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The current study aimed to examine the effects of inconsistent responding on Psychopathic Personality Inventory–Revised (PPI-R; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005) scale scores and the utility of the IR scale in detecting such responding in a correctional setting. The study employed an internally controlled method of simulating inconsistent responding by inserting ascending levels of computer-generated random responses into PPI-R protocols. Participants were 218 male inmates from a medium-security prison in central Kentucky in the United States. Results indicated that psychometric properties of PPI-R scores were substantially attenuated at as low as 40% of random responding. Additionally, results indicated that an Inconsistent Responding (IR) Scale cut-off of 40 would provide the best balance between sensitivity and specificity in detecting invalid PPI-R protocols. Overall, this study highlighted the utility of the IR Scale in self-report psychopathy measures and the need to consider such response biases in research and clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined item and scale functioning in the Psychopathic Personality Inventory–Revised (PPI-R) using an item response theory analysis. PPI-R protocols from 1,052 college student participants (348 male, 704 female) were analyzed. Analyses were conducted on the 131 self-report items comprising the PPI-R's eight content scales, using a graded response model. Scales collected a majority of their information about respondents possessing higher than average levels of the traits being measured. Each scale contained at least some items that evidenced limited ability to differentiate between respondents with differing levels of the trait being measured. Moreover, 80 items (61.1%) yielded significantly different responses between men and women presumably possessing similar levels of the trait being measured. Item performance was also influenced by the scoring format (directly scored vs. reverse-scored) of the items. Overall, the results suggest that the PPI-R, despite identifying psychopathic personality traits in individuals possessing high levels of those traits, may not identify these traits equally well for men and women, and scores are likely influenced by the scoring format of the individual item and scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has characterized a collection of neural regions which support social-cognitive processes. While this ‘social brain’ is often described as a cohesive unit, it has been largely assessed with univariate methodologies, which cannot account for functional relationships ‘between’ brain regions, and therefore cannot test the idea of the social brain as a network. In the present work, we utilized a multi-method approach to empirically assess the functional architecture of the social brain. Fifty participants (ages 8–16) completed a social evaluation task during an functional imaging scan. Results from three unique functional connectivity methodologies demonstrated that social brain regions show strong functional relationships, while also interfacing with non-social regions, suggesting that future work should consider network relationships between social brain regions in addition to traditional univariate approaches. We probed, but did not find age-related differences in social brain network organization, demonstrating that this functional architecture is in place by late childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Psychopathic Personality Inventory–Revised (PPI-R) includes validity scales that assess Deviant Responding (DR), Virtuous Responding, and Inconsistent Responding. We examined the utility of these scales for identifying careless responding using data from two online studies that examined correlates of psychopathy in college students (Sample 1: N = 583; Sample 2: N = 454). Compared with those below the cut scores, those above the cut on the DR scale yielded consistently lower validity coefficients when PPI-R scores were correlated with corresponding scales from the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure. The other three PPI-R validity scales yielded weaker and less consistent results. Participants who completed the studies in an inordinately brief amount of time scored significantly higher on the DR and Virtuous Responding scales than other participants. Based on the findings from the current studies, researchers collecting PPI-R data online should consider identifying and perhaps screening out respondents with elevated scores on the DR scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study utilizes the parametric go/no-go task (PGNG), a task that examines changes in inhibitory performance as executive function load increases, to examine the link between psychopathic traits, impulsivity, and response inhibition in a cohort of healthy participants. The results show that as executive function load increased, inhibitory ability decreased. High scores on the Cognitive Complexity subscale of the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS–11) predict poor inhibitory ability in the PGNG. Similarly, high scores on the Psychopathy Personality Inventory–Revised (PPI–R) Blame Externalization subscale predict response inhibition deficits in the PGNG, which loads more on the executive functions than the standard go/no-go task. The remaining BIS–11 as well as PPI–R subscales did not interact with inhibitory performance in the PGNG highlighting