اختلالات فکری و روانی و رفاه ذهنی

Psychopathy is a personality construct characterized by shallow affect, lack of empathy, and impulsiveness. We investigated the relations between psychopathy, subjective well-being and personality in 427 undergraduates. Prevalence rates for psychopathy, based on participants who endorsed eight or more primary psychopathy items, were 22.6% of males and 7.5% of females. Psychopathy was associated with high levels of depression and negative affect, and low levels of life satisfaction, happiness and positive affect. Psychopathy accounted for significant portions of the variance in depression (16.6%), negative affect (16.9%), life satisfaction (13.7%), happiness (14.4–18.3%) and positive affect (9.8%). However, psychopathy failed to account for variance in either ill-being or well-being above and beyond the variance accounted for by personality. These results support the position that psychopathy can be thought of as a constellation of extreme levels of normative personality traits.

Psychopathy is a personality construct characterized by the manipulative use of others, callousness, shallow affect, lack of empathy, pathological lying, egocentricity, superficial charm, and impulsiveness (Brinkley et al., 2001 and Neumann et al., 2007). The relation between psychopathy and the components of subjective well-being (SWB), including happiness and life satisfaction, is not well studied. On the one hand, some empirical work suggests that psychopaths may experience poor SWB. The quality of one’s interpersonal relationships is critical to SWB (Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005) and psychopaths’ relationships are generally shallow and of poor quality. Individuals high in psychopathy typically exhibit poor emotional intelligence (Ermer, Kahn, Salovey, & Kiehl, 2012). Men high in psychopathy choose friends who provide them with opportunities for sexual partners and personal protection, rather than focusing on characteristics that build strong relationships (Jonason & Schmidtt, 2012). Furthermore, personality traits associated with high SWB (e.g., high levels of Extraversion, Conscientiousness and Agreeableness, and low levels of Neuroticism; Costa and McCrae, 2003, DeNeve and Cooper, 1998 and Lee et al., 2008) are opposite of what are associated with psychopathy (Lynam et al., 2005 and Miller et al., 2001). Additionally, high levels of several facets of Neuroticism including angry hostility and impulsiveness are linked with psychopathy (Miller & Lynam, 2003). Together, these findings suggest psychopaths may experience poor SWB. On the other hand, other research suggests that psychopaths may experience high SWB. Individuals high in psychopathy typically seek to maximize personal gain with little regard for the consequences of their actions on others (Foulkes, Seara-Cardoso, Newmann, Rogers, & Viding, 2013). They may be quite happy because they are primarily concerned with their own needs and comforts. Additionally, psychopathy is inversely associated with depression in adult male prisoners (particularly the interpersonal, affective, and lifestyle facets) (Willemsen, Vanheule, & Verhaeghe, 2011). Psychopathy is also highly correlated with sub-clinical narcissism (Paulhus & Williams, 2002) which is associated with high SWB (Sedikides, Rudich, Gregg, Kumashiro, & Rusbult, 2004). Additionally, low Neuroticism is strongly correlated with high SWB (DeNeve & Cooper, 1998), and some facets of Neuroticism (e.g., anxiety, depression, and self-consciousness) are low in psychopaths (Miller & Lynam, 2003). The underlying factor structure of psychopathy is unclear. The first widely accepted conceptualization of psychopathy included two factors, and the Psychopathy Checklist – Revised (PCL-R) was developed to measure psychopathy according to this two factor structure (Hare et al., 1990). Factor 1 (primary psychopathy) encompasses the affective-interpersonal characteristics and Factor 2 (secondary psychopathy) includes the socially deviant behaviors of psychopathy (Hare et al., 1990 and Levenson et al., 1995). A four-facet model of psychopathy has been proposed which splits Factor 1 into two sub-facets (Facet 1 includes the interpersonal items and Facet 2, the affective items of the PCL-R) and Factor 2 into two sub-facets (Facet 3 is composed of the behavior lifestyle items and Facet 4, the antisocial items of the PCL-R) (Hare & Newmann, 2005). Psychopathy has also been conceptualized as a combination of extreme variants of normal personality traits (Miller et al., 2001). Researchers have used the Five-Factor Model of personality to describe personality disorders; personality disorders are understood as constellations of extreme levels of normative personality traits (Vachon et al., 2013 and Widiger, 2005). Researchers have used personality to accurately predict the age-related decline in psychopathy (including the decline of individual sub-factors of psychopathy) across the life span (Vachon et al., 2013). The current study had two goals: (1) to study the relation between psychopathy and SWB; and (2) to determine if psychopathy is well characterized by the Five Factor Model of personality. If psychopathy can be understood as maladaptive variants of normal personality traits, then it should account for no additional variance in SWB beyond that accounted for by the big five personality traits.

This study represents an important early step in addressing the paucity of research studying the SWB of individuals with personality disorders. Future research needs to determine the relationships between SWB and personality disorders other than psychopathy. For example, individuals with major depression and comorbid borderline personality disorder rate their depressive symptoms as more severe than depressed controls with no borderline personality disorder diagnosis (Stanley & Wilson, 2006). Individuals with personality disorders may be more susceptible to poor SWB. Additionally, future studies might develop and assess interventions designed around factors that impact the SWB of individuals high in psychopathy. These individuals may be more responsive to treatment than previously believed (Polaschek & Daly, 2013) and SWB may be critical in the social relationships of psychopaths. Though psychopaths demonstrate a lack of concern for others which can undermine their relationships, psychopaths can display this concern when properly motivated (Arbuckle & Cunningham, 2012), suggesting that they could experience improved social relations. Psychopaths select friends who contribute to their volatile lifestyles (Jonason & Schmidtt, 2012). Teaching them to choose healthier relationships with emotionally-stable individuals may reduce their antisocial behaviors. Good interpersonal relationships may be necessary for high SWB (Lyubomirsky et al., 2005). The poor SWB experienced by individuals high in psychopathy may result from their poor social relationships. New treatments might focus on increasing the EI of psychopaths and targeting their maladaptive attachment styles to improve their social relationships. Good social relationships may increase the empathy felt by individuals high in psychopathy, and by extension, decrease their psychopathic traits. Social relationships may be an important protective factor, and a potential intervention could be to improve psychopaths’ poor social relationships (Barry, Barry, Deming, & Lochman, 2008). Increasing SWB in psychopaths may facilitate better social relationships, which could increase their SWB, resulting in a positive feedback loop. However, psychopaths may employ skills they learn in therapy to become more proficient at manipulation, lying, stealing, and other types of antisocial behavior (Thornton & Blud, 2007). Despite this problem, targeting low levels of SWB and EI and improving attachment styles and social relationships represents an untested approach. This approach may prove effective, particularly if treatment is initiated at a young age and this research will help determine the causal relations between psychopathy and SWB.