Social Learning And Environmental Determinants Of Psychopathy

Social Learning and Environmental Determinants of Psychopathy Psychopathy is a disorder caused by biological, environmental, and psychological factors that result in both interpersonal/affective deficits and social deviance/antisocial behaviors. It can be broken down into primary psychopathy and secondary psychopathy. Primary psychopathy mainly encompasses the interpersonal/affective components of psychopathy, such as superficial charm, lack of empathy, remorse or guilt, and manipulative tactics. These aspects of psychopathy are typically life-long and caused by biological deficits. Secondary psychopathy involves the social deviance/antisocial behaviors components of psychopathy, such as impulsive behavior, aggression, lack of responsibility, and need for excitement. These aspects are typically more attributable to the environmental determinants of psychopathy. Psychopathy, unlike Antisocial Personality Disorder, includes both conduct and personality components. There are several different determinants that can impact psychopathy, including childhood abuse or trauma, parental bonding and attachment styles, and community or peer influences. These environmental determinants interact with biological determinants in a process known as biological embedding. All of these factors play a role in epigenetics, which is the altering of a gene’s function without altering the gene’s structure or sequence. Understanding the contributing factors of psychopathy is both relevant and