Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Psychopathy Across Cultures

  • Chapter
Psychopathy: Theory, Research and Implications for Society

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASID,volume 88))

Abstract

Like the poor, psychopaths have always been with us (Cleckley, 1976; Rotenberg & Diamond, 1971); while they appear in all societies — no matter what the level of economic development — the prevalence of the disorder shows marked cross-cultural variation (Mealey, 1995). This chapter will examine what we know about the cross-cultural variation in the rate and nature of psychopathy. The overarching themes of the chapter are that a cross-cultural perspective is not only necessary if we are to apply the diagnosis in an ethical manner, but also, such a perspective can inform research both about the nature and the etiology of the disorder.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 469.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 649.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 599.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Af Klinteberg, B., Humble, K., & Schalling, D. (1992). Personality and psychopathy of males with a history of early criminal behaviour. European Journal of Personality, 6, 245–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alterman, A. I., Cacciola, J. S., & Rutherford, M. J. (1993). Reliability of the Revised Psychopathy Checklist in substance abuse patients. Psychological Assessment, 5, 442–448.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. (3 Revised ed.). Washington DC: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. (4th ed.). Washington: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Armor, D. J. (1969). Theta reliability and factor scaling. Sociological Methodology, 2, 17–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arrindell, W. A., Perris, C, Eisemann, E., Granell de Aldaz, J., Van der Ende, D., Kong Sim Guan, J., Richter, J., Gaszner, P., Iwawaki, S., Baron, P., Joubert, N., & Prud’homme, L. (1992). Cross-national transferability of the two-factor model of parental rearing behaviour: A contrast of data from Canada, The Federal Republic of Germany, Hungary, Japan, Singapore and Venezuela with Dutch target ratings on the EMBU. Personality and Individual Differences, 13, 343–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A., & Walters, R. (1963). Social learning and personality development. (1st ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnlund, D. C. (1975). Public and private self in Japan and the United States. (1st ed.). Tokyo: Simuli.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barnlund, D. C. (1989). Communicative styles of Japanese and Americans: images and realities. (1st ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barrett, P., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1984). The assessment of personality factors across 25 countries. Personality and Individual Differences, 5, 615–632.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berry, J. W., Poortinga, Y. H., Segall, M. H., & Dasen, P. R. (1992). Cross-cultural psychology: research and applications. (1 st ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bontempo, R. (1993). Translation fidelity of psychological scales: a item response theory analysis of an Individualism-Collectivism Scale. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 24, 149–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chagnon, N. A. (1974). Studying the Yanomano. (1st ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chagnon, N. A. (1996). Chronic problems in understanding tribal violence and warfare. In G. R. Bock & J. A. Goode (Eds.), Genetic of criminal and antisocial behaviour, (pp. 202–236). Chichester: John Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, G. (1995). Differences in self-disclosure patterns among American versus Chinese: A comparative study. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 26, 84–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cleckley, H. (1976). The mask of sanity. (5th ed.). St Louis: Mosby.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1977). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. New York: Academic press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Compton, W. M, Heizer, J. E., Hwu, H. G., Yeh, E. K, McEvoy, L., Tipp, J. E, & Spitznagel, E. L. (1991). New methods in cross-cultural psychiatry: psychiatric illness in Taiwan and the United States. American Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 1697–1704.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, D. J. (1980). Causal models with contingency tables. British Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 582–584.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, D. J. (1994). Psychological disturbance in the Scottish Prison System: prevalence, precipitants and policy. Edinburgh: SHHD.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, D. J. (1995a). Psychopathic disturbance in the Scottish prison population: the cross-cultural generalizability of the Hare psychopathy checklist. Psychology, Crime and Law, 2, 101–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, D. J. (1995b). Psychological disturbance in the Scottish prison system: a preliminary account. In G. Davie, S. Lloyd-Bostock, M. McMurran, & C. Wilson (Eds.), Psychology, law and criminal justice: international developments in research and practice. Berlin: Walter de Grutyer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, D. J. (1997). Psychopaths: oversexed, overplayed but not over here? Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 7, 3–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, D. J., & Michie, C. (1997a). An Item Response Theory evaluation of Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist: Psychological Assessment, 9, 2–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, D. J., & Michie, C. (1997b). Psychopathy across cultures: an Item Response Theory comparison of Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. Submitted for publication

