Diana M. Falkenbach

Self-Report Measures of Child and Adolescent Psychopathy as Predictors of Offending in Four Samples of Justice-Involved Youth.

The authors examined the relation between self-report psychopathy measures and o ficial records of o fending in four samples of justice-involved youth (total N = 447). Psychopathy measures included the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) and a modified version of the Childhood Psychopathy Scale (mCPS). Measures of o fending included the total number of preadmission arrest charges for three samples (n = 392) and the total number of o fenses in the year following release for two samples (n = 138). Neither measure was a strong correlate of preadmission o fenses. Although mCPS scores were associated with postrelease o fending in one sample, e fects for the APSD were observed only when reo fending was conceptualized as a dichotomous variable, indicating a lack of robustness in this association. The findings suggest caution in the use of self-report measures of psychopathic features for decision making with respect to issues of delinquency risk among justice-involved youth.

Psychopathy variants: empirical evidence supporting a subtyping model in a community sample.

Psychopathy is a personality construct typically related to deficits in interpersonal and affective functioning and antisocial behavior. Currently, the majority of research focuses on the omnibus construct of psychopathy as it applies to criminal populations. However, theories of psychopathy and empirical evidence suggest that there may be different variants of psychopathy and diverse expressions of psychopathic traits across individuals. Thus, there is a need to consider psychopathy in terms of subtypes and across more broadly defined populations. The present study used model-based cluster analysis and garnered support for the differentiation of primary and secondary subtypes in a college sample. Analysis yielded 6 clusters, 2 of which demonstrated the expected patterns of traits indexed by theories of primary and secondary psychopathy; the factors of psychopathy, anxiety, borderline personality traits, aggression, and affect, all differentiated the subtypes. Overall, the results provide continued support for the existence of psychopathy variants in college samples, initial empirical support for model of psychopathy, and aid in the understanding of psychopathy subtypes.

The Relationship among Psychopathy, Emotional Intelligence, and Professional Success in Finance

The current study examined the relationship between psychopathic traits, emotional intelligence, and professional success in finance. The literature suggests that possessing certain psychopathic personality traits and emotional intelligence can be conducive to advancing professionally in the financial sector. It was hypothesized that interpersonal-affective psychopathic traits and emotional intelligence would be associated with one another and would also show positive associations with professional success. Fifty-five individuals employed at financial institutions in the New York metropolitan area completed the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised, the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test, and answered questions about their employment and income. The current sample showed significantly higher levels of interpersonal-affective psychopathic traits than those reported in other community samples and significantly lower levels of emotional intelligence than those found in a comparison sample. Although interpersonal-affective psychopathic traits were not significantly related to emotional intelligence, impulsive-behavioral traits were negatively related to emotional intelligence. Interpersonal-affective psychopathic traits were related to higher annual incomes and were predictive of higher corporate ranks.

Psychopathy and the Assessment of Violence in Women

ABSTRACT Although considerable research exists on the relationship between psychopathy and violence in males, there is limited research on these constructs and their relationship in females. Research has found gender differences in prevalence rates and expression of traits for both constructs. However, recent studies using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) with women have raised questions regarding the origin of these gender differences. Researchers have suggested that different manifestations of behaviors in males and females, errors or biases in assessment, or simply lower prevalence rates among women may account for gender differences. Importantly, gender differences may impact the assessment of psychopathy and predictions of aggression in females, and applying research on males to evaluating females may lead to confusion. A case report is presented to illustrate these difficulties. Given the current state of the literature, use of the PCL-R in violence risk assessment with women should be approached with caution.

Antisocial Personality Disorder and the Malingering of Psychiatric Disorder: A Study of Criminal Defendants

Criminal defendants with antisocial personality disorder (APD), those with a personality disorder other than APD (OPD) and those without a personality disorder (NoPD) were compared on validated measures of malingering. The APD group scored significantly higher on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory- 2(MMPI-2) F, Fp, and F-K scales and the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) Negative Impression Scale. A greater proportion of those in the APD group exceeded accepted cutoff scores on the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS) scale. While this finding supports the DSM-IV association between APD and malingering, the predictive utility of APD in discriminating malingerers from honest responders was poor, with many with APD not attempting to malinger and those without APD presenting potentially malingered profiles.

