An Investigation Of The Correlation Between Psychopathy Subtypes And Cognitive Empathy

Psychopathy as a mental disorder or construct, although not included in the presently valid classification systems, is gradually fascinating the experts and investigators involved in the field of mental health. Curiosity in psychopathy has mainly grown after the declaration of the new classification system DSM V in which psychopathy is mentioned as a clear diagnosis in the context of six new personality illnesses.

Psychopathy is an umbrella term that is both wide and varied. Much like the spectrum of light, there are numerous groups and subcategories. In this spectrum is Anti- Social Personality Disorder (referred to as ASPD in this essay); this condition unlike psychopathy is a recognized disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (referred to as the DSM). The term psychopathy and psychopath is used in both the media and everyday use as a disorder but this is untrue. Unlike a disorder, psychopathy is more of a series of traits that all individuals have. ASPD and psychopathy are used interchangeably in society, but the diagnosis for ASPD and psychopathy are quite different. Though similar in numerous ways, there are some key

Also of note is a replication of the same study used on an adolescent population with psychopathic tendencies have shown the same associations (Blair,1997). The similarity between the two samples perpetuates the notion that psychopathy is a developmental disorder and is consistent throughout the lifespan, it also provides evidence that specific deficits in guilt may extend to non-clinical samples, which is one of the purposes of my study. To date, and to my knowledge lack of guilt has not been looked at specificity in non-clinical samples nor have subtypes of psychopathy been compared.

Individuals with psychopathic personality are characterized by a constellation of traits, including interpersonal-affective features such as superficial charm, manipulation, lack of affect and emotion, and antisocial features such as impulsivity and aggression. (Gao, 2011). These traits in turn have been linked to a disregard for laws and social mores, a disregard for the right of others, a failure to feel remorse or guilt and a tendency to display violent behavior (Kennedy, 1954). Furthermore, their interpersonal behavior has been described as selfish, dominant, manipulative, and superficial; showing a lack of responsibility within relationships; and inability to form long-lasting bonds. Psychopaths are described

Eiseberg (1995) examined the structure of sociopathy and found that the role that emotions play in the psychopathic mind is problematic and complex. In his evaluations, Eisenberg established that the study in sociopathy an understanding into the roles of anxiety, love, and sympathy, or lack thereof, as factors contributing to psychopathy. In his findings, Eiseberg (1995) suggested that low anxiety, neuroticism, and absence of love and empathy characterize emotional traits leading to psychopathy. However, the unanswered question that remains from this research is how such emotions are triggered to begin with.

Psychopathy, in both the mental health and criminal justice systems, has emerged as one of the most important clinical constructs of the 21st century (Hare, Clark, Grann, & Thornton, 2000, p. 623). Where clinically, psychopathy is traditionally described as a combination of inferred socially deviant behaviors and personality traits. Some traits and behaviors a psychopath is seen to possess are commonly known, for example, to being impulsive, selfish, aggressive, lacking remorse, shame, feeling for others, pathologically lying, and having asocial or antisocial behaviors (Hare, & Neumann, 2006, p. 59-60). One of the reasons as to why psychopathy has come to see an increase in the development of its theoretical and applied interest is the

In fact,because psychopaths are not able to feel empathy involuntarily, they are able to turn the feeling on. It is very common for psychopaths to have “ a false belief in their own superiority, a sense of entitlement and a complete disregard for social norms” (Paula, year). Psychopathy had recently been changed into ‘antisocial personality disorder’ in the updated version of the FBI’s mental health book, DSM-III. It was changed for the reason of the personality not always being reliable, as well as psychopathy symptoms crossing over antisocial personality disorder symptoms. Another reason for the change was because it is believed that focusing on behavior instead of the why helped identify the disorder easier. The new research was highly and widely discussed among many physicians because some felt unsure of the change, but they were also for the change with consideration of the evidence that was found. The usual psychopath is not found to be violent. If they are violent, they are considered more dangerous than others and will most likely reoffend sooner and worse than the first time. Between psychopaths and non psychopaths, psychopaths have a longer criminal history which varies in crimes. Their patterns are unique when compared to a non psychopath, but due to their inability to have emotion, they are able to be more observant on their next chosen

