Psychopathic Traits and Interpersonal Judgment: Examining Accuracy, Tendency, and Influence of Sex of Judge and Target by Sabrina L.B. Demetrioff Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia September 2013 © Copyright by Sabrina L.B. Demetrioff, 2013 Table of Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. ix List of Abbreviations and Symbols Used ........................................................................... x Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. xi Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 Psychopathy ............................................................................................................... 1 Subclinical Psychopathy ............................................................................................ 2 Sex Differences in Psychopathy ................................................................................ 5 Psychopathy and Manipulation .................................................................................. 9 Vulnerability to Victimization ................................................................................. 11 Interpersonal Judgment ............................................................................................ 12 Good Judge, Bad Judge................................................................................ 15 Psychopathy and Interpersonal Judgment................................................................ 18 Emotion Judgment Accuracy ................................................................................... 23 The Current Study .................................................................................................... 27 Research Questions and Hypotheses ....................................................................... 28 Chapter 2: Methods and Procedures ................................................................................. 32 Methods for Study 1 (Pilot Study) ........................................................................... 32 Participants............................................................................................................... 32 Stimuli ...................................................................................................................... 32 Photographs.................................................................................................. 32 Personality Trait Descriptors and Adjectives. ............................................. 33 ii Measures .................................................................................................................. 33 Rating Age and Attractiveness..................................................................... 34 Rating Personality Trait Descriptions. ......................................................... 34 Rating Trait Adjectives. ............................................................................... 34 Demographic Information. ........................................................................... 34 Procedure ................................................................................................................. 34 Results: Study 1 (Pilot Study) .................................................................................. 35 Data Cleaning .......................................................................................................... 35 Creating Stimuli for Study 2 .................................................................................... 36 Pilot Ratings for Photographs. ..................................................................... 36 Pilot Ratings for Trait Adjectives. ............................................................... 37 Pilot Ratings for Groups of Personality Descriptors.................................... 37 Sex Differences in Ratings ...................................................................................... 37 Effect of Participant Ethnicity on Ratings ............................................................... 38 Methods for Study 2 (Main Study) .......................................................................... 39 Participants............................................................................................................... 39 Stimuli ...................................................................................................................... 40 Creation of Videos. ...................................................................................... 40 Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES). ........................................................ 40 Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS) ........................................................ 40 Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) ............................................................ 40 Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) .................................................................... 41 Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) ........................................................... 41 iii Creation of Personality Profiles. .................................................................. 42 Microexpression Videos. ............................................................................. 43 Measures .................................................................................................................. 43 Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-4 (SRP-4) .................................................. 43 Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI) ..................................................... 44 Assessment of Personality Traits ................................................................. 44 Memory Task ............................................................................................... 44 Affiliation Interest ........................................................................................ 45 Vulnerability Rating..................................................................................... 45 Identifying Emotional Expressions .............................................................. 45 Demographic Questionnaire ........................................................................ 45 Procedure ................................................................................................................. 45 Chapter 3: Results ............................................................................................................. 48 Overview .................................................................................................................. 48 Descriptive Statistics................................................................................................ 50 SRP-4 ........................................................................................................... 50 NPI ............................................................................................................... 51 Relationships between Key Variables ......................................................... 52 General Data Cleaning ............................................................................................. 53 Personality Trait and Emotional State Judgment Accuracy and Tendency ............. 56 Individual Trait and State Accuracy ............................................................ 56 Exploratory Analyses: Accuracy by Sex of Judge and Sex of Target ......... 57 Individual Trait and State Judgment Tendency ........................................... 59 iv Exploratory Analyses: Tendency by Sex of Judge and Sex of Target ......... 60 Judgment Tendency as a Predictor of Accuracy ...................................................... 62 Memory Accuracy ................................................................................................... 62 Overall Memory Accuracy .......................................................................... 63 High and Low Vulnerability Target Accuracy ............................................ 64 Exploratory Analyses: Accuracy by Sex of Judge and Sex of Target ......... 64 Affiliation Interest.................................................................................................... 65 Overall Affiliation Interest ........................................................................... 65 Exploratory Analyses: Affiliation Interest by Sex of Judge and Sex of Target ...................................................................................................... 66 Vulnerability Judgment Accuracy ........................................................................... 67 Overall Vulnerability Accuracy ................................................................... 67 Vulnerability Accuracy by Sex of Judge ..................................................... 68 Exploratory Analyses: Accuracy by Sex of Judge and Sex of Target ......... 69 Vulnerability Rating Tendency ................................................................................ 69 Exploratory Analyses: Tendency by Sex of Judge and Sex of Target ......... 70 Emotion Judgment ..................................................................................................