Two Sides of the Same Coin: Psychopathy Case Studies From an Urban Police Department

ABSTRACT Psychopathy is a personality construct characterized by a lack of empathy, and by callousness, grandiosity, and superficial charm; typically, these traits are found among incarcerated individuals prone to antisocial lifestyles (Cleckley, 1976; Hare, 2003). In recent years, interest has grown exponentially in identifying psychopathic traits in populations where they may be adaptive in nature, such as business, medicine, emergency responders, and law enforcement (Babiak, Neumann, & Hare, 2010; Hall & Benning, 2006; Smith & Lilienfeld, 2013). When considering law enforcement, personality research suggests that certain traits reminiscent of psychopathy (i.e., decreased emotional response, low stress reactivity, fearlessness) may in fact aid an individual in carrying out police work (Bakker & Heuven, 2006; Schaible & Gecas, 2010). Alternatively, other psychopathic traits (i.e., emotional dysregulation, aggression, impulsivity) could be detrimental to police officers’ performance (Lorinskas & Kulis, 1986; Pogarsky & Piquero, 2004). As such, these traits could be considered when screening individuals to serve as law enforcement officers. To further explore psychopathy in police, detailed case illustrations are presented for two officers from an urban police department: one as an example of a positive manifestation of psychopathy in police, and the other as a less adaptive example. These case illustrations suggest that the benefits of psychopathic traits in law enforcement depend greatly on which traits manifest in officers. Practical implementations and areas for future research are discussed.

From theoretical to empirical: Considering reflections of psychopathy across the thin blue line.

The majority of psychopathy research has focused on negative outcomes in criminal populations. However, psychopathy encompasses a variety of traits, and recent research suggests that certain features of psychopathy, such as a fearless temperament, may be related to psychological resiliency, “successful” functioning, and even heroic behavior (Hall & Benning, 2006; Lykken, 1995). Despite anecdotal discussion, little is known about the possible “successful” or adaptive reflections of psychopathic personality traits in ostensible heroes. This study expands on the knowledge of “successful” psychopathy by considering police recruits; we examined the degree to which these aspiring first responders share traits with psychopathic individuals. When compared with a student sample and the community and offender samples in the Psychopathic Personality Inventory–Revised manual (Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005), the police recruits reported higher Fearless Dominance and Coldheartedness scores and lower Self-Centered Impulsivity scores. Fearless dominance traits were positively correlated with narcissism, and self-centered impulsivity traits were positively associated with covert narcissism. These findings suggest that although our police recruit sample is not classically psychopathic, the dominance and coldheartedness associated with psychopathy may be common among those beginning a police career. Further, our results imply that certain features of psychopathy may be reflected across the thin blue line in those on the verge of entering their police careers.

Psychopathy and Victim Selection: Does Nonverbal Decoding or Empathy Impact Vulnerability Ratings?

This research examined the role of psychopathic traits in perceptions of victimization and vulnerability. Community-member participants viewed video clips of victims, nonvictims, and victims who studied self-defense, then rated them on vulnerability and perceived history of victimization. Participants were most proficient at identifying nonvictims as nonvictims. Victims who studied self-defense were harder to correctly identify than both victims and nonvictims and were rated by participants as less vulnerable and less likely to be victims than other victims and nonvictims. Moreover, individuals high in psychopathic traits, specifically Factor 2, were more likely than individuals low in psychopathic traits to correctly identify victims who practiced self-defense as victims, as well as nonvictims as victims. Unexpectedly, there was an observed negative relationship between facial affect decoding and identifying self-defense victims. The ability to correctly interpret facial expressions was found to partially mediate the relationship between psychopathy scores and the identification of self-defense victims. The results of this study provide insight into the ability of individuals with psychopathic traits to identify nonverbal cues associated with vulnerability. The results provide evidence that taking self-defense classes may be a meaningful intervention for victims, particularly.

Sexual Abuse Within Employment Settings: A Comparison of Work-Related, Intra- and Extra-Familial Child Molesters:

Child sexual abuse (CSA) is a serious problem not only in the community but also in institutional settings such as youth-serving organizations, churches, and schools. Although research has started to examine the problem of abuse in institutional settings, there remains a dearth of information about the nature and context of CSA in different employment settings, including those that do not specifically cater to children. In addition, research on the similarities and differences between perpetrators who work with children and other sex offenders is scarce. As such, the present study compared offenders on variables relating to financial/employment lifestyle stability, risk/dangerousness level, abuse opportunity, and victim selection. Data revealed that child abusers who worked with children tended to be better educated, were less likely to be married, had fewer nonsexual convictions, and were more likely to abuse male post-pubescent children compared with intra- and extra-familial offenders who did not work with children. Implications for future research, prevention of CSA, and clinical practice are discussed.

Hostile Attribution Bias as a Mediator of the Relationships of Psychopathy and Narcissism With Aggression

Hostile attribution bias (HAB), the tendency to perceive hostility in ambiguous situations, has been linked to aggressive outcomes, such as reactive aggression. HAB has been connected to personality types involving hostile beliefs and reactive aggression, including narcissism and psychopathy. Specifically, secondary psychopathy is associated with HAB and reactive aggression. Despite research and theory connecting these constructs, few studies have examined if HAB mediates the relationships among psychopathy, narcissism, and aggression. The current study explores this possible mediation in an urban college sample. Narcissism was associated with aggression but not hostile aggression or HAB. Reactive aggression and HAB were both associated with psychopathy, but there were no mediation relationships. The associations with aggression may be, therefore, due to underlying traits of secondary psychopathy rather than the hostile attributions to which the traits contribute; consequently, treatments focused on reducing aggressive responses by correcting interpretations of social situations may not be successful.