the specificity of associations between aspects of personality and impulsivity with inhibitory performance as cognitive load is increased. These data point towards the sensitivity of the PGNG in studying response inhibition in the context of highly impulsive populations and its utility as a measure of impulsivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-cultural and cross-gender evaluation of psychopathy is limited. This study investigated the construct of psychopathy and the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005) in a mixed gender Lebanese sample. Lebanese college students demonstrated higher scores on PPI-R-Total and PPI-II subscales than the American normative sample from the PPI-R manual. Lebanese women scored higher than men on Coldheartedness and Stress Immunity, whereas men scored higher on Fearlessness and Machiavellian Egocentricity. PPI-R factor scales demonstrated questionable internal consistency and were not orthogonal. Aggression, antisocial traits, and borderline traits positively correlated with PPI-II, however anxiety did not. Borderline traits were associated with PPI-I for women. Results call into question the assessment and construct of psychopathy in this Arab, collectivist culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychopathy is conceptualized as a heterogeneous construct in both men and women. To investigate possible gender differences in Karpman's (1941) and Lykken (1995) typologies, a model-based cluster analysis was conducted on male and female undergraduates scoring high on the PPI. Two clusters emerged in men and women consistent with primary and secondary variants on PPI factors, behavioral inhibition, anxiety, aggression, and borderline features. The male and female clusters were not markedly different. However, secondary women did demonstrate more pathology and internalizing problems than secondary men. The significant differences found and their implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective It is investigated whether personality-related inter-individual differences modulate tDCS effects on response inhibition. Psychopathic personality traits have been associated with a reduced ability to inhibit prepotent responses and as such it is likely that these traits may modulate the effect tDCS has on response inhibition. This study represents the first investigation into the effect of psychopathic traits on tDCS effects in the context of response inhibition, and based on previous research, the psychopathic traits Blame Externalization and Coldheartedness were elected as potential candidates for modulating tDCS effects to right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Methods Eighteen healthy participants underwent tDCS stimulation (sham, anodal, cathodal) before completing a response inhibition task, the parametric Go/No-go task. This task measures response inhibition under conditions of low and high cognitive load. TDCS stimulation was applied to F4 (international 10–20 system), corresponding to right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, for 20 min with an intensity of 1.5 mA. Analysis of covariance was performed to assess how changes in response inhibition performance across difficulty level and stimulation condition were related to individual differences in psychopathy scores as measured via the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised questionnaire. Results A positive relationship was found between greater scores on the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised subscale of Coldheartedness and improvement in Go/No-go task performance after application of cathodal tDCS. This effect specifically related to the high load condition of the Go/No-go task. Conclusion The psychopathic personality trait Coldheartedness may represent an imbalance of excitatory and inhibitory inputs to dlPFC. Improvement in functioning on inhibitory tasks after cathodal tDCS may be a result of a shift of excitatory glutamate levels to a more optimal level. Significance The current results demonstrate the utility of tDCS as a tool to assess how differences in cortical responsivity are associated with specific personality traits. Additionally, this study represents the first investigation into the influence of psychopathic traits on tDCS effects on dlPFC, and we observed beneficial changes in response inhibition as a result of, especially, cathodal stimulation in participants scoring high on Coldheartedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychopathy is a severe personality disorder, the core of which pertains to callousness, an entitled and grandiose interpersonal style often accompanied by impulsive and reckless endangerment of oneself and others. The response modulation theory of psychopathy states that psychopathic individuals have difficulty modulating top-down attention to incorporate bottom-up stimuli that may signal important information but are irrelevant to current goals. However, it remains unclear which particular aspects of attention are impaired in psychopathy. Here, we used 2 visual search tasks that selectively tap into bottom-up and top-down attention. In addition, we also looked at intertrial priming, which reflects a separate class of processes that influence attention (i.e., selection history). The research group consisted of 65 participants that were recruited from the community. Psychopathic traits were measured with the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI; Uzieblo, Verschuere, & Crombez, 