Achatz,
Werner (9/09) Do individuals high on psychopathic traits vary in their
processing of affects? (Barry Ritzler, Ph.D.; Philip S. Wong, Ph.D.; Marvin
Hurvich, Ph.D.)
This study sought to explore the
influence, if any, affective stimuli (positive, negative and neutral) have on
individuals high on psychopathic traits. Participants included 109 students at
a large university in the New York Metropolitan area. They completed measures
of psychopathic personality traits, annihilation anxiety, and computerized
tasks which measured the impact of affective stimuli on habitual motor
performance at two different stimulus presentation durations. Hypotheses
posited that, depending on stimulus valence, individuals with increasing levels
of psychopathic traits will respond faster and more accurately during long
affective stimuli exposures as well as brief stimuli exposures, thereby
affirming the fear dysfunction construct of psychopathy. The results of
multiple regression analyses showed that the hypothesized 3-way interaction
between psychopathy, duration, and valence was unsupported for either the
response latency outcome or the errors/missed responses outcome which partially
confirmed predictions. The results of the exploratory hypothesis which
concerned the relationship between psychopathy and annihilation anxiety yielded
significant results which were contrary to predictions.
In conclusion, the results showed that
increasing levels of psychopathy did not predict impairments in affect
registration and affect processing. However, the absence of significant
variations in the responses to differently valenced affective stimuli casts
doubts on the reliability of this result. As it pertains to the exploratory
hypothesis, increasing levels of psychopathy predicted increasing levels of
annihilation anxiety.
Based on the results of the present study
future research should distinguish between criminal and non-criminal
psychopaths and assess deficits in their affect registration and regulation in
light of this distinction. It is also recommended that the relationship between
anxiety in general and annihilation anxiety in particular be further examined
as this study demonstrated an unexpected relationship in this regard.
