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The utility of TriPM in distinguishing psychopathic subtypes: A latent profiles analysis in Chinese undergraduates

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Abstract

Modern conceptualizations of psychopathic personality highlight the multidimensional nature of the construct. The current study examined psychopathic subtypes in a mixed sample of Chinese college students (n = 791). Based on the subscales of TriPM (i.e., boldness, meanness, and disinhibition) and other psychopathy-related traits including trait anxiety, emotion dysregulation, behavioral inhibition system (BIS), and behavioral activation system (BAS), we obtained three distinct psychopathic variants by latent profile analysis in a subsample (n = 131) with high psychopathic characteristics: (1) successful psychopathy displayed high scores on boldness and meanness, but low scores on disinhibition, trait anxiety, emotion dysregulation, and BIS; (2) primary psychopathy evidenced high scores on all TriPM subscales, but low scores on trait anxiety and BIS; (3) secondary psychopathy exhibited low scores on boldness, but high scores on meanness, disinhibition, trait anxiety, emotion dysregulation, and BIS. These results provide evidence for the utility of the TriPM model in distinguishing different psychopathic subtypes. Future research needs to replicate these profiles of the current study in different cultures and attempt to validate the current findings with neurobiological correlates of psychopathy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tianjin University School of Education, Institute of Applied Psychology, Tianjin University, Student Center, Peiyang Campus, 135 Yaguan Rd. Jinnan District, 300350, Tianjin, China

    Peiyang Guo, Zhaokun Yin, Cheng Cheng & Mengya Wang

  2. Mental Health Education Center, Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, Tianjin, 300222, China

    Shijiang Su

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  1. Peiyang Guo
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  2. Zhaokun Yin
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  4. Mengya Wang
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Correspondence to Cheng Cheng.

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Peiyang Guo and Zhaokun Yin contribute equally to this paper and should be considered as co-first author.

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Guo, P., Yin, Z., Cheng, C. et al. The utility of TriPM in distinguishing psychopathic subtypes: A latent profiles analysis in Chinese undergraduates. Curr Psychol 42, 21108–21118 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-03242-4

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