Psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder: Gender ...
PSYCHOPATHY AND ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER: GENDER DIFFERENCES IN EMPATHY AND ALEXITHYMIA Jill E. Rogstad, B.S.
Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS August 2011
APPROVED: Richard Rogers, Major Professor Amy R. Murrell, Committee Member Kenneth W. Sewell, Committee Member Vicki Campbell, Chair of the Department of
Psychology James D. Meernik, Acting Dean of the
Toulouse Graduate School
Rogstad, Jill E. Psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder: Gender differences in empathy and alexithymia. Master of Science (Psychology), August 2011, 133 pp., 24 tables, references, 210 titles.
Traditional conceptualizations of psychopathy highlight the importance of affective features of the syndrome in perpetuating social deviance. However, little research has directly investigated the callousness that psychopathic offenders display toward society and their victims. The current study investigated the roles of empathy and alexithymia in psychopathy among male and female incarcerated offenders, particularly in distinguishing psychopathy from antisocial personality disorder. Gender differences were also investigated. Regarding empathy, as predicted, group differences were largest between psychopathic and non-psychopathic offenders; no reliable differences emerged between psychopathic and APD-only offenders. In contrast, alexithymia robustly distinguished between offenders with prominent psychopathic traits, those with only APD, and those with neither condition. Psychopathic females unexpectedly exhibited slightly higher levels of alexithymia than their male counterparts, while empathic deficits were relatively consistent across genders. These findings are discussed in terms of improving assessment methods for the accurate identification and treatment of offenders with prominent psychopathic features.
Copyright 2011 by
Jill E. Rogstad
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... vi
Chapters
1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................1 Psychopathy: An Overview .........................................................................1 Conceptualization of Psychopathy...................................................2 Psychopathy and Antisocial Conduct ..............................................4 Psychopathy and Antisocial Personality Disorder.......................................8 Gender Differences in Psychopathy...........................................................13 Gender Differences in APD ...........................................................15 Prevalence of Female Psychopathy ...............................................16 Severity of Female Psychopathy....................................................18 Measurement Bias..........................................................................19 Construct Validity and Factor Structure ........................................20 Violent and Nonviolent Recidivism in Female Psychopathy ........22 Affective Features of Psychopathy ............................................................23 Emotion Processing Deficits..........................................................23 Emotion Processing in Female Psychopathy .................................26 Empathy and Psychopathy.............................................................28 Gender Differences in Empathy.....................................................30 Victim Empathy and Psychopathy.................................................31 Alexithymia and Psychopathy .......................................................33 Current Study .............................................................................................38 Research Questions and Hypotheses .........................................................39
2. METHOD ..............................................................................................................41 Design ........................................................................................................41 Participants .................................................................................................41 Research and Administrative Approval .....................................................41 Materials ....................................................................................................42
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Psychopathy Checklist ? Revised ..................................................42 Structured Interview for DSM-IV Personality................................42 Self-Report Measures.....................................................................43 Procedure ...................................................................................................47 Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria....................................................47 Primary Research Procedures ........................................................48
3. RESULTS ..............................................................................................................50 Refinement of the Sample..........................................................................50 Demographic Data .....................................................................................50 Scale Properties..........................................................................................53 Descriptive Data.........................................................................................55 Primary Data Analysis ...............................................................................57 Emotion in Psychopathy and APD ................................................57 Gender Differences in Emotion .....................................................69 Discriminant Validity of Psychopathy and APD ...........................80
4. DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................82 General and Victim Empathy.....................................................................83 Alexithymia................................................................................................90 Alexithymia in Psychopathy and APD ..........................................91 Alexithymia in Female and Male Psychopathy .............................94 Potential Interventions for Alexithymia and Psychopathy ............96 Emotional Memory in Psychopathy...........................................................98 Discriminant Validity of Psychopathy and APD .....................................101 Limitations and Future Directions ...........................................................103 Concluding Remarks................................................................................106
Appendices
A. A COMPARISON OF THE CRITERIA FOR PSYCHOPATHY AND ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER ....................................................108
B. LIST OF NEGATIVE, NEUTRAL, AND POSITIVE WORDS USED AS STIMULI IN THE PRESENT STUDY...............................................................111
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