An empirical investigation of psychopathy in a noninstitutionalized and noncriminal sample.
This study examined the construct of psychopathy using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) in 54 participants from the general population. To obtain a sample of community participants with psychopathic characteristics, participants were recruited using advertisements for a "personality study" that incorporated the characteristics of psychopathy in a nonpejorative manner. The methodology successfully recruited community participants with moderately elevated PCL-R scores. Participants exhibited the personality features of psychopathy (Factor 1) to a greater extent than the behavioral features (Factor 2), which is consistent with the results obtained with the PCL-R normative samples. Roughly 40% of the sample reported no history of involvement with the criminal justice system, yet these participants exhibited moderately elevated PCL-R scores. Moreover, a sizeable portion of the noncriminal participants reported a substantial history of violent behavior. Comparisons of PCL-R scores between participants with and without a criminal history suggest that these two groups differ in ways unrelated to criminal justice system involvement.
Treatment Research Institute, University of Pennsylvania, 150 South Independence Mall West, 600 Public Ledger Building, Philadelphia, PA 19106-3475, USA. ddematteo@tresearch.org
David
D
DeMatteo
Kirk
K
Heilbrun
Geoffrey
G
Marczyk
D000328:Adult; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015143:Philadelphia; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology; D011581:Psychological Tests