Differential Relationships Between the Dimensions of Psychopathy and Intelligence

Abstract

Previous research with adult mental health and adolescent forensic samples has found that intelligence is differentially related to the four dimensions of psychopathy. The current study evaluated the relations between the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV) factors and full-scale intelligence (FIQ) in 100 males detained in a county jail. Structural equation modeling results revealed that the PCL:SV interpersonal factor had a strong positive relationship to the FIQ latent variable, whereas the antisocial factor was moderately positively associated with FIQ. In contrast, FIQ was negatively related to both the affective and lifestyle PCL:SV factors. Overall, the psychopathy factors accounted for 25% of the variance of FIQ. The current study adds to a growing literature suggesting that features of psychopathy are differentially related to intellectual functioning.

Corporate psychopathy: Talking the walk

“…Interestingly, previous research has found a positive association between the Interpersonal psychopathy factor and intelligence in psychiatric patients (Vitacco, Neumann, & Jackson, 2005), criminal offenders (Vitacco, Neumann, & Wodushek, 2008), and juvenile delinquents (Salekin, Neumann, Leistico, & Zalot, 2004). In a similar fashion, the current study found that the Interpersonal psychopathy factor predicted increased charisma/perception ratings, suggesting that this particular factor is linked with the ability and intelligence to manipulate and con others.…”

Differential Associations Between Psychopathy Dimensions, Types of Aggression, and Response Inhibition

“…This, rather, seems to depend on an individuals' profile on the psychopathy dimensions. A dimensional approach to psychopathy and related concepts, as recently advanced by the field [e.g., Salekin et al, 2004;Vitacco et al, 2005Vitacco et al, , 2008Walsh et al, 2009], might greatly improve insight in the development of this complex disorder, paving the way for further enhancing diagnostic procedures and improving therapeutic possibilities. Specifically, the identification of unique psychopathy personality subtypes based on an individual's position on the psychopathy dimensions has the potential to clarify the long-standing confusion seen in literature.…”

“…These studies found psychopaths to be more impulsive than nonpsychopaths [Lapierre et al, 1995;Roussy and Toupin, 2000], based on PCL total scores without taking into account the different influences of the affective-interpersonal and antisocial dimensions [Lapierre et al, 1995;Roussy and Toupin, 2000]. Using groups which differ primarily on the antisocial dimension or using exclusively total scores may yield overestimations or no findings, thus masking important differential relationships that could enhance the understanding and further identification of psychopathy subtypes [Gorenstein, 1982;Vitacco et al, 2008].…”

No clear evidence for a positive association between the interpersonal-affective aspects of psychopathy and executive functioning

“…For instance, a number of studies report a positive association between Factor 1 and/or specifically Facet 1 on the one hand and general IQ on the other after controlling for the effect of Factor 2 (e.g., Heinzen et al, 2011;Neuman and Hare, 2007;Salekin et al, 2004;Vitacco et al, 2005Vitacco et al, , 2008, although there are also earlier studies reporting no significant associations (Forth et al, 1990;Harpur et al, 1989). However, evidence suggests that specifically the inhibition and shifting components are not related to intelligence, as measured with standard IQ tests (Friedman et al, 2006), indicating that a positive association between Factor 1 and IQ does not automatically implicate a similar association between Factor 1 and EF.…”