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Psychopathic Traits in Adolescence and the Five Factor Model of Personality

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Abstract

The present study aimed to expand work on psychopathic traits and the Five Factor Model (FFM; Costa and McCrae 1992). The associations between the three factors of psychopathy and personality traits—assessed by means of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI, Andershed et al. 2002) and the Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R; Costa and McCrae 1992)—were explored in a community sample of 152 male adolescents and young adults. The unique relations of each YPI subscale with the NEO domains/facets were examined by computing partial correlations controlling for the scores on the other two YPI psychopathy subscales. The YPI Callous/Unemotional dimension exhibited negative associations with Extraversion, Openness, and Agreeableness. The YPI Impulsive/Irresponsible factor was positively associated with Extraversion and negatively with Conscientiousness. The YPI Grandiose/Manipulative factor displayed positive associations with Openness and Conscientiousness. We discuss the implications of the differential associations of the three psychopathy factors with the Five Factor domains/facets for theories of the etiology of psychopathy.

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Notes

  1. Comparison with population-based norms for the domains of the NEO-PI-R provide further insight into our participants. Our sample was average on Neuroticism and Extraversion (Stanine score = 5), considerably below average on Openness and Agreeableness (Stanine score = 3), and low on Conscientiousness (Stanine score = 2). To compute the stanine scores we used a Flemish norm group of adults, as no norms for adolescents were available. It should be noted that during the transition from adolescence to adulthood, Neuroticism, Extraversion and Openness tend to decline, whereas Agreeableness and Conscientiousness tend to increase (McCrae et al. 2005).

  2. A questionnaire that assesses the affective factor of psychopathic traits [The Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU); Frick 2004] was administered at both test sessions within the scope of the broader study. A correlation of r = .58 emerged between the ICU score at time 1 and the ICU score at time 2, suggesting that psychopathy scores were moderately stable. In general, the patterns of associations between the ICU and the NEO-PI-R facets were not affected by the time span between assessment points, but the magnitude of the correlations declined when measures were administered at different times. This finding suggests that the time span between the NEO-PI-R and the YPI administration would mainly affected the magnitude rather than the nature of the associations.

  3. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to compare the representativeness of the smaller subsample included in Time 2 to the original larger sample of Time 1. Questionnaires concerning temperament (BIS/BAS scales, Carver, and White 1994) and psychopathic traits (YPI: Andershed et al. 2002; ICU: Frick 2004) were filled in at Time 1. No significant differences in temperamental and psychopathic traits emerged between the participants participating at Time 2 and those who didn’t [Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS): F(1,284) = .02, p = .88; Behavioral Activation System (BAS): F(1,284) = .00, p = .99; YPI Grandiose/Manipulative: F(1,284) = .07, p = .79; YPI Callous/Unemotional: F(1,284) = 1.47, p = .23; YPI Impulsive/Irresponsible: F(1,284) = .33, p = .57; YPI Total : F(1,284) = .02, p = .88; ICU (F(1,284) = 1.75, p = .19].

  4. Because only few differences emerged across age, the data were collapsed across age groups. Only two facets of the NEO-PI-R Assertiveness (E3) and Modesty (A5) were significantly associated with age (respectively r = .30, p = .005; r = −.20, p = .014). To further investigate age differences, we constructed younger and older participants groups, based on a median split (Me = 203 months). A Box M test was performed to assess the homogeneity of the intercorrelations matrices of YPI and NEO-PI-R. The Box M test [F(581, 65248) = 1.04; p = 0.25], showed that the correlations matrixes between the YPI factors and NEO-PI-R facets/ domains did not differ significantly for the younger and the older participants.

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Funding

The authors disclose receipt of the following financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article: PhD fellowship from the Research Foundation, Flanders, Belgium.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Assistant of the Research Foundation, Flanders, Belgium

    Annelore Roose

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Tiensestraat 102, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Annelore Roose, Patricia Bijttebier & Laurence Claes

  3. Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, USA

    Scott O. Lilienfeld

  4. Department of Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Filip De Fruyt & Mieke Decuyper

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  1. Annelore Roose
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  2. Patricia Bijttebier
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  3. Laurence Claes
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  6. Mieke Decuyper
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Correspondence to Annelore Roose.

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Roose, A., Bijttebier, P., Claes, L. et al. Psychopathic Traits in Adolescence and the Five Factor Model of Personality. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 34, 84–93 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-011-9243-8

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