The moderating effect of impulsivity on psychopathy and risk-taking in a community sample
Abstract
Psychopathy is a personality disorder comprised of affective (superficial charm, callousness) and behavioral (impulsivity, risk-taking) deficits, along with deficits in interpersonal relations (manipulativeness, grandiosity). Because a majority of the research on psychopathic individuals has been restricted to incarcerated offenders, little is known about community psychopathy and the characteristics associated with it. The construct of impulsivity is considered a core behavioral feature of offender populations, but the relationship between community psychopathy and impulsivity has received limited empirical focus. The purpose of this study is to fill the gap in the literature by examining the relationship among between impulsivity, risk-taking, and psychopathy among community members. Eighty-nine participants were recruited using Amazon Mechanical Turk to complete the study. Using several behavioral and self-report measures, participants provided information related to their impulsivity, risk-taking, and psychopathy. Separate multiple regressions were used to analyze whether impulsivity moderates the relationship between psychopathy and risk-taking. Regression results revealed no moderation effect of impulsivity between psychopathy and risk-taking, but correlational analyses suggest the presence of a relationship between psychopathy and trait impulsivity.
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