Reinforcement sensitivity of sex offenders and non-offenders: an experimental and psychometric study of reinforcement sensitivity theory.
This study tested predictions of Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory (RST) in subgroups of sex offenders and male non-offenders using an experimental choice task consisting of a reward and a non-reward phase. In addition, RST-related psychometric measures were used. Both experimental and psychometric data were of interest to determine whether sex offenders could be reliably differentiated from non-offenders. Paraphilic (N=50) and impulse control-disordered (N=48) sex offenders showed greater sensitivity to continuous reward than male non-offenders (N=51). Impulse control-disordered sex offenders showed less behavioural adaptation under non-reward than both paraphilic sex offenders and male non-offenders. In addition, reward sensitivity, rash-spontaneous impulsivity, and anxiety measures discriminated sex offenders from male non-offenders. The results suggest that reinforcement sensitivity is a promising personality trait for differentiating subgroups of sex offenders from non-offenders. The experimental and psychometric results illustrate that predictive accuracy in forensic settings could be improved by combining several types of data.
Faculty of Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, Germany. anja.leue@staff.uni-marburg.de
Anja
A
Leue
Burkhard
B
Brocke
Jürgen
J
Hoyer
D000328:Adult; D002755:Choice Behavior; D035061:Control Groups; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D007174:Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010262:Paraphilic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010551:Personality / Q000145:classification*; D011582:Psychological Theory; D011594:Psychometrics; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology; D012201:Reward; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology*