Logo image
An empirical investigation of psychopathy in a noninstitutionalized and noncriminal sample
Journal article   Peer reviewed

An empirical investigation of psychopathy in a noninstitutionalized and noncriminal sample

David DeMatteo, Kirk Heilbrun and Geoffrey Marczyk
Behavioral sciences & the law, v 24(2), pp 133-146
Mar 2006
PMID: 16557617

Abstract

This study examined the construct of psychopathy using the Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL‐R) in 54 participants from the general population. To obtain a sample of community participants with psychopathic characteristics, participants were recruited using advertisements for a “personality study” that incorporated the characteristics of psychopathy in a nonpejorative manner. The methodology successfully recruited community participants with moderately elevated PCL‐R scores. Participants exhibited the personality features of psychopathy (Factor 1) to a greater extent than the behavioral features (Factor 2), which is consistent with the results obtained with the PCL‐R normative samples. Roughly 40% of the sample reported no history of involvement with the criminal justice system, yet these participants exhibited moderately elevated PCL‐R scores. Moreover, a sizeable portion of the noncriminal participants reported a substantial history of violent behavior. Comparisons of PCL‐R scores between participants with and without a criminal history suggest that these two groups differ in ways unrelated to criminal justice system involvement. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Law
Psychology, Applied
Logo image