Skewed Perceptions: Psychopathy and Systematic Biases of Risk and Reward from Adolescence to Emerging Adulthood

The Role of Arrest Risk Perception Formation in the Association Between Psychopathy and Aggressive Offending

“…Future research assessing the role of cognition in the association between PPTs and offending should examine other potential mechanisms, including perceived rewards and social costs. The results extended previous literature on the link between PPTs and offending (e.g., Jones et al, 2006; Shaw & Porter, 2012) by merging it with parallel literature on PPTs and risk perceptions (Altikriti & Nedelec, 2020; Hosker-Field et al, 2016; Paulhus, 1998). In light of the results of the current study, rational choice and deterrence theories should consider integrating elements of individual differences in studying the etiology of offending.…”

“…Nagin and Paternoster (1993) and Piquero and Tibbetts (1996) were among the first to merge individual differences and situational factors of risk and reward (Piquero et al, 2011). Since then, the association between individual characteristics and heterogeneity in risk perceptions has been assessed using various samples, including adolescents (Altikriti & Nedelec, 2020; Lee et al, 2018), adult probationers (Pogarsky, 2007), college students (Pogarsky, 2002), and a representative sample of New Zealanders (Wright et al, 2004). These studies have generally pointed to an association between individual traits and perceived risk and reward heterogeneity across individuals.…”

“…Fundamentally, however, their integration is conceivable, and recent research has nested these constructs within processual models to predict general offending behavior (Altikriti, 2021; Piquero & Tibbetts, 1996; see Pratt, 2016) and violence (Wikström & Treiber, 2009). Psychopathy, one individual difference that has gained prominence in criminology (DeLisi, 2009), exhibits an important association with offending risk (Altikriti & Nedelec, 2020) and offending behavior (Geerlings et al, 2020).…”

“…Although reduced conditioning may imply a contemporaneous interaction effect on behavior, the long-term consequences of reduced responsivity to stimuli such as punishment may reduce the development and consideration of risk over time. Specifically, with reduced reactivity and conditioning, PPTs likely serve to inhibit the learning mechanisms inherent in risk and reward appraisal, resulting in skewed perceptions of risk over time (Altikriti & Nedelec, 2020; Byrd et al, 2014; Stillman & Baumeister, 2010).…”

“…Other research, however, has addressed these limitations. For example, in assessing the association between PPTs and perceptions of offending risk over time, Altikriti and Nedelec (2020) used the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (Andershed et al, 2002) to predict perceived risk and reward of offending during adolescence (ages 14 through 19) and emerging adulthood (20 through 25). The results illustrated that higher PPT scores predicted increased perceived reward and decreased perceived risk of offending during both stages of development, albeit weaker during emerging adulthood.…”