Further evaluation of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure: Evidence from community adult and prisoner samples from Portugal

Addressing the Complex Links between Psychopathy and Childhood Maltreatment, Emotion Regulation, and Aggression-A Network Analysis in Adults

Childhood maltreatment is the strongest predictor of psychopathology and personality disorders across the lifespan and is strongly associated with a variety of psychological problems, namely, mood and anxiety disorders, behavioral and personality disorders, substance abuse, aggression, and self-harm. In this study, we aim to provide a comprehensive picture of the interplay between different traits of psychopathy and distinct dimensions of childhood maltreatment, emotion regulation, and aggression. Using a cross-sectional design, we employed correlational network analysis to explore the nomological network of psychopathy and provide a sample-based estimate of the population parameters reflecting the direction, strength, and patterns of relationships between variables. The sample consisted of 846 adults (71% females) who completed questionnaires measuring psychopathy, childhood maltreatment, emotion regulation, and aggression. The results highlight that disinhibition traits of psychopathy are the closest attributes of early experiences of abuse (but not neglect) in childhood and correlate with all dimensions of emotion regulation difficulties, being specifically associated with reactive aggression. Neglect was a unique attribute in the nomological network of meanness, with widespread correlations with emotion regulation difficulties but also an increased ability to engage in goal-directed behavior. Physical abuse was the only dimension of childhood adversity that was found to be intercorrelated with boldness and increased emotional regulation was found in this psychopathic trait. No significant associations were found between boldness, meanness, and aggression once shared variance with disinhibition was controlled. These results are discussed in terms of their implication for research and clinical practice.

Psychopathic Traits in a Swedish Court-Ordered Forensic Sample: Preferential Associations of Boldness, Meanness, and Disinhibition

The construct validity of the triarchic psychopathy model has yet to be evaluated in the Swedish forensic psychiatric context. We examined associations between the three phenotypic constructs of the triarchic model of psychopathy (i.e., boldness, meanness, disinhibition), self-assessed empathy and anxiety, and clinical variables in 91 individuals undergoing pretrial forensic psychiatric evaluation in Sweden. Participants completed the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) and self-report measures of empathy and anxiety. Clinical variables, including psychiatric diagnoses and criminal behavior, were collected from the forensic psychiatric evaluations (FPE). All three subscales of the TriPM displayed significant and predominantly anticipated correlations with empathy and trait anxiety measures. TriPM Disinhibition was the only subscale with significant associations with the clinical variables collected from the FPEs. The results provide evidence for the reliability and construct validity of the Swedish translation of the TriPM in a pretrial forensic setting.

Dissociating cognitive and affective empathy across psychopathy dimensions: The role of interoception and alexithymia

This study examined the associations between psychopathy dimensions (triarchic phenotypes and classical factors), empathy domains (cognitive and affective), and interoception (interoceptive attention and accuracy) while accounting for the putative role of alexithymia. A community sample (n = 515) completed an online survey encompassing: Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (boldness, meanness, disinhibition); Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (primary and secondary psychopathy); Body Perception Questionnaire (interoceptive attention); Interoceptive Accuracy Scale; Toronto Alexithymia Scale. Hierarchical linear regression models were implemented for hypothesis-driven analyses examining the associations between psychopathy, empathy, and interoception while controlling for sex, age, and alexithymia. Exploratory path models were employed to investigate alexithymia and/or cognitive empathy as mediators between interoception and psychopathy. Our results largely confirmed the postulated empathy profiles across psychopathy dimensions, as meanness and primary psychopathy displayed a broad empathy impairment, while disinhibition and secondary psychopathy were only associated with diminished cognitive empathy. Importantly, boldness displayed a unique pattern (enhanced cognitive empathy and reduced affective empathy), further reinforcing its importance within the constellation of psychopathy traits. Contrary to our hypotheses, self-perceived interoceptive attention and accuracy were not associated with either psychopathy dimension after controlling for alexithymia. However, interoceptive accuracy and alexithymia were associated with cognitive empathy, while alexithymia was also positively related to all psychopathy dimensions (as expected), despite the unexpected strong and negative association with boldness. Exploratory analyses suggested significant indirect effects (mediation) between interoceptive accuracy and psychopathy via alexithymia and/or cognitive empathy. These mediating effects must be interpreted with caution and future studies should be designed to formally test this model.

Psychopathic tendencies are selectively associated with reduced emotional awareness in the context of early adversity

It is unclear at present whether psychopathic tendencies are associated with lower or higher levels of emotional awareness (EA). Given that psychopathy includes a proficiency for manipulating others, one might expect an elevated ability to identify and use information about others' emotions. On the other hand, empathic deficits in psychopathy could arise from reduced emotional awareness. Further, heterogeneity in psychopathy may also play a role, wherein 'secondary' psychopathy is associated with early adversity and high negative affect, while 'primary' psychopathy is not. In this paper, we tested the relationship between EA and psychopathic tendencies in 177 undergraduate students (40 males) who completed the levels of emotional awareness scale (LEAS), the triarchic psychopathy measure (TPM), the affective (empathy-related) subscales of the interpersonal reactivity index (IRI), and two measures of early adversity: the childhood experiences of care and abuse questionnaire (CECA) and the childhood trauma questionnaire (CTQ). We found that lower LEAS scores were associated with higher TPM and lower IRI empathy scores, but these relationships were primarily present in those with early adversity and high negative affect. This suggests that lower EA may be selectively associated with higher levels of secondary psychopathy, while those with higher levels of primary psychopathy remain capable of higher EA.

A meta-analysis of childhood maltreatment in relation to psychopathic traits

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by a mix of traits belonging to four facets: affective (e.g., callous/lack of empathy), interpersonal (e.g., grandiosity), behavioral instability (e.g., impulsivity, poor behavioral controls), and social deviance (e.g., juvenile delinquency, criminal versatility). Several scholars have argued that early childhood maltreatment impacts the development of psychopathy, although views regarding its role in the four facets differ. We conducted a meta-analysis including 47 studies comprising a total of 389 effect sizes and 12,737 participants, to investigate the association between psychopathy and four types of child maltreatment: physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse. We found support for a moderate link between overall psychopathy and childhood physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect, as well as overall childhood maltreatment. The link between psychopathy and childhood sexual abuse was small, but still statistically significant. These associations were stronger for the behavioral and antisocial facets than for the affective and interpersonal facets of psychopathy, but nearly all associations were statistically significant. Our findings are consistent with recently developed theories on the role of complex trauma in the development of severe personality disorders. Trauma-focused preventive and therapeutic interventions can provide further tests of the trauma-psychopathy hypothesis.

Triarchic psychopathic traits versus self-control: Comparing associations with youth antisocial outcomes

BACKGROUND

Psychopathy and low self-control are useful constructs for understanding antisociality/criminality. The triarchic model of psychopathy in particular is a recent and promising conceptualisation, composed of boldness, disinhibition, and meanness - three personality traits that have never been studied in tandem with low self-control.

AIMS

To test relationships between the triarchic personality traits of boldness, disinhibition and meanness and low self-control with delinquent or antisocial acts.

METHODS

In a cross-sectional, self-report study a schools' cohort of 14- to 18-year-olds (Mean 15.91 years, SD = 0.99 years) was recruited from regions in South Portugal and Lisbon, representative of the general population of this age in sex distribution and education. After parental consent, teenage volunteers in small groups completed psychopathy and self-control self-rating scales and then a questionnaire about their criminal or delinquent activities, all on one single occasion and in confidence from school staff or parents. Path analysis was used to test relationships.

RESULTS

567 young people, 256 (45%) of them girls, completed all ratings, 89% of those invited to do so. Low self-control had the strongest relationship with antisocial/criminal acts, followed by the disinhibition or meanness traits of the triarchic psychopathy construct. The boldness trait of the triarchic psychopathy construct had the weakest relationship.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that the most effective targets for intervention to prevent or limit antisocial behaviours by young people are likely to be self-control and disinhibition. Behavioural interventions that improve social skills and verbal problem-solving that encourage listening and waiting in response to environmental stimuli are likely to effect reduction of impulsive and aggressive reactions to others and so reduce conduct problems. Since disinhibition and self-control are such overlapping constructs, improvements in one area will generally facilitate improvements in the other area.

Exploring psychopathy traits on intertemporal decision-making, neurophysiological correlates, and emotions on time estimation in community adults

There are certain characteristics of psychopathy that may be related to changes in intertemporal choices. Specifically, traits such as impulsivity or lack of inhibitory control may be associated with a more pronounced discounting function in intertemporal choices (IC) and, in turn, this function may be based on changes in the basic mechanisms of time estimation (TE). Therefore, this study aimed to examine potential differences in neurophysiological correlates, specifically through N1, P3, and LPP measurements, which may be related to TE and IC, examining their modulation according to psychopathic traits, different emotional conditions, and different decision-making conditions. This experimental study included 67 adult participants (48 women) from the northern region of Portugal, who performed an intertemporal decision-making task and, of those, 19 participants (16 women), with a mean age of 25 years (SD = 5.41) and a mean of 16 years of schooling (SD = 3.37) performed the time estimation task. The instruments/measures applied were MoCA, used as a neurocognitive screening tool; the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM), a self-report instrument with 58 items that map the core features of psychopathy along three facets – boldness, meanness, and disinhibition – and considers them continuously distributed among the general population; intertemporal decision-making and time estimation tasks – for the time estimation task, the stimuli consisted of 45 color images extracted from the Nencki Affective Picture System (NAPS). In the TE task, there was an almost significant effect of disinhibition on the values of θ, with higher values on this variable associated with greater values of θ in the unpleasant emotional condition. In the IC task, there were no significant effects of any psychopathy measure on the values of the gains and losses ratios. In addition, the analysis of the neurophysiological correlates of the IC task did not reveal a main effect of the decision-making condition, nor effects of any psychopathy measure on the N1 and P3 amplitudes. The analysis of the neurophysiological correlates of the TE task revealed that higher meanness values are associated with smaller N1 amplitude in the pleasant emotional condition, whereas higher disinhibition values are associated with greater N1 amplitude in the pleasant emotional condition. Still in this task, higher disinhibition values were associated with a smaller LPP amplitude in the unpleasant emotional condition. The increase in the distribution of attention resources towards time and/or the increase in activation states, including those originated by responses to emotional stimuli, may be the main factor that alters the way impulsive individuals and, presumably, individuals with high psychopathy, consider time when making decisions.

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There are certain characteristics of psychopathy that may be related to changes in IC.

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Higher meanness values are associated with smaller N1 amplitude in the pleasant emotional condition (TE task).

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Higher disinhibition values are associated with greater N1 amplitude in the pleasant emotional condition (TE task).

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Higher disinhibition values were associated with a smaller LPP amplitude in the unpleasant emotional condition (TE task).

Psychopathic traits predict lower adherence to COVID-19 containment measures

Countries worldwide have implemented measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, and it is vital to understand which factors influence compliance to these measures. This study investigated whether psychopathic traits predict adherence to containment measures imposed by the UK government. 156 university students (M_age=21 years) completed an online survey measuring psychopathic traits (the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure), demographic variables, and participants’ living situations, underlying health risks, contact with vulnerable people and fear of COVID-19. Hierarchical multiple regression indicated that higher psychopathic traits (particularly disinhibition) predicted lower adherence to containment measures when controlling for other variables. A mixed-model ANOVA analysing longitudinal data, collected during the second (n=156) and third (n=118) lockdowns, showed that this relationship was stable over time. Additionally, fear of COVID-19 predicted adherence and mediated the relationship between psychopathic traits and adherence. These findings highlight the relevance of psychopathic traits for understanding COVID-19-related behaviours, with implications for public health communication.

Psychopathic Traits, Academic Fraud, and the Mediating Role of Motivation, Opportunity, Rationalization and Perceived Capability

Abstract. This study provides initial insights on the relation between psychopathic traits (disinhibition, meanness, and boldness) and academic fraud (prevalence and severity), while considering important mediators of fraud (perceived capability, opportunity, motivation, and rationalization). Based on a large sample of university students ( N = 967), two structural equation models (test and replication) were built to test the study’s main hypothesis and probe the robustness of the results. A direct link from disinhibition to prevalence was found, suggesting that disinhibition is associated with social deviance in the academic context. Higher motivation for cheating exclusively mediated this path. In meanness, rationalization explained lower rates of perceived severity of academic fraud, indicating that cognitive self-justifications trigger dishonest behavior in meanness. Boldness explained the prevalence of academic fraud via perceived capability, suggesting that low-fear, although adaptive in evaluation contexts, may increase the perceived capability for cheating. The reported significant associations support that academic fraud is part of the nomological network of psychopathy and unveil the complexity of the phenomenon.

Testing for Sex Differences in the Nomological Network of the Triarchic Model of Psychopathy in Incarcerated Individuals

The triarchic model of psychopathy conceptualizes variants of this clinical condition as expressions of three distinct biobehavioral dispositions, termed boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. As a trait-oriented model, the triarchic model situates psychopathy within a broader nomological network of personality and psychopathology, and has proven useful for characterizing how psychopathy relates to variables in these domains as well as to biological and behavioral variables. The current study was the first to examine sex differences in the external correlates of psychopathic traits as described by the triarchic model in a prison sample. Results were generally consistent with hypotheses: The triarchic traits related to measures of personality and psychopathology in patterns that were largely consistent across sex, but with some notable differences between males and females, in the correlates of disinhibition in particular. These included stronger associations for disinhibition with substance use problems, self-harm, and staff ratings of prison misbehavior among females compared to males. Findings from this study support the value of the triarchic model for understanding similarities and differences in the nomological network of psychopathy in incarcerated males and females.

Boldness Personality Traits Are Associated With Reduced Risk Perceptions and Adoption of Protective Behaviors During the First COVID-19 Outbreak

The containment measures imposed during the first COVID-19 outbreak required economic, social, and behavioral changes to minimize the spread of the coronavirus. Some studies have focused on how personality predicts distinct patterns of adherence to protective measures with psychopathic and antisocial traits predicting reduced engagement in such measures. In this study we extended previous findings by analyzing how boldness, meanness, and disinhibition psychopathic traits relate with both risk perceptions and protective behaviors during the first COVID-19 outbreak. A sample of 194 individuals (24% male) engaged in the survey, were assessed for psychopathic traits with the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure, and completed a COVID-19 survey targeting risk perceptions (spread, risk of becoming infected, state anxiety toward the COVID-19, and perceived risk of specific behaviors) and frequency of protective behaviors (e.g., not engaging in social distancing). Overall results show that boldness predicts reduced estimate of COVID-19 spread, reduced perceived risk of becoming infected, reduced state anxiety toward COVID-19, and reduced frequency of protective behaviors. Exploratory mediation models suggest that risk perceptions are not significant mediators of the association between psychopathic traits and reduced engagement in protective behaviors. Our results unveil that psychopathic traits affect risk perceptions and the propensity to engage in protective measures, emphasizing the need to accommodate these personality features in the public health strategy to control the COVID-19 spread.