Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Exploring Associations Between Psychopathic Personality and Components of Disinhibition vs. Constraint

  • Published:
Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Recent models of psychopathy implicate Disinhibition vs. Constraint (DvC) as one of the primary underpinnings of psychopathic traits, although little research has examined associations between specific DvC components and psychopathy facets. The present study aimed to fill this gap by examining associations between psychopathy facets, as operationalized by two widely used self-report psychopathy instruments, and lower-order components of DvC within a racially diverse sample of 1,160 undergraduates. Path analyses confirmed the broad dimension of DvC as representing a general diathesis to psychopathy, with second-order components conferring more specific risks for particular psychopathy traits regardless of the model of psychopathy employed. Further, findings suggest that associations do not vary by race. Results suggest both generality and specificity of DvC dimensions as they relate to psychopathic traits, as well as potential avenues for further investigation of the associations between psychopathy and DvC.

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

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. For readers interested in bivariate correlations between PPI-R and Levenson psychopathy dimensions and the other UPPS-P scales, they are provided here. PPI-R FD was correlated with Negative Urgency (NU), Sensation Seeking (SS), and Positive Urgency (PU) at rs = −0.11 (p < 0.001), 0.53 (p < 0.001), and 0.03 (p > 0.30), respectively. PPI-R SCI was correlated with NU, SS, and PU at rs = 0.58, 0.18, and 0.61 (all ps < 0.001), respectively. PPI-R Coldheartedness was correlated with NU, SS, and PU at rs = 0.15, 0.13, 0.33 (all ps < 0.001), respectively. With regard to the Levenson scales, Primary Psychopathy was correlated with NU, SS, and PU at rs = 0.37, 0.10, and 0.51(all ps < 0.001), respectively. Lastly, Secondary Psychopathy was correlated with NU, SS, and PU at rs = 0.59 (p < 0.001), 0.04 (p > 0.20), and 0.54 (p < 0.001), respectively. These findings suggest that FD is selectively related to SS. In contrast, the other dimensions of PPI-R-assessed psychopathy are positively related to both dimensions of urgency, although the relations of Coldheartedness to these two dimensions were more modest. Additional information regarding UPPS-P scales is available from the first author.

References

  • Benning, S. D., Patrick, C. J., Hicks, B. M., Blonigen, D. M., & Krueger, R. F. (2003). Factor structure of the psychopathic personality inventory: validity and implications for clinical assessment. Psychological Assessment, 15, 340–350.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benning, S. D., Patrick, C. J., Blonigen, D. M., Hicks, B. M., & Iacono, W. G. (2005). Estimating facets of psychopathy from normal personality traits: a step toward community epidemiological investigations. Assessment, 12, 3–18.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Brinkley, C. A., Schmitt, W. A., Smith, S. S., & Newman, J. P. (2001). Construct validation of a self-report psychopathy scale: does Levenson’s self-report psychopathy scale measure the same constructs as Hare’s psychopathy checklist–revised? Personality and Individual Differences, 31, 1021–1038.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cale, E., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2002). Sex differences in psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder: an integrative review. Clinical Psychology Review, 22, 1179–1207.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, L. A. (1993). Schedule for Nonadaptive and Adaptive Personality (SNAP). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, L. A., & Watson, D. (2008). Temperament: An organizing paradigm for trait psychology. In O. P. John, R. W. Robins, & L. A. Pervins (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (3rd ed., pp. 265–286). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleckley, H. (1941). The mask of sanity. St Louis: Mosby.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, D. J., Michie, C., & Skeem, J. (2007). Understanding the structure of the psychopathy checklist-revised. British Journal of Psychiatry, 190(suppl. 49), s39–s50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). NEO-PI-R professional manual. Odessa: Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1998). Six approaches to the explication of facet-level traits: examples from conscientiousness. European Journal of Personality, 12, 117–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cyders, M. A., Smith, G. T., Spillane, N. S., Fischer, S., Annus, A. M., & Peterson, C. (2007). Integration of impulsivity and positive mood to predict risky behavior: development and validation of a measure of positive urgency. Psychological Assessment, 19, 107–118.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Decuyper, M., De Pauw, S., De Fruyt, F., De Bolle, M., & De Clercq, B. J. (2009). A meta-analysis of psychopathy-, antisocial PD- and FFM associations. European Journal of Personality, 23, 531–565.

