Examining The Relationship Between Psychopathy, Fear Conditioning and Facial Affect Recognition

By Allanah R Casey

Psychopathic offenders are often considered to be untreatable, especially

dangerous, and at very high risk of reoffending. Psychopathy has generated

considerable research interest. Despite this interest, our understanding of psychopathy

is relatively poor, with ongoing debate regarding how best to define psychopathy, and a

lack of clarity regarding how psychopathy develops. Etiological theories of psychopathy

posit deficits in recognising and responding to others' emotions, and an attenuated

experience of fear as crucial mechanisms in the development of psychopathy. The aims

of this thesis are to investigate the pattern of psychopathic traits present within an

inmate sample, and to investigate the relationship between these psychopathic traits

and performance on two tasks related to etiological theories of psychopathy: facial

affect recognition and fear conditioning. Part One of this thesis addresses the first aim,

investigating the presentation of psychopathy in the current sample. The relationship

between psychopathic traits in the present sample was largely consistent with previous

research. A Principal Components Analysis identified two factors of psychopathic traits:

a Bold/ Fearlessness factor which measures an absence of fear and anxiety and the

presence of self-assurance, and a Mean/ Disinhibited factor which measures the

presence of externalising and disinhibited behaviour, alongside aggression and the use

of other people for one's own gain. These findings are discussed in relation to common

conceptualisations and operationalisations of psychopathy.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1835207839
• ISBN13: 9781835207833
• Release Date: September 2023
• Publisher: Dutt Hb
• Length: 190 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 9.0"