Figuring out la femme fatale: conceptual and assessment issues concerning psychopathy in females

Abstract

Despite the growing number of studies on psychopathy in females, the core characteristics of this personality disorder among females remain uninvestigated. Most studies on psychopathy in females have attempted to understand the disorder by applying male criteria to adult females: they have ignored putative gender differences in the constitution and expression of this disorder. Several issues require resolution: first, whether practitioners apply the same criteria to diagnose psychopathy in women, second, whether the instruments used to assess psychopathy are tapping the same construct across gender, third, whether the same types of behavioral expression of key traits are similar across genders, and fourth, whether the diagnosis possesses the same forensic utility across genders. The relevant literature is reviewed and issues of design and analysis are considered.

Sexually Coercive Tactics Used by University Students: A Clear Role for Primary Psychopathy

“…Thus, evidence suggests that psychopathy may be expressed differently amongst female offenders in comparison to their male counterparts (Forouzan & Cooke, 2005;Hamburger, Lilienfeld, & Hogben, 1996;Nicholls, Ogloff, Brink, & Spidel, 2005;Sevecke, Lehmkuhl, & Krischer, 2009;Vitale, Smith, Brinkley, & Newman, 2002). Finally, investigations to explore gender differences with regards to sexual aggression in psychopathic non-offenders are seemingly non-existent.…”

The Psychopath Next Door: How Similar Are They to Those Behind Bars? Criminality, Executive Functioning, and Emotion Processing in 'Noncriminal' Psychopathy

“…Consistent with previous research on psychopathy and gender, the current study found that males possessed higher levels of primary psychopathy than females, but that secondary psychopathy did not differ between genders (Miller, Gaughan, & Pryor, 2008). Although the gender difference in primary psychopathy found in the current study produced a small effect, this finding provides some support for claims by clinicians that the interpersonal and affective features of psychopathy are muted in women (Forouzan & Cooke, 2005). However, alternative explanations for this difference have been proposed in detail by Forouzan and Cooke (2005), including, effects of gender socialisation on both the behavioural expression of psychopathy in females, and the clinicians' assessment of psychopathy in females; the failure of current psychopathy assessments, designed for males, to capture female psychopathy; and genuine differences in symptomatology for females.…”

“…Although the gender difference in primary psychopathy found in the current study produced a small effect, this finding provides some support for claims by clinicians that the interpersonal and affective features of psychopathy are muted in women (Forouzan & Cooke, 2005). However, alternative explanations for this difference have been proposed in detail by Forouzan and Cooke (2005), including, effects of gender socialisation on both the behavioural expression of psychopathy in females, and the clinicians' assessment of psychopathy in females; the failure of current psychopathy assessments, designed for males, to capture female psychopathy; and genuine differences in symptomatology for females. In addition to gender differences in mean psychopathy scores, the current study also found a range of gender differences in the relationships between psychopathy and criminal attitudes, and psychopathy and self-reported criminal behaviour.…”

“…Therefore, female and male criminal psychopaths are engaging in gender-consistent criminal behaviours and the gender differences observed may not be related to psychopathy per se. Forouzan & Cooke (2005) suggest that clinicians find the interpersonal features such as superficial charm and grandiosity to be less observable in females and suggest that this may be an artefact of socialisation. In addition, whilst psychopathy is considered a good predictor of recidivism in males, the predictive utility of psychopathy in females is questionable.…”

“…In doing so, this addresses a significant gap in the psychopathy literature on executive function which hitherto has focused almost exclusively on males. Considering gender differences is particularly important given that research, including the findings Study 1 of this program of research, suggest some gender differences exist in the manifestation of psychopathy (Forouzan & Cooke, 2005;Justus & Finn, 2007). The chapter begins with a critical review of the literature on psychopathy and executive function and highlights the discrepancies and inconsistencies in previous research.…”