomes, including pathological gambling, though this area of research is limited. The most common conceptualization of psychopathy is a two-factor model of primary and secondary psychopathy, with primary psychopathy comprising more interpersonal traits and secondary psychopathy encompassing more antisocial behaviors. Previous research has linked psychopathy to greater urgency and lower utilization of harm reduction strategies. Objectives The current study examines the relationship between primary psychopathy, secondary psychopathy, and problematic gambling, as well as the possible mechanisms of these relationships. Method College student gamblers ( n = 308) completed surveys on psychopathy, impulsivity, protective behavioral strategies regarding gambling, and possible gambling problems. Results Primary psychopathy was inversely related to gambling protective behavioral strategies (PBS) and secondary psychopathy was positively associated with higher levels of urgency. Secondary psychopathy, via urgency, was a strong predictor of whether an individual will experience gambling problems, while primary psychopathy via PBS better predicts the number of gambling problems one experiences. Conclusion This study extends an overall under-researched area of gambling and personality and highlights the importance of delineating different factors of psychopathy regarding problematic gambling outcomes.

The do’s and don’ts of supervisor behavior. Supervisor personality as predictor for subordinate’s job insecurity and citizenship behaviors

Supervisor behavior can be easily interpreted in a positive or negative key; therefore subordinates’ perceptions regarding their supervisor behavior can be biased by numerous personal variables. In the present study we collected data from 20 supervisors and 402 subordinates, and we investigated the relationships between these two perspectives. The supervisors completed two popular self-reported personality scales (i.e., a Big Five scale and a questionnaire that assessed psychopathic tendencies), while their subordinates responded to scales that assessed their level of job insecurity and their self-reported organizational citizenship behaviors. Our multilevel analyses indicated significant relationships between subordinates’ variables (i.e., job insecurity, organizational citizenship behaviors) and their managers’ agreeableness or their managers’ primary psychopathy. In addition, multilevel structural equation models confirmed that subordinates’ job insecurity partially mediated the relationship between supervisors’ primary psychopathy and subordinates’ citizenship behaviors. These findings confirmed the theoretical assumptions of the social learning theory, which anticipated the relationships between supervisors’ behaviors and employees’ behaviors.

Executive Dysfunction Associated With the Primary Psychopathic Features of Borderline Personality Disorder

Purpose: The aim of the present study is to investigate whether the presence of psychopathic features in BPD is related to dysfunction in executive functions and other neuropsychological functions in these patients.Methods: 82 patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and 54 control subjects were studied through clinical and neuropsychological evaluation protocols and the Levenson Psychopathy Inventory.Results: BPD patients showed significantly higher scores on both primary (F1) and secondary (F2) global rates of psychopathy, than controls. The results for these patients also showed a statistically significant association between high scores in primary psychopathy and deficits in executive functions. However, no associations were found between the scores of secondary psychopathy and executive dysfunction.Conclusion: Primary psychopathic features present in patients with BPD are associated with patterns of executive dysfunction. It would therefore be interesting to investigate the role of cognitive rehabilitation in the empathy dysfunctions within these disorders.

The influence of stressful life events, psychopathy, and their interaction on internalizing and externalizing psychopathology

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Exposure to stressful life events increases risk for both internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, but less is known about moderators of the association between stressful life events and psychopathology. The present study examined the influence of stressful life events, psychopathy, and their interaction on internalizing and externalizing psychopathology in 3877 individuals from the community. We hypothesized that (1) exposure to stressful life events would be a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology, (2) primary and secondary psychopathy would be differentially associated with internalizing psychopathology, and (3) primary psychopathy would moderate the association between stressful life events and internalizing psychopathology. Confirming existing findings, our results were consistent with the first and second hypotheses. In contrast to our third hypothesis, primary psychopathy was not associated with stressful life events in childhood, inconsistently associated with stressful life events in adolescence, and did not moderate the association between stressful life events and internalizing psychopathology. Furthermore, stressful life events across development were associated with secondary psychopathy and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. We also found similar associations between stressful life events, psychopathy, and psychopathology in females and males. Future studies investigating the impact of stressful life events on psychopathology should include psychopathic traits and stress-reactivity.

The influence of stressful life events, psychopathy, and their interaction on internalizing and externalizing psychopathology

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. Exposure to stressful life events increases risk for both internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, but less is known about moderators of the association between stressful life events and psychopathology. The present study examined the influence of stressful life events, psychopathy, and their interaction on internalizing and externalizing psychopathology in 3877 individuals from the community. We hypothesized that (1) exposure to stressful life events would be a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology, (2) primary and secondary psychopathy would be differentially associated with internalizing psychopathology, and (3) primary psychopathy would moderate the association between stressful life events and internalizing psychopathology. Confirming existing findings, our results were consistent with the first and second hypotheses. In contrast to our third hypothesis, primary psychopathy was not associated with stressful life events in childhood, inconsistently associated with stressful life events in adolescence, and did not moderate the association between stressful life events and internalizing psychopathology. Furthermore, stressful life events across development were associated with secondary psychopathy and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. We also found similar associations between stressful life events, psychopathy, and psychopathology in females and males. Future studies investigating the impact of stressful life events on psychopathology should include psychopathic traits and stress-reactivity.

Mediating role of attenuated physiological arousal on the association between psychopathic traits and fairness norm violation

The low-fear model of primary psychopathy has been supported by empirical findings such as attenuated physiological arousal in anticipation of threatening stimuli. The somatic marker hypothesis proposes that salient changes in the bodily state are processed as signals of whether a situation is good or bad and guide an individual to avoid potential adverse consequences. The present study aimed to elucidate the role that attenuated physiological arousal plays in the relationship between primary psychopathy and fairness norm violations both under the threat of punishment and under no potential for punishment. Primary psychopathy was associated with an attenuated skin conductance response prior to the choice of unfair monetary offers to another person, regardless of the potential for punishment. Attenuated skin conductance mediated the association between primary psychopathy and the choice of an unfair offer, especially in the no-punishment condition. However, in the punishment condition, primary psychopathy significantly predicted the choice of unfair offers even after controlling for the magnitude of skin conductance. The bodily response may have only a marginal effect on interpersonal decision-making under a threat of punishment. The present results suggest that the low-fear account of social norm violations as a function of primary psychopathy should be re-discussed.

The Antagonistic Dark Core

The dark core represents the commonalities across the dark triad (Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy). This study contributes to the dark core literature by examining Antagonism as the prime member accounting for the dark core and tests its relative ability in explaining the dark core as compared to other such factors namely, Primary Psychopathy, Honesty-Humility and Agreeableness. A pool of 270 prospective managers (157 males, 113 females, Mage = 25.7 yrs., SDage = 3.2 years) from a leading business school of India were selected for this study. The obtained data was subjected to Hierarchical Linear Regression, Relative Weights Analysis and Commonality Analysis in a bid to flesh out unique and common variance attributed to each predictor for comparing the ability of Antagonism in explaining the dark core in relation to other variables. Antagonism was found to outperform other predictors in accounting for the dark core and explaining variance associated with Narcissism. Honesty-Humility was found to be acting as a suppressor variable, thus increasing the predictive ability of Antagonism and Primary Psychopathy in accounting for the dark core. In short, dark traited people are antagonistic at core.