The most common traits associated with antisocial personality disorder are general cognitive and emotional dysfunction, especially in regards to callousness, manipulation and shallow affect. This study examined specific brain functioning tendencies of both mentally healthy participants and patients diagnosed with psychopathy by comparatively analyzing their facial emotion processing. The comparison allowed researchers to determine the relationship between psychopathological tendencies in relevance to patterns of responses. Generally, people diagnosed with psychopathy demonstrate reduced autonomic responses to expressions of distress or sadness, which in turn leads

This article states that we need to stop interchanging psychopath and sociopath, as they are two different disciplines. Pemment goes into detail about the history, research, and growth of psychopathy. He says that we need to understand the difference between the two, as the behavioral characteristics and potential treatments for each are different. The article includes details on Hervey Cleckley and Robert Hares work on psychopathy. The article describes the PCL-R, and how Hare says the test should be done. The PCL-R is used as a screening tool to identify psychopaths, and

Moving forward into the 20th century, Hervey Cleckley made a contribution to the knowledge and research of the psychopathic brain. He wrote a book called, “The Mask of Sanity” (1976) where he described psychopathy as a configuration of interpersonal and behavioral features. He found that not only do psychopaths contain an antisocial behavior, they also have many negative characterizations and traits such as being manipulative, fearless, impulsive and lacking empathy as well as remorse or guilt. He also found that psychopathy is not only in those who show criminal behavior, however psychopathy may be present in those who appear to be successful and socially fit individuals.

There are many symptoms of psychopathy but only a few pertain to emotions. Some of the emotional symptoms of psychopathy are traits that include egocentrism, manipulative, and lack of empathy and guilt. Psychopaths are egocentric. In their mind they are the center of the universe and the whole world should revolve around them. Because they are egocentric psychopaths believe they know best and make their own rules to follow. (Hare, 38). Psychopaths have a natural talent to manipulate individuals into doing just about anything. As the leading expert on psychopathy, Dr. Robert Hare states that “Lying, deceiving, and manipulation are natural talents for psychopaths.” (Hare, 46). Therefore, psychopaths use their talents in order to get their way because they are self-centered. It is commonly known that psychopaths lack guilt. This lack of guilt inhibits them from showing

The natural cause of psychopathy is due to malfunction of the brain while the causes of sociopathy consist of environmental factors. Various studies have shown that psychopaths are born and faintly affected by the environment around them. As noted in “Inside the Mind of a Psychopath,” psychopathy is due to the malfunction of the area in the brain that controls human emotions, thus psychopathic people lack empathy and the ability to manage emotions properly (Kiehl and Buckholtz 5-6). Furthermore, Professor Crag S. Neumann declares that “evidence from large-scale studies suggests that psychopathic traits are

“Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by an inability to form human attachment, aggressive narcissism, and antisocial behavior defined by a constellation of affective, interpersonal and behavioral characteristics, most of which society views as pejorative” [1]. Some of these characteristics include irresponsibility, grandiosity, cunning, deceitfulness, selective impulsivity, sexual promiscuity, lack of empathy, etc. People who are psychopathic display not only antisocial behavior but also emotional impairment such as the lack of guilt. They are able to prey on others using their charm, deceit, violence or any other methods that allow them to get what they want. A strong feature of most of the behavior

Psychopaths are untreatable and most time unstoppable social predators with plans for violence; they have a purpose and no emotions. Psychopathy is characterized as a social behavior and defined as a personality disorder. Psychopathy is a pattern of psychological manifestations that that appears in early childhood affecting the sufferer’s social life. Psychopathy is a surprisingly common disorder. It is more common than bipolar disorder, anorexia and paranoia; it is as slightly as common as bulimia. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression and drug and alcohol abuse or dependence are the only mental disorder that are more common than Psychopathy. Paycophany is categorized into Primary psychopaths, Secondary Psychopaths and Dyssocial

The simplest tool for measuring psychopathy is Robert Hare’s PCL-R. The model is divided into four areas. The first area is called interpersonal, which describes someone with high sense of self-worth, accustomed to lying, manipulative, conning and cunning behaviour and/or someone who appears normal until closely examined. The second area is called affective, which explains a person who has shallow emotions, lack of empathy and guilt and/or a person who does not accept responsibility.