    Google Scholar 

  • Derefinko, K. J., & Lynam, D. R. (2006). Convergence and divergence among self-report psychopathy measures: a personality-based approach. Journal of Personality Disorders, 20, 261–280.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eysenck, H. (1990). Biological dimensions of personality. In L. A. Pervin (Ed.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 244–276). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fowles, D. C., & Dindo, L. (2009). Temperament and psychopathy: a dual-pathway model. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 18, 179–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hare, R. D. (1991). Manual for the revised psychopathy checklist. Toronto: Multi Health Systems.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hare, R. D. (2003). Manual for the revised psychopathy checklist (2nd ed.). Toronto: Multi Health Systems.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, R. L., Neumann, C. S., & Vitacco, M. J. (2007). Impulsivity, anger, and psychopathy: the moderating effect of ethnicity. Journal of Personality Disorders, 21(3), 289–304.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • John, O. P., & Srivastava, S. (1999). The Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement and theoretical perspectives. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (pp. 102–138). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • John, O. P., Naumann, L. P., & Soto, C. J. (2008). Paradigm shift to the integrative Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement, and conceptual issues. In O. P. John, R. W. Robins, & L. A. Pervin (Eds.), Handbook of personality: Theory and research (3rd ed., pp. 114–158). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

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

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Krueger, R. F. (2006). Perspectives on the conceptualization of psychopathy: Toward an integration. In C. J. Patrick (Ed.), Handbook of psychopathy (pp. 193–202). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latzman, R. D., & Vaidya, J. G. (2013). Common and distinct associations between aggression and alcohol problems with trait disinhibition. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 35, 186–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Latzman, R. D., Vaidya, J. G., Clark, L. A., & Watson, D. (2011). Components of disinhibition (vs. constraint) differentially predict aggression and alcohol use. European Journal of Personality, 25, 477–486.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levenson, M. R., Kiehl, K. A., & Fitzpatrick, C. M. (1995). Assessing psychopathic attributes in- a noninstitutionalized population. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68, 151–158.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lilienfeld, S. O., & Andrews, B. P. (1996). Development and preliminary validation of a self-report measure of psychopathic personality traits in noncriminal populations. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66, 488–524.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lilienfeld, S. O., & Fowler, K. A. (2006). The self-report assessment of psychopathy: Promises, problems, and solutions. In C. Patrick (Ed.), Handbook of psychopathy (pp. 107–132). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lilienfeld, S. O., & Widows, M. (2005). Psychopathic personality inventory—Revised professional manual. Odessa: PAR.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lilienfeld, S. O., Patrick, C. J., Benning, S. D., Berg, J., Sellbom, M., & Edens, J. F. (2012a). The role of fearless dominance in psychopathy: confusions, controversies, and clarifications. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 3, 327–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lilienfeld, S. O., Waldman, I. D., Landfield, K., Watts, A. L., Rubenzer, S., & Faschingbauer, T. R. (2012b). Fearless dominance and the U.S. Presidency: implications of psychopathic personality traits for successful and unsuccessful political leadership. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103, 489–505.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lykken, D. T. (1995). The antisocial personalities. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynam, D. R., & Miller, J. D. (2012). Fearless dominance and psychopathy: a response to Lilienfeld et al. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 3, 341–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcus, D. K., Fulton, J. J., & Edens, J. F. (2013). The two-factor model of psychopathic personality: evidence from the psychopathic personality inventory. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 4, 67–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markon, K. E., & Krueger, R. F. (2006). Information-theoretic latent distribution modeling: distinguishing discrete and continuous latent variable models. Psychological Methods, 3, 228–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markon, K. E., Krueger, R. F., & Watson, D. (2005). Delineating the structure of normal and abnormal personality: an integrative hierarchical approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 139–157.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. D., Gaughan, E. T., & Pryor, L. R. (2008). The levenson self-report psychopathy scale: an examination of the personality traits and disorders associated with the LSRP factors. Assessment, 15, 450–463.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. D., Watts, A., & Jones, S. E. (2011). Does psychopathy manifest divergent relations with components of its nomological network depending on gender? Personality and Individual Differences, 50, 564–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998–2012). Mplus user’s guide (7th ed.). Los Angeles: Muthén & Muthén.

  • Neumann, C. S., Malterer, M. B., & Newman, J. P. (2008). Factor structure of the psychopathic personality inventory (PPI): findings from a large incarcerated sample. Psychological Assessment, 20, 169–174.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Patrick, C. J., Fowles, D. C., & Krueger, R. F. (2009). Triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy: developmental origins of disinhibition, boldness, and meanness. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 913–938.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Poy, R., Segarra, P., Esteller, A., Lopez, R., & Molto, J. (2014). FFM description of the Triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy in men and women. Psychological Assessment, 26, 69–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Poythress, N. G., & Hall, J. R. (2011). Psychopathy and impulsivity reconsidered. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 16, 120–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raine, A., & Venables, P. H. (1981). Classical conditioning and socialization—a biosocial interaction. Personality and Individual Differences, 2(4), 273–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raine, A., Reynolds, C., Venables, P. H., & Mednick, S. A. (1997). Biosocial bases of aggressive behavior in childhood: Resting heart rate, skin conductance orienting and physique. In A. Raine, P. A. Brennan, D. P. Farrington, & S. A. Mednick (Eds.), Biosocial bases of violence (pp. 107–126). New York: Plenum Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ray, J. V., Poythress, N. G., Weir, J. M., & Rickelm, A. (2009). Relationships between psychopathy and impulsivity in the domain of self-reported personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 83–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, B. W., Bogg, T., Walton, K. E., Chernyshenko, O. S., & Stark, S. E. (2004). A lexical investigation of the lower-order structure of conscientiousness. Journal of Research in Personality, 38, 164–178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, B. W., Chernyshenko, O. S., Stark, S. E., & Goldberg, L. R. (2005). The structure of conscientiousness: an empirical investigation based on seven major personality questionnaires. Personnel Psychology, 58, 103–139.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Royle, J. A., & Dorazio, R. M. (2008). Hierarchical modeling and inference in ecology: The analysis of data from populations, metapopulations and communities. San Diego: Academic Press.

  • Sampson, R. J., Morenoff, J. D., & Raudenbush, S. (2005). Social anatomy of racial and ethnic disparities in violence. American Journal of Public Health, 95(2), 224–232.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Seibert, A. L., Miller, J. D., Few, L. R., Zeichner, A., & Lynam, D. R. (2011). An examination of the structure of self-report psychopathy measures and their relations with general traits and externalizing behaviors. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 2, 193–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sellbom, M., & Phillips, T. R. (2013). An examination of the triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy in incarcerated and nonincarcerated samples. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 122, 208–214.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Skeem, J., Polaschek, D., Patrick, C. J., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2011). Psychopathic personality: bridging the gap between scientific evidence and public policy. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 12, 95–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, E. A., & Kosson, D. S. (2006). Ethnic and cultural variations in psychopathy. In C. J. Patrick (Ed.), Handbook of psychopathy (pp. 437–458). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tellegen, A. (1985). Structures of mood and personality and their relevance to assessing anxiety, with an emphasis on self-report. In A. H. Tuma & J. D. Maser (Eds.), Anxiety and the anxiety disorders (pp. 681–706). Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tellegen, A., & Waller, N. (2008). Exploring personality through test construction: Development of the multidimensional personality questionnaire. In G. Boyle, G. Matthews, & D. Saklofske (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of personality theory and assessment: Volume 2—Personality measurement and testing (pp. 261–293). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thornquist, M. H., & Zuckerman, M. (1995). Psychopathy, passive-avoidance learning and basic dimensions of personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 19, 525–534.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vachon, D. D., Lynam, D. R., Loeber, R., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (2012). Generalizing the nomological network of psychopathy across populations differing on race and conviction status. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 121(1), 263–269.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Vaidya, J. G., Latzman, R. D., Markon, K. E., & Watson, D. (2010). Age differences on measures of Disinhibition during young adulthood. Personality and Individual Differences, 48, 815–820.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D., & Hubbard, B. (1996). Adaptational style and dispositional structure: coping in the context of the five-factor model. Journal of Personality, 64, 737–774.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Harkness, A. (1994). Structures of personality and their relevance to psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103, 18–31.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Whelan, R., et al. (2012). Adolescent impulsivity phenotypes characterized by distinct brain networks. Nature Neuroscience, 15, 920–925.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Whiteside, S. P., & Lynam, D. R. (2001). The five factor model and impulsivity: using a structural model of personality to understand impulsivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 669–689.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Conflict of Interest

All authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Experiment Participants

The current study was conducted with the informed consent of all participants. This project was approved by the university Institutional Review Board.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 5010, Atlanta, GA, 30302-5010, USA

    Robert D. Latzman & Mariya V. Malikina

  2. Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA, USA

    Jatin G. Vaidya

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

    Joanna M. Berg & Scott O. Lilienfeld

Authors
  1. Robert D. Latzman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jatin G. Vaidya
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mariya V. Malikina
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Joanna M. Berg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Scott O. Lilienfeld
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert D. Latzman.

Appendix A

Appendix A

Table 2 Fit Indices for Race-Related Measurement Invariance Models
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Latzman, R.D., Vaidya, J.G., Malikina, M.V. et al. Exploring Associations Between Psychopathic Personality and Components of Disinhibition vs. Constraint. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 36, 497–509 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-014-9415-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-014-9415-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation