A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of Xavier University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Psychology by Courtney Mills, M.A. June 26, 2018 Approved: Kathleen J. Hart, PhD, ABPP_______________________ Kathleen J. Hart, Ph.D., ABPP Dissertation Chair Chair, School of Psychology Behavioral Correlates of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure in a Non-Offender Sample Dissertation Committee Chair Kathleen J. Hart, Ph.D., ABPP Professor of Psychology Xavier University Member W. Michael Nelson III, Ph.D., ABPP Professor of Psychology Xavier University Member Nicholas Salsman, Ph.D., ABPP Associate Professor of Psychology Xavier University Acknowledgments The completion of my doctoral dissertation would not have been possible without the guidance of several important individuals. First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my dissertation chair, Dr. Kathleen Hart. Describing you as my dissertation chair does not give justice to the various roles you’ve assumed throughout the course of my professional career: professor, supervisor, advisor, advocator, comic relief, and fellow Harry Potter enthusiast. Your consistent warmth, humor, support, and guidance have positively influenced my development as a psychologist and a person. I cannot thank you enough. I would also like to thank my dissertation committee members, Drs. Mike Nelson and Nick Salmsan for their helpful advice and suggestions toward the completion of this project. Additionally, I would like to thank the Xavier graduate and undergraduate students who put forth several hours of their time and effort to collect my data: Paul Thomas, Sharon Jarmusik, Cale Kaminski, Lilly Taylor, and Nick Martinez. I would also like to thank my family for their unwavering support throughout graduate school. To my mother, Cheryl Deaton, I want to thank you for being a constant source of support and friendship. Thank you for all the sacrifices you’ve made and will make for me. Thank you for modeling the epitome of what it means to be a successful woman and mother: hard work, intelligence, flexibility, love, humor, patience, and chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate. To my father, Michael Mills, although I have not had the blessing of seeing your smiling face or hearing your laughter for several years, I feel your loving presence within me every day. The lessons you taught me were integral to my development as a clinical psychologist and your spiritual presence continues to encourage me to love relentlessly, reserve judgement, and treat others fairly and kindly. I hope you are proud of the woman I’ve become. i To my grandparents, David and Lee Payne, words cannot express the depth of my gratitude for your love and support throughout my life. I would not be where I am today without you. To my step-father, Bruce Deaton, thank you for your consistent encouragement and for loving my mother and sisters. To my sisters, Rhyleigh Mills and Baili McCoy, thank you for instilling fun and laughter into my life. Finally, to Christy, thank you for loving me, supporting me, uprooting your life for me, and most importantly, listening to all of my complaints. I look forward to our next journey together as we continue to grow as professionals, individuals, and partners. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgments…………………………………………………………………….....ii Table of Contents.…………………………………………………………………….....iii List of Tables…...……………………………………………………………………….iv List of Appendices…...………………………………………………………………......v Dissertation……………………………………………………….………………..……1 References……………………………………………………………….……………...26 Tables………………………………………………………………….………………..33 Appendices…………………………………………………………….……….……....37 iii List of Tables 1. Demographic Characteristics of Study Participants…………………………………....33 2. Means and Standard Deviations of Measure and Subscale Scores for the Total Sample (N = 165)……..……………………………………………………………...…………34 3. Means, Standard Deviations, Independent Samples t-test, and Cohen’s d Results for TriPM Scores by Risk-Taking Behavior Groups……………………………………....35 4. Correlations between Participants’ PPI-R, ICU, and IRI Scores and the TriPM….…..36 iv List of Appendices Appendix A. Demographic Questionnaire…………………………………………………...………37 B. Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised………………………………...………..38 C. Triarchic Psychopathy Measure…………………………………………………...…..39 D. Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits……………………………………………..40 E. Interpersonal Reactivity Index………………………………………………………...41 F. Jones Task Instructions…………………………………………………...…………...42 G. Jones Task: View What Was Left by Previous Participant.………………..…………43 H. IRB Approval Letter…………………………………………………………..………44 I. Debriefing Form……………………………………………...……………………….45 v BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF PSYCHOPATHY 1 Chapter V Dissertation Abstract This study examined the validity of a new self-report measure of psychopathy, the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM, Patrick, 2010). The TriPM scores of 165 undergraduates were correlated with a well-validated measure of psychopathy, the Psychopathy Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005) to examine concurrent validity, a self-report measure of callous-unemotional traits, the Inventory of Callous- Unemotional traits (ICU; Frick, 2004) to examine convergent validity, and a self-report measure of empathy, the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI; Davis, 1980) to examine discriminant validity. In addition, participants were identified as risk-takers or non-risk takers based on their performance on a behavioral task and their scores on the TriPM were compared. Participants who engaged in risk-taking obtained higher scores on the TriPM Boldness and Meanness factors scores. In addition, the TriPM demonstrated adequate concurrent and convergent validity based on correlations with the PPI-R and ICU, and weak to moderate discriminant validity based on negative correlations with the IRI. These findings support the TriPM’s utility in measuring psychopathic features. In addition, the present study found that psychopathic features measured by the TriPM are associated with actual risk-taking behavior, which is conceptually related to psychopathy, adding further evidence of its validity in measuring psychopathic features. BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF PSYCHOPATHY 2 Behavioral Correlates of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure in a Non-Offender Sample Psychopathy is a personality construct that encompasses a number of intrapersonal and interpersonal features such as callousness, lack of empathy, manipulativeness, low stress reactivity, dominance, superficial charm, impulsiveness, aggression, and risk-taking behaviors (Marcus, Fulton & Edens, 2013). The conceptualization of psychopathy, including its dimensions and assessment, has changed greatly since it was first described (Patrick, Fowles, & Kruger, 2009). Contemporary conceptualizations of psychopathy have been influenced by a number of factors, including the shift to focusing on measuring psychopathic features in non- offender and non-clinical populations. Although the notion that non-criminals might manifest psychopathy was originally introduced by Cleckley (1941), most research until recently has focused on criminal or clinical groups. Influenced by Cleckley’s conceptualization of psychopathy, the underlying factor structure of existing psychopathy measures such as the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare 1991) have also influenced the conceptualization of psychopathy, whereas previously this conceptualization was largely influenced by case studies (Sica et al., 2015). Evidence in recent research supports a dimensional as opposed to typological view of psychopathy (Sica et al., 2015). As the conceptualization of psychopathy has changed, the measures used to assess psychopathy have changed to include self-report measures of psychopathy, which may be more appropriate for use in non-clinical/non-offender populations. In his seminal work, Cleckley (1941) concluded that psychopathic features are not exclusively present in mentally ill individuals, but also present in individuals who demonstrate mental stability and are “acceptable members of the social group” (p. 190); these individuals possess many of the pathological features of psychopathy, but these features are masked by an outward appearance of mental health and stability (Cleckley, 1988). More recent BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF PSYCHOPATHY 3 conceptualizations have continued to include these positive and adaptive features of non-criminal psychopaths. Two examples are the conceptualization included in the factor structure of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005), a well- validated self-report measure of psychopathy; and the factor structure of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM; Patrick, 2010), a new self-report measure of psychopathy. These more recent conceptualizations also include other personality features considered to be central to psychopathy, such as, callousness, lack of empathy, impulsiveness, and a proneness to risk- taking behavior, among others (Marcus et al., 2013). Recent studies assessing the prevalence of psychopathic features endorsed by individuals outside of institutional settings have estimated that 1% to 3% of the general population could be classified as a “psychopath” based on their score on a measure of psychopathy (Neumann & Hare, 2008). Although individuals in the general population may not report a history of offending behavior, which is considered a prominent feature of the construct by the “gold standard” measure