2007). We found that bottom-up attention was unrelated to psychopathic traits, whereas elevated psychopathic traits were related to deficits in the use of cues to facilitate top-down attention. Further, participants with elevated psychopathic traits were more strongly influenced by their previous response to the target. These results show that attentional deficits in psychopathy are largely confined to top-down attention and selection history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coldheartedness is a subscale of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R) that does not load onto either of the PPI-R's two traditional higher order factors (Fearless Dominance [FD] and Self-Centered Impulsivity [SCI]). As a result, it has been omitted from analyses in many studies. However, owing to Coldheartedness's associations with lack of empathy, guilt, and deep-seated social emotions, this subscale may be highly relevant to the construct of psychopathy. In a sample of 1,158 undergraduates, we attempted to clarify Coldheartedness's correlates within the context of a nomological network of psychopathology and personality; in addition, we examined Coldheartedness's contributions to psychopathy above and beyond FD and SCI. Coldheartedness demonstrated negative correlations with the Big Five personality factors, mixed correlations with indices of impulsivity, and largely negative correlations with measures of depression and anxiety. Regressions suggested that Coldheartedness displays substantial overlap with both FD and SCI but also contains psychologically important unique variance. Although the nature of this variance requires clarification, further research and perhaps an expansion of the Coldheartedness subscale may move the field toward a clearer understanding of the construct assessed by this measure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Psychopathy is characterized by a general antisocial lifestyle with behaviors including being selfish, manipulative, impulsive, fearless, callous, possibly domineering, and particularly lacking in empathy. Contagious yawning in our species has been strongly linked to empathy. We exposed 135 students, male and female, who completed the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R), to a yawning paradigm intended to induce a reactionary yawn. Further, we exposed males to an emotion-related startle paradigm meant to assess peripheral amygdalar reactivity. We found that scores on the PPI-R subscale Coldheartedness significantly predicted a reduced chance of yawning. Further, we found that emotion-related startle amplitudes were predictive of frequency of contagious yawning. These data suggest that psychopathic traits may be related to the empathic nature of contagious yawning in our species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to replicate and extend Hall and colleagues’ (2014) work on developing and validating scales from the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI) to index the triarchic psychopathy constructs of boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. This study also extended Hall et al.'s initial findings by including the PPI Revised (PPI–R). A community sample (n= 240) weighted toward subclinical psychopathy traits and a male prison sample (n= 160) were used for this study. Results indicated that PPI–Boldness, PPI–Meanness, and PPI–Disinhibition converged with other psychopathy, personality, and behavioral criteria in ways conceptually expected from the perspective of the triarchic psychopathy model, including showing very strong convergent and discriminant validity with their Triarchic Psychopathy Measure counterparts. These findings further enhance the utility of the PPI and PPI–R in measuring these constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND People with impulsive-antisocial traits may engage in unplanned behaviors that reduce their efficiency and may even result in harm to self and others. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between executive control functions and impulsive antisociality, as assessed with the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI). Using go/no-go and stop-signal paradigms, we examined whether healthy participants with high impulsive-antisocial traits would show delayed response inhibition and error monitoring deficits when compared to those reporting low levels of impulsive antisociality. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE A total of 26 participants were recruited from different Warsaw universities based on the Impulsive Antisociality subscale scores of the PPI. Subjects scoring in the first quartile were assigned to the low and those with a score in the fourth quartile were selected for the high impulsivity group. All participants were tested with go/no-go and stop-signal tasks that were executed in a random order. RESULTS Higher levels of impulsive-antisocial traits were associated with poorer executive control. In particular, high impulsive- antisocial individuals demonstrated reduced post-error slowing in response to go stimuli following an error and took longer to respond to the stop signal than the control group. The two groups did not differ in their performance accuracy. CONCLUSIONS The study extends previous findings regarding the relationship between impulsivity and executive control showing that non-clinical impulsive antisociality results in decreased conflict detection ability and delayed response inhibition. These problems may result in reduced executive effectiveness in everyday life situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present preliminary data on the role of emotional intelligence ( EI) in mediating the relationship between psychopathy and detention term of authors of property crimes. We assumed that the detention term is an approximation of the severity of criminal behavior. A sample of 24 property offenders were individually administered a brief anamnestic interview, the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised ( PPI-R), and the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test ( MSCEIT). Information concerning the detention term was obtained from prison records. A mediation model was applied to the data showing that offenders high in psychopathic traits (i.e., total PPI-R score and Self-centered dimension of PPI-R) have a low level of ability EI and this is in turn negatively associated with the duration of their prison sentence. Results encourage the investigation of ability EI as a protective factor against the antisocial outcomes of psychopathic disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Histamine H1 receptor systems have been shown in animal studies to have important roles in the reversal of sensorimotor gating deficits, as measured by prepulse inhibition (PPI). H1-antagonist treatment attenuates the PPI impairments caused by either blockade of NMDA glutamate receptors or facilitation of dopamine transmission. The current experiment brought the investigation of H1 effects on sensorimotor gating to human studies. The effects of the histamine H1 antagonist meclizine on the startle response and PPI were investigated in healthy male subjects with high baseline startle responses and low PPI levels. Meclizine was administered to participants (n=24) using a within-subjects design with each participant receiving 0, 12.5, and 25 mg of meclizine in a counterbalanced order. Startle response, PPI, heart rate response, galvanic skin response, and changes in self-report ratings of alertness levels and affective states (arousal and valence) were assessed. When compared with the control (placebo) condition, the two doses of meclizine analyzed (12.5 and 25 mg) produced significant increases in PPI without affecting the magnitude of the startle response or other physiological variables. Meclizine also caused a significant increase in overall self-reported arousal levels, which was not correlated with the observed increase in PPI. These results are in agreement with previous reports in the animal literature and suggest that H1 antagonists may have beneficial effects in the treatment of subjects with compromised sensorimotor gating and enhanced motor responses to sensory stimuli. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to investigate the need for and utility of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory—Revised (PPI-R) Deviant Responding (DR) and Virtuous Responding (VR) validity scales in identifying overreporting and underreporting, respectively. Since the PPI-R was published, there has not been an independent peer-reviewed examination of these scales. Participants were 384 undergraduate individuals asked to respond to the PPI-R under standard, underreporting, or overreporting instructions. A comparison group consisting of 200 forensic psychiatric patients was also used for the overreporting analyses. Effects of response bias on mean elevations on the PPI-R substantive scales were examined along with the effects on the PPI-R total, factor, and content scales' correlations with other relevant extratest measures of psychopathy. Mean elevations differed significantly, and correlations with extratest measures of psychopathy were significantly lower. Substantial decrement in psychometric validity of PPI-R scores was observed in the simulation conditions. In addition, the utility of the PPI-R validity scales in differentiating between groups was also determined. Both the VR and DR scales showed utility in differentiating between their respective dissimulation condition and the comparison groups, with acceptable rates of sensitivity and specificity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Purpose: Poythress, Edens, et al. (2010) recently used cluster analysis to identify subtypes of antisocial and psychopathic offenders using a diverse collection of theoretically important clustering variables. Two predicted subtypes, primary and secondary psychopathy, were identified, in addition to non-psychopathic and (unexpectedly) “fearful” psychopathic offenders. The purpose of the present research was to determine whether these clusters could be replicated using a single self-report measure, the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI; Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996). Method: Study 1: We used discriminant function analysis (DFA) to predict cluster membership for the Poythress et al. subtypes based solely on the eight subscales of the PPI. Results: Study 1: Though overall classification accuracy with the original clusters was poor, PPI-derived subtypes differed from each other in theoretically consistent ways on several criterion measures. Method: Study 2: We used the PPI-based DFA to classify a separate sample of prison inmates from a prior PPI study (Edens et al., 2008). Results: Study 2: As predicted, inmates classified into the secondary psychopathy subgroup demonstrated the highest rates of aggressive misconduct whereas non-psychopathic were the least prone to engage in misconduct. Conclusion: The PPI may serve as a relatively simple method of identifying theoretically meaningful subtypes of psychopathic offenders. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The role of the two dimensions of psychopathy-dispositional fearlessness (theorized to reflect variations in reactivity of the brain's defensive system) and externalizing proneness (presumed to reflect variations in function of anterior regulatory systems)-in fear learning was examined in a sample of undergraduates assessed using the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised ( PPI- R) who participated in a differential aversive conditioning task. Only scores on self-reported 'fearless dominance,' irrespective of scores on 'impulsive antisociality,' were related to diminished acquisition of physiological fear. Consistent with dual-process accounts of psychopathy proposing divergent etiological pathways for the interpersonal/affective and the social deviance features of the disorder, our results lend support to the existence of a deficit in reactivity of the brain's defensive system underlying the fearlessness dimension of psychopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent research has begun to investigate the relationship between the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005) and its primary subscales,Fearless Dominance(FD) andSelf-Centered Impulsivity(SCI), and violent behavior. In this follow-up study, we examined the PPI-R subscales’ prospective relationship with predatory, impulsive and psychosis-motivated aggression in an inpatient forensic psychiatric facility (N= 200). FD and SCI each modestly predicted predatory aggression, and SCI was also modestly associated with any form of aggression. Neither subscale predicted impulsive or psychotic aggression. The statistical interaction between FD and SCI significantly improved the prediction of predatory aggression beyond the individual subscales, indicating that those high onbothconstructs were particularly at risk to engage in such conduct. Moreover, this interactive effect continued to predict predatory aggression even after controlling for the predictive utility of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (Hare, 2003). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The objective of this study was to investigate whether levels of psychopathy predicted claims of crime-related amnesia. Different characteristics of psychopathy were based on the factor structure of the self-report questionnaire Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI). Crime-related amnesia claims were scored from inmates (N=31) criminal file records. Results demonstrated that claims of crime-related amnesia were more frequently reported by individuals scoring high on impulsive antisocial psychopathy traits. Furthermore, offenders who claimed crime-related amnesia reported lower levels of instrumental/proactive aggression. There was no relationship between fearless–callous psychopathy traits or the use of reactive violence, and claims of crime-related amnesia. Within offenders who claimed amnesia for their crime, the majority demonstrated elevated levels of deception, suggesting that claims of amnesia might serve a strategic purpose. In addition, they more often reported having had a previous experience with memory loss, which may have formed the basis of simulation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Psychopathy is believed to be associated with brain abnormalities in both paralimbic (i.e., orbitofrontal cortex, insula, temporal pole, parahippocampal gyrus, posterior cingulate) and limbic (i.e., amygdala, hippocampus, anterior cingulate) regions. Recent structural imaging studies in both community and prison samples are beginning to support this view. Sixty-six participants, recruited from community corrections centers, were administered the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Voxel-based morphometry was used to test the hypothesis that psychopathic traits would be associated with gray matter reductions in limbic and paralimbic regions. Effects of lifetime drug and alcohol use on gray matter volume were covaried. Psychopathic traits were negatively associated with gray matter volumes in right insula and right hippocampus. Additionally, psychopathic traits were positively associated with gray matter volumes in bilateral orbital frontal cortex and right anterior cingulate. Exploratory regression analyses indicated that gray matter volumes within right hippocampus and left orbital frontal cortex combined to explain 21.8% of the variance in psychopathy scores. These results support the notion that psychopathic traits are associated with abnormal limbic and paralimbic gray matter volume. Furthermore, gray matter increases in areas shown to be functionally impaired suggest that the structure–function relationship may be more nuanced than previously thought. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R) is one of the widely used instruments for assessing psychopathy in subclinical samples. While a three-factorial model of PPI-R has been tested in US, no studies have examined the structure and correlates of the PPI-R scale in an East Asian sample. This study examined the validity of the PPI-R in a Japanese subclinical sample, and investigated correlations between subscales of psychopathy measured by PPI-R and social dominance orientation (SDO). One hundred and sixty undergraduate students in Japan participated in a survey. Two main findings revealed that (1) the factorial structure of the PPI-R in Japan was different from that found in previous studies in the United States, and (2) the first factor, including Machiavellianism, and the second factor, including Coldheartedness, were linked with SDO. The role of intergroup aggression in psychopathy is also discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

