Emotional Processing in Incarcerated Men and Women: Associations with Psychopathic Traits
Abstract
Psychopathy is characterized by callousness, manipulativeness and antisocial behavior and has been linked to impairments in emotional processing. Prior research suggests that psychopathic traits may manifest differently in men and women. However, few studies have compared incarcerated men and women on psychopathy and emotional processing. The present study examined the association between psychopathic traits and emotional processing in incarcerated men and women, with a particular focus on potential sex differences. The sample consisted of 144 male and 113 female individuals in Portuguese prisons. Data were collected using the Self-Report Psychopathy-Short Form (SRP-SF) and the Emotional Processing Scale-25 (EPS-25). Results indicated that men reported higher levels of psychopathic traits, particularly in the lifestyle and antisocial dimensions. Women reported greater difficulties in specific aspects of emotional processing, including unprocessed emotions, avoidance, and impoverished emotional expression, although no differences were found in overall emotional processing. Psychopathic traits were positively associated with emotional processing difficulties, with the strongest associations observed for the affective and interpersonal facets. Emotional controllability emerged as the dimension most consistently associated with psychopathy. Regression analyses revealed no evidence that sex moderated the association between psychopathic traits and emotional processing. These…
Read the paper
Related studies
- The neurocircuitry of addiction: an overview
- Gender Differences in Human Brain: A Review
- Stratified medicine for mental disorders
- The neurobiology of drug addiction: cross-species insights into the dysfunction and recovery of the prefrontal cortex
- Annual Research Review: DNA methylation as a mediator in the association between risk exposure and child and adolescent psychopathology
- Schizophrenia: The new etiological synthesis
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.