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, D. J., & Michie, C. (1997c). Predicting recidivism in a Scottish prison sample. Edinburgh: Scottish Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, D. J., Michie, C, Hart, S. D., & Hare, R. D. (1997). The functioning of the Clinical Version of the Psychopathy Checklist: an Item Response Theory analysis. Submitted for publication

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, J. E., Kendell, R. E., Gurland, B. J., Sharpe, L., Copeland, J. R. M., & Simon, R. (1972). Psychiatric diagnosis in New York and London. (1st ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Draguns, J. G. (1986). Culture and psychopathology: What is known about there relationship. Australian Journal of Psychology, 38, 329–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dugatkin, L. A., & Wilson, D. S. (1991). Rover: a strategy for exploiting cooperators in a patchy environment. The American Naturalist, 138(3), 687–701.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dugatkin, L. A. (1992). The evolution of the “Con Artist”. Ethology and Sociobiology, 13, 3–18.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ehrenreich, B. (1983). The hearts of men: American dreams and the flight from commitment. (1st ed.). New York: Anchor.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ekblad, S. (1988). Influence of child-rearing on aggressive behavior in a transcultural perspective. Acta Psychiatrica Scandanavica, 78, 133–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ekblad, S. (1990). The children’s behaviour questionnaire for completion by parents and teachers in a Chinese sample. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 31, 775–791.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Embretson, S. E. (1996). The new rules of measurement. Psychological Assessment, 8(4), 341–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, H. J. (1970). The classification of depressive illness. British Journal of Psychiatry, 117, 241–250.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, S. B. G., Kozeki, B., & Gellenne, M. K. (1980). Cross-cultural comparison of personality: Hungarian children and English children. Personality and Individual Differences, 1, 347–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farley, F. (1986) The Big T in personality. Psychology Today, May, 45-52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fiske, A. P. (1995). The cultural dimensions of psychological research: method effects imply cultural mediation. In P. E. Shrout & S. T. Fiske (Eds.), Personality research method and theory: a fesctschrift honoring Donald W Fiske. (pp. 271–294). Hillsdale New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haapasalo, J., & Pulkkinen, L. (1992). The Psychopathy Checklist and non-violent offender groups. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 2, 315–328.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hambleton, R. K. (1989). Principles and selected applications of item response theory. In R. L. Linn (Ed.), Educational measurement, (pp. 147–200). London: Collier MacMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hare, R. D. (1991). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist — Revised. Toronto, Ontario: Multi-Health Systems.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hare, R. D. (1993). Without conscience: the disturbing world of the psychopaths among us. (1st ed.). New York: Pocket Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hare, R. D. (1996). Psychopathy: a clinical construct whose time has come. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 23, 25–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hare, R. D., Harpur, T. J., Hakstian, A. R., Forth, A. E., Hart, S. D., & Newman, J. P. (1990). The Revised Psychopathy Checklist: descriptive statistics, reliability, and factor structure. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 2, 238–341.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hare, R. D., & Hart, S. D. (1992). Psychopathy, mental disorder, and crime. In S. Hodgins (Ed.), Mental disorder and crime. Newbury Park, California: Sage (in press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Harpending, H., & Draper, P. (1988). Antisocial behavior and the other side of cultural evolution. In T. E. Moffitt & S. A. Mednick (Eds.), Biological contributions to crime causation. Boston: Matinun Nijhoff.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harpur, T. J., Hare, R. D., & Hakstian, A. R. (1989). Two-factor conceptualization of psychopathy: construct validity and assessment implications. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1, 6–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hodgins, S., Cote, G., & Ross, D. (1992). Predictive validity of the French version of Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist (Abstract). Canadian Psychology, 33, 300