There is ongoing debate about the methods that evaluators should use to assess the adaptive functioning of an individual in an Atkins claim, including the appropriateness of using self-report measures and extent to which adaptive functioning measures are valid for persons with a history of violent offending. This study examined whether offenders' self-report adaptive functioning scores tended to decrease as their level of psychopathic traits increased. Eighty-five male felony probationers completed the self-report version of the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System - II (ABAS-II: Harrison & Oakland, 2003), the Psychopathic Personality Inventory - Revised (PPI-R: Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005), and a brief intelligence screening measure. ABAS-II composite scores were negatively correlated with PPI-R Self-Centered Impulsivity and Coldheartedness scores, but positively correlated with Fearless Dominance scores. These relationships appeared to be due, in part, to over-reporting symptoms of impairment across measures, suggesting that scores on self-report adaptive functioning measures may be especially susceptible to feigning. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors evaluated the utility of the Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire (MBSRQ; Brown, Cash, & Mikulka, 1990) and the Appearance Schemas Inventory-Revised (ASI-R; Cash, Melnyk, & Hrabosky, 2004) by administering the instruments to Hispanic female college students. Results indicated that the means of the MBSRQ and the ASI-R differed significantly from previously published norms but evidenced adequate internal consistency reliability. However, further research is needed to examine these constructs within this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low anxiety has traditionally been considered a feature of psychopathy, but there has been mixed research support for this conceptualization. We investigated the PPI-R-SF Stress Immunity subscale (a measure of low anxiety) in relation to 2 widely used self-report psychopathy scales in a sample of 346 undergraduate students. Results indicated that PPI-R-SF Stress Immunity was nearly unrelated to other indicators of psychopathy, showing a near-zero loading on the common psychopathy factor defined jointly by the scales of the PPI-R-SF and SRP-III. Stress Immunity also showed a pattern of personality and temperament correlates much different from those of other psychopathy subscales. Finally, Stress Immunity had a slight negative correlation with self-reports of diverse antisocial acts. These results suggest that despite its historical importance in the conceptualization of psychopathy, low anxiety is likely not a core feature of psychopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: Among men who commit sexual offenses against children, at least 2 distinct groups can be identified on the basis of the age of the primary targets of their sexual interest; pedophiles and nonpedophiles. Method: In the present report, across 2 independent samples of both types of child molesters as well as controls, a total of 104 men (53 pedophilic and 51 nonpedophilic) who had sexually offended against a child age 13 or younger were compared to each other (and to 49 non-sex offender controls) on psychopathy as assessed by the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI). Results: In both samples of child molesters, the nonpedophiles scored as significantly more psychopathic than the pedophiles. Conclusions: These results provide further evidence of the importance of distinguishing between these groups of offenders. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The relationship between antisocial traits and forensically-relevant compliance is equivocal, perhaps due to the heterogeneity of antisocial traits. In an effort to better understand this relationship, the current study used the construct of psychopathy as a means of parsing this heterogeneity. Specifically, the relationship between psychopathy as captured by the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R; ) and compliance measured by the Gudjonsson Compliance Scale (GCS; ) among a sample of university students (n =131) was explored. Results revealed that total scores on the PPI-R were unrelated to compliance. However, specific facets of the PPI-R were related to the GCS, but in opposite directions. This might explain inconsistent findings in the extant literature. The findings stemming from the study provide insights into the relationship between antisocial traits and forensically-relevant compliance and offer direction to future efforts aimed at understanding this relationship. Implications for these distinct relationships in the context of false confessions are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Prior methods used to assess individual differences related to risk have not focused on an important component of risk management: how willing individuals are to pay for or take actions to insure what they already have. It is not clear whether this type of protective risk management taps into the same individual differences as does risk taking propensity