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Perceived Social Rank, Social Expectation, Shame and General Emotionality Within Psychopathy

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Perceived Social Rank, Social Expectation, Shame and General Emotionality Within Psychopathy Perceived social rank, social expectation, shame and general emotionality within psychopathy Sarah Keen D. Clin.Psy. Thesis (Volume 1), 2008 University College London UMI Number: U591545 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U591545 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Overview Within the psychological literature, the self-conscious emotion of shame is proving to be an area of growing interest. This thesis addresses the application of this emotion, as well as self and social evaluative processes, to our understanding of offenders, specifically those high in psychopathic traits. Part 1 reviews the literature concerning emotionality within psychopathy, in order to assess the capabilities, as well as the deficits that people with psychopathic traits demonstrate. Emotions classified as ‘moral’ or ‘self-conscious’, namely empathy, sympathy, guilt, remorse, shame, embarrassment and pride, are investigated. From the review it is clear that psychopaths are not the truly unemotional individuals that they are commonly portrayed as being, but instead experience many emotions to varying degrees. This paper concludes by highlighting possible areas for further exploration and research. Part 2 reports on an empirical investigation into the prevalence of social rank, social expectations, and emotionality, particularly the self-conscious emotion of shame, within psychopathy. The paper also considers the inter-relationships between these emotions amongst a sample of offenders as a whole. The study highlights the worth of considering different treatment approaches for the different subtypes of psychopathy identified. Part 3 reflects on the process of having carried out the above research. This paper is divided into two broad sections. The first, considers methodological issues, such as 1 the self-report method, and the dynamic between male offender participants and a female researcher. Within the second section, systemic issues are considered and personal reflections are provided, in the hope that this may assist future researchers, who may be interested in carrying out research within prisons. 2 Table of Contents Page Part 1: Literature Review...........................................................................................7 Abstract...................................................................................................................8 1. Introduction....................................................................................................9 1.1 Study Selection..........................................................................................11 2. Psychopathy................................................................................................... 12 2.1 The Origins of the Construct of Psychopathy......................................... 12 2.2 Assessment of Psychopathy......................................................................13 2.3 Major Theoretical Contributions.............................................................. 15 3. Emotion..........................................................................................................20 3.1 Assessment of Emotion.............................................................................21 3.2 Emotional Processing in Psychopathy..................................................... 22 3.3 Emotional Experience in Psychopathy.................................................... 23 3.3.1 Psychopathy & Anger................................................................ 23 3.3.2 Psychopathy, Anxiety & Fear....................................................27 3.3.3 Psychopathy & Moral Emotions............................................... 30 3.3.3.1 Empathy.......................................................................31 3.3.3.2 Sympathy.....................................................................33 3.3.3.3 Guilt (or Remorse)......................................................33 3.3.4 Psychopathy & Self Conscious Emotions............................... 36 3.3.4.1 Shame..........................................................................36 3.3.4.2 Embarrassment...........................................................39 3.3.4.3 Pride.............................................................................40 4. Discussion & Summary................................................................................41 3 References..............................................................................................................44 Part 2: Research Paper..............................................................................................60 Abstract.................................................................................................................61 1. Introduction...................................................................................................... 62 1.1 Psychopathy...............................................................................................62 1.2 Social Rank................................................................................................63 1.2.1 Social Comparison.................................................................... 65 1.2.2 Social Rank & Status Attack in Psychopathy.......................... 65 1.3 Shame.........................................................................................................66 1.3.1 Shame & Psychopathy........................................................... 68 1.4 Psychopathy & Other Emotions...............................................................69 1.5 The Present Study..................................................................................... 70 1.6 Hypotheses ............................................................................................. 73 2. Method.............................................................................................................. 75 2.1 Participants.................................................................................................75 2.2 Design........................................................................................................ 75 2.3 Measures....................................................................................................76 2.4 Procedure................................................................................................... 81 2.5 Power Analysis..........................................................................................81 3. Results ................................................................................................................83 3.1 Description of Sample.............................................................................. 83 3.2 Preliminary Analysis................................................................................ 84 3.3 Reliability of Measures in Current Sample............................................ 93 3.4 Hypothesis Testing.................................................................................. 95 4. Discussion........................................................................................................ 106 4 4.1 Implications...................................................................................................110 4.2 Limitations and future directions..................................................................112 4.3 Conclusion.................................................................................................... 116 References.......................................................................................................... 117 Part 3: Critical Appraisal..................................................................................... 130 Abstract...............................................................................................................131 1. Introduction.....................................................................................................132 2. Methodological Issues....................................................................................132 3. Research in Prisons.........................................................................................139 4. Conclusion........................................................................................................148 References.......................................................................................................... 149 Appendices............................................................................................................... 153 Ethics Feedback from UCL Ethics Committee...............................................154 Ethics Feedback from HMP Pentonville Ethics Committee..........................156 Social Expectations Inventory (SEI: Blackburn)............................................ 157 Research Poster..................................................................................................159 Information Sheet.............................................................................................
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