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Recent trends in conceptualizing sex role behavior have emphasized the independent development of masculinity and femininity. This has required a logical extension of sex role outcomes from the bipolar alternatives of being masculine or feminine to a quadripolar typology in which sex roles could develop as masculine and feminine, masculine and not feminine, feminine and not masculine, or neither masculine nor feminine. Investigation of this extended typology requires a masculinity-femininity scaling technique that provides independent measures of the two dimensions. The present study presents evidence regarding the psychometric properties of the Masculinity and Femininity scales of the Adjective Check List, developed from the parent Masculinity-Femininity Scale especially for the purpose of independent measurement.

The relations between psychopathy, violence, and impulsiveness of criminal behavior were examined within a white prisoner sample using level of intelligence as a moderator variable. Unlike most prior research, psychopathy was found to be predictive of violence, but only for less intelligent criminals; about 90% of this group had committed a violent crime compared to 58% for the remainder of the sample. Similarity, the psychopaths with limited intelligence evidenced the greatest impulsivity in the commission of their crimes relative to bright psychopaths or nonpsychopathic criminals at either level of intelligence. The implications of the findings for the importance of moderating cognitive variables in personality predictions are discussed.

An earlier study identified a high risk for violent crime in psychopathic prisoners when intelligence was considered as a moderator. The present investigation of 168 male prisoners sought to identify more specific models of violence relating to psychopathic status by considering additional cognitive factors that might relate to intelligence and to the expression of physical aggression. Three cognitive psychopathic models were suggested by the data. An impaired-processing psychopathic model of violent crime, involving low-IQ psychopaths, would explain the highest risk factor for violence by a combination of poor impulse control and low empathy and the lack of inhibitions against physical aggression associated with poor socialization. A sadistic, effective-processing, psychopathic model of violence was suggested by the higher empathy and better impulse control of the high-IQ psychopath. It was proposed that empathy promotes sadistic reinforcement by enhancing the psychopath's awareness of the victim's pain and distress. A defensive, impaired-processing, nonpsychopathic model of violence was proposed for the low-IQ nonpsychopaths: Effective self-reinforcement coupled with poor impulse control and low empathy place them in hazardous situations that exceed their cognitive skills.

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