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulin, C. L., Drasgow, F., & Parsons, C. K. (1983a). Item and test bias. In Anonymous, Item Response Theory: application to psychological measurement, (pp. 152–184). Illinois: Dow Jones-Irwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulin, C. L., Drasgow, F., & Parsons, C. K. (1983b). Applications of IRT to language translations. In Anonymous, Item Response Theory: application to psychological measurement. (pp. 185–209). Homewood, Illinois: Dow Jones-Irwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hulin, C. L. (1987). A psychometric theory of evaluations of item and scale translation: fidelity across languages. Journal of Cross-cultural Psychology, 18, 115–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ironson, G. H., & Subkoviak, M. J. (1979). A comparison of several methods of assessing item bias. Journal of Educational Measurement, 16, 209–225.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kleinman, A. (1996). How is culture important for DSM-IV. In J. E. Mezzich, A. Kleinman, H. Fabrega, & D. L. Parron (Eds.), Culture & psychiatric diagnosis: A DSM-IV perspective, (pp. 15–25). Washington: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kosson, D. S., Smith, S. S., & Newman, J. P. (1990). Evaluating the construct validity of psychopathy in Blank and White male inmates: three preliminary studies. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 99, 250–259.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lasch, C. (1979). The culture of narcissism: American life in an age of diminishing expectations. (1st ed.). New York: Warner.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1948). Some socio-psychological differences between the United States and Germany. In G. Lewin (Ed.), Resolving social conflicts: selected papers on group dynamics, (pp. 1935–1946). New York: Harper.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis-Fernandez, R., & Kleinman, A. (1994). Culture, Personality and Psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 67–71.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loeber, R. (1990). Development and risk factors of juvenile antisocial behavior and delinquency. Clinical Psychology Review, 10, 1–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lord, F. M, & Noviak, M. (1968). Statistical theories of mental tests. (1st ed.). New York: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lykken, D. T. (1995). The antisocial personalities. (1st ed.). Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mealey, L. (1995). The sociobiology of sociopathy: an integrated evolutionary model. Behavioral and Brain Science, 18, 523–599.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mellenbergh, G. J. (1996). Measurement precision in test score and item response models. Psychological Methods, 1(3), 293–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mezzich, J. E., Kleinman, A., Fabrega, H., & Parron, D. L. (1996). Culture & Psychiatric diagnosis: a DSM-IV perspective. (1st ed.). Washington: American Psychiatric Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Millon, T. (1993). Borderline personality disorder: a psychosocial epidemic. In J. Paris (Ed.), Borderline personality disorder: etiology and treatment. Washington: American Psychiatric Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moghaddam, F. M., Taylor, D. M., & Wright, S. C. (1992). Social psychology in cross-cultural perspective. New York: Freeman and Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Muliak, S. A. (1972). The foundations of factor analysis. (1st ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, J. M. (1976). Psychiatric labelling in cross-cultural perspective: similar kinds of disturbed behaviour appear to be labelled abnormal in diverse cultures. Science, 191, 1019–1028.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nakanishi, M. (1987). Perceptions of self-disclosure in inital interaction: a Japanese sample. Human Communication Research, 13, 167–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nunnally, J. C, & Bernstein, I. H. (1994). Psychometric theory. (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paris, J. (1993). Personality disorders: a biopsychosocial model. Journal of Personality Disorders, 7, 255–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raine, A. (1985). A psychometric assessment of Hare’s checklist for psychopathy on an English prison population. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 24, 247–258.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Raine, A. (1988). Antisocial behavior and psychophysiology. In H. L. Wagner (Ed.), Social psychophysiology and emotion: theory and clinical applications. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raine, A., & Venables, P. H. (1992). Antisocial behaviour: evolution, genetics, neuropsychology, and psychophysiology. In A. Gale & M. W. Eysenck (Eds.), Handbook of individual differences: biological perspectives. Chichester: John Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reckase, M. D. (1996). Test construction in the 1990: recent approaches every psychologists should know. Psychological Assessment, 8(4), 354–359.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reise, S. P., Widaman, K. F., & Pugh, R. H. (1993). Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Item Response Theory: Two approaches for exploring measurement invariance. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 552–566.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Robins, L. N., Tipp, J., & Przybeck, T. (1991). Psychiatric disorders in America. In L. N. Robins & D. A. Regier (Eds.), Antisocial Personality Disorder, (pp. 258-290). Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins, L. N. (1995). The epidemiology of aggression. In E. Hollander & D. J. Stein (Eds.), Impulsivity and aggression, (pp. 43–55). London: John Wiley & Son.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotenberg, M., & Diamond, B. L. (1971). The biblical conception of the psychopath: The law of the stubborn and rebellious son. Journal of History of Behavioral Sciences, 7, 29–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samejima, F. (1996). Graded response model. In W. J. Van der Linden & R. K. Hambleton (Eds.), Handbook of modern item response theory, (pp. 85–100). New York: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanchez, J. (1986). Social crises and psychopathy: towards a sociology of psychopathy. In W. H. Reid, D. Dorr, J. I. Walker, & J. W. Bonner (Eds.), Unmasking the psychopath: Antisocial personality disorders and related syndromes, (pp. 78–97). New York: Norton & CO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schroeder, M., Schroeder, K., & Hare, R. D. (1985). Generalizability of a checklist for the assessment of psychopathy. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51, 511–516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steinberg, L., & Thissen, D. (1996). Uses of Item Response Theory and the testlet concept in the measurement of psychopathology. Psychological Measurement, 7(1), 81–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tarrier, N., Eysenck, S. B. G., & Eysenck, H. J. (1980). National differences in personality; Brazil and England. Personality and Individual Differences, 1, 164–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ten Berge, J. M. F. (1986). Rotation to perfect congruence and cross-validation of component weights across populations. Multivariate Behavioural Research, 21, 41–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Templeman, R., & Wong, S. (1994). Determining the factor structure of the Psychopathy Checklist: a converging approach. Multivariate Experimental Clinical Research, 10, 157–166.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thissen, D. (1991). Multilog user’s guide (version 6). (1st ed.). Mooresville, IN: Scientific Software.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thissen, D., & Steinberg, L. (1988). Data analysis using item response theory. Psychological Bulletin, 104, 385–395.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tyrer, P. J., Cicchetti, D. V., Casey, P. R., Fitzpatrick, K., Oliver, R., Balter, A., Giller, E., & Harkness, L. (1984). Cross-national reliability study of a schedule for assessing personality disorders. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 172, 718–721.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Leung, K. (1997). Methods and data analysis for cross-cultural research. Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wechsler, D. (1987). Wechsler Memory Scale — Revised Manual. (1st ed.). San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Westermeyer, J. (1987). Cultural factors in clinical assessment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 471–478.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Westermeyer, J. (1989). Psychiatric epidemiology across cultures: current issues and trends. Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review, 26, 5–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, J. Q., & Herrnstein, R. J. (1985). Crime and human nature. (1st ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winchie, D. B., & Carment, D. W. (1988). Intention to migrate: A psychological analysis. Journal of Applied Social Psychiatry, 18(9), 727–736.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wong, S. (1984). Criminal and institutional behaviors of psychopaths. (1st ed.). Ottawa, Ontario: Ministry of the Solicitor-General of Canada.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Glasgow Caledonian University and Douglas Inch Centre, Glasgow, UK

    David J. Cooke

Authors
  1. David J. Cooke
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Douglas Inch Centre, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, UK

    David J. Cooke

  2. Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada

    Adelle E. Forth

  3. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

    Robert D. Hare

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Cooke, D.J. (1998). Psychopathy Across Cultures. In: Cooke, D.J., Forth, A.E., Hare, R.D. (eds) Psychopathy: Theory, Research and Implications for Society. NATO ASI Series, vol 88. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3965-6_2

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3965-6_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-4920-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-3965-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation