Personality Constellations in Incarcerated Men Who Scored Highon Psychopathy Pubblico

Abstract

Personality Constellations in Incarcerated Men Who Scored High on Psychopathy

By Pavel S. Blagov Recent advances in the operationalization of psychopathy have led to an increased understanding of the boundaries, the structure, and the nomological network of its construct. Research has reached a point where the empirical identification of replicable and theoretically meaningful psychopathy variants may lead to further advances in the field. We reviewed for theoretical models that account for psychopathy subtypes and conducted a classification study of 91 incarcerated men who met conventional criteria for high levels of psychopathy as defined by Hare's (1991) Psychopathy Checklist --- Revised. We expanded upon the methodology of previous research on psychopathy subtypes by utilizing a comprehensive personality assessment instrument (the Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure --- II; Westen & Shedler, 1999) and a prototype matching approach to classification. The analyses revealed a primary (malignant narcissistic) subtype and a secondary (hostile and dysregulated) subtype that were generally consistent with the previous literature and lent support to Patrick's (2007) application of the dual- process model and the neurophysiological theory of affect to psychopathy. We also found limited evidence for a pseudopsychopathic (thrill-seeking) subtype. External validation analyses, statistical controls, and incremental validity analyses provided substantial support for the primary and secondary subtypes (but not for the thrill-seeking one). Future studies on the diagnosis, etiology, prevention, and treatment of psychopathy will likely benefit from taking into account its primary and secondary variants.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction.........................................................................................................................1 History of the Psychopathy Construct ......................................................................1 Heterogeneity in Psychopathy ..................................................................................3 Factor Structure of Psychopathy .....................................................................4 Psychopathy Subtypes ....................................................................................6 Theoretical Accounts of Heterogeneity in Psychopathy...........................................14 The Dual-process Model..................................................................................14 The Aggression-inhibition Model....................................................................16 The Paralimbic Dysfunction Model.................................................................18 Pseudopsychopathic Subtypes .........................................................................20 Differential Predictions of Subtypes ................................................................21 The Present Study .....................................................................................................21 Participant Sample ..........................................................................................22 A Prototype Matching Approach ....................................................................23 Item Set ...........................................................................................................25 Subtyping Technique .......................................................................................26 Predictions........................................................................................................29 Preliminary Validation and Incremental Validity Analyses ............................29 Method ................................................................................................................................30 Participants................................................................................................................30 Procedures.................................................................................................................31 Measures ...................................................................................................................32 Measures Collected Prior to the Current Project.............................................32 Measures Collected for the Purposes of the Current Project ..........................36

Results.................................................................................................................................43 Most Descriptive Characteristics ..............................................................................43 Psychopathy Subtypes ..............................................................................................44 External Validation ...................................................................................................47 Potential Confounds..................................................................................................50 Ethnicity..........................................................................................................50 Confidence ......................................................................................................51 Interpersonal Behavior in the Interview..........................................................52 Incremental Validity over Interpersonal Traits........................................................54 Observer Report of Impulsivity ...............................................................................55 Validity Scales .........................................................................................................55 Incremental Validity over the PCL-R Factors .........................................................56 Discussion...........................................................................................................................57 Limitations ................................................................................................................63 Implications and Conclusions ...................................................................................65 References...........................................................................................................................68 Tables..................................................................................................................................87-111 Appendices..........................................................................................................................112-118

List of Tables & Figures Table 1

Models of the Factor Structure of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist -- Revised (Hare, 1991)......87 Table 2 In Hicks et al. (2004), Two Subtypes of Psychopaths (Emotionally Stable, N=30, and Aggressive, N = 66) Differed on the Primary Dimensions and the Higher-order Factors of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire -- Brief Form (MPQ-BF; Patrick et al., 2002) from a Normative Sample and from Non-psychopathic Prisoner Controls (N=125). .......88 Table 3 Summary of Theoretical Accounts of Psychopathy Subtypes .....................................................89 Table 4 Most PCL-R Items have a Semantic Equivalent in the SWAP-II................................................90 Table 5 Predictions about Psychopathy Subtypes and Their Relationships to External Variables...........91 Table 6 The 30 Highest-ranking SWAP-II Items Comprising the Most Descriptive Characteristics of 91 Incarcerated Men with High PCL-R Total Scores (PCL-R 30).......................................92 Table 7 Correspondence between SWAP-II Descriptive Characteristics of Highly Psychopathic Men Identified with the SWAP-II and PCL-R Items...................................................................93 Table 8 Q-factor 1: Secondary Psychopathy ............................................................................................95 Table 9 Q-factor 2: Primary Psychopathy.................................................................................................96 Table 10 Q-factor 3: Thrill-Seeking Subtype .............................................................................................97 Table 11 Multivariate and Univariate Tests of Rater Effects on Mean Q-factor Loadings (N = 91) .........98 Table 12 Descriptive Statistics for the Validation Variables ......................................................................99 Table 13 Descriptive Statistics for the Potential Third Variables...............................................................100 Table 14 Tests of Predictions about Correlations between Psychopathic Personality Subtypes (Participants' Loadings on the Three Q-factors) and External Variables. ..................................101

Table 15

Correlations between Psychopathic Personality Subtypes (Participants' Loadings on the Three Q-factors) and Potentially Confounding or Mediating Variables......................................102 Table 16 SWAP-II Items Most Closely Associated with Ethnicity at = .01 (N = 91) .............................103 Table 17 Partial Correlations Controlling for Ethnicity. ............................................................................104 Table 18 Partial Correlations Controlling for the Factors of the Confidence Scale (Confidence and Difficulty). ..................................................................................................................................105 Table 19 Partial Correlations Controlling for the Interpersonal Measure of Psychopathy .........................106 Table 20 Partial Correlations Controlling for the IAS-R Dimensions of Dominance and Hostility...........107 Table 21 Associations between Participants' SWAP-II Profiles' Degree of Match to the Three Psychopathy Subtypes and the Five Factors of the Impulsivity Questionnaire (N = 90). ...........108 Table 22 Patterns of Association between Participants' Loadings on the Three Q-factors (Psychopathy Subtypes) and Validity Scales of the MPQ ( N = 79) ............................................109 Table 23 Partial Correlations Controlling for the MPQ Vrin Scale............................................................110 Table 24 Associations between SWAP-II Psychopathy Subtypes and External Validations Variables while Controlling for Corresponding PCL-R Factors..................................................................111

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Psychology
Degree	PhD
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Personality
Parola chiave	Personality Pathology Q-Factor Analysis Psychopathic Personality Personality Classification Psychopathy Subtypes Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Westen, Drew, Emory University
Committee Members	Duke, Marshall, Emory University Brennan, Patricia, Emory University Lilienfeld, Scott O, Emory University Hamann, Stephan, Emory University

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