measured by existing risk taking tasks. We developed a novel task to assess protective risk management, the Balloon Analog Insurance Task (BAIT), which is modeled after the Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART). In the BAIT, individuals are forced to decide how much money they are willing to pay in order to insure a specific fraction of their prior winnings given changing but imprecise levels of risk of monetary loss. Participants completed the BART and BAIT for real monetary rewards, and completed six self report questionnaires. The amount of insurance purchased on the BAIT was positively correlated with scores on the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale and on the Checking scale of the revised Obsessive Compulsive Inventory. Conversely, the amount of insurance purchased was negatively correlated with scores on the Domain Specific Risk Taking Questionnaire, and on the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI). Furthermore, relationships between insurance purchased and these scales remained significant after controlling for the BART in linear regression analyses, and the BART was only a significant predictor for measures on one scale - the PPI. Our results reveal that behavior on the BAIT taps into a number of individual differences that are not related to behavior on another measure of risk taking. We propose that the BAIT may provide a useful complement to the BART in the assessment of risk management style. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extent and impact of white-collar offending has drawn the attention of many researchers. However, despite its association with both general and violent criminal behavior, the role that psychopathic traits plays in white-collar crime has been researched less. In an effort to better understand this relationship, psychopathic personality traits were assessed among a sample of 265 undergraduate students using the Psychopathic Personality Inventory—Revised, along with attitudes supportive of environmental offending and intentions to engage in a specific form of environmental offending (toxic dumping). The current study assessed if psychopathic traits were associated with intentions to engage in toxic dumping, as well as the extent to which attitudes supportive of environmental offending would mediate this relationship. Results suggest that both attitudes and certain traits associated with psychopathy uniquely explain intention to engage in toxic dumping. However, a mediating effect was not found. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The authors examined the correspondence between the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI) and a recent revision of this measure, the Psychopathic Personality Inventory—Revised (PPI-R) in a sample of 85 male and female offenders in a community-based residential drug treatment program. Participants completed the PPI and PPI-R along with self-report measures of narcissism, aggression, emotional intelligence, and negative emotionality. Analyses focused on the associations between the total and factor scores, as well as content scale scores across the two measures, and the similarity between parallel indices from these measures in their associations with external criteria. Results suggest that findings from prior research examining PPI associations with criterion measures in the self-report domain of personality traits can reasonably be generalized to the PPI-R. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Research on the Psychopathic Personality Inventory–Revised (PPI-R) has revealed two factors: Fearless Dominance, and Self-Centered Impulsivity. This study examined the validity of these PPI-R factors in a community sample (N = 675). First, confirmatory factor analyses did not support the two-factor structure. Second, the PPI-R factors showed good convergent and discriminant validity with two other self-report measures of psychopathy, that is, the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory and Levenson’s Self-Report of Psychopathy. Third, PPI-R factors exhibited good external validity in relation to various theoretically relevant correlates. The results indicate that the PPI-R factors have good convergent, discriminant, and external validity, but confirmatory factor analysis raises concerns about the robustness of the two-factor structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the construct of psychopathy is frequently construed as a unitary syndrome, the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI; Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996) and its revision, the PPI-R (Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005), are composed of 2 scales, termed Fearless Dominance (FD) and Self-Centered Impulsivity ISCII, which appear to reflect orthogonal dimensions. In this study, we examined the construct validity of the FD and SCI scales of the PPI-R as markers of these constructs with a range of theoretically relevant correlates assessed across multiple domains in a sample of 200 forensic psychiatric inpatients, Results were generally, though not uniformly, consistent with hypothesized relationships: The SCI scale positively and selectively predicted anger and hostility, impulsivity, total psychiatric symptoms, drug abuse or dependence, antisocial behavior, and violence risk, whereas FD predicted anger, depression, anxiety symptoms (negatively), and alcohol abuse or dependence (positively). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]