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Fearlessness, Criminality, & Psychopathy Bailey Hall, Konrad Bresin, Yara Mekawi & Edelyn Verona, Ph.D. Background Analyses & Results Aims & Hypotheses Aim 1 : Are distinct operationalizations of fearlessness related to official and self-reported criminal behavior and aggression? Hypothesis 1: Fearlessness (operationalized as sensation-seeking, low anxiety, and fear-potentiated startle) will be related to official reports of criminal history (Total # Arrests, # Violent Arrests) and self-reported criminality and aggression. Aim 2: Do the factors of psychopathy relate differentially to fearlessness? Hypothesis 1: Fearlessness will be positively correlated with Interpersonal Affective psychopathic traits. Hypothesis 2: Fearlessness will not be correlated with Impulsive Antisocial psychopathic traits. Aim 3 : Does the relationship between criminal behavior and fearlessness remain after adjusting for psychopathy factors? Hypothesis 1: The relationship between criminal behavior and fearlessness will remain significant above and beyond psychopathy. Methods Participants • 71 adults from a community sample recruited based on recent histories of substance abuse and violence (Ages 18-61, M age =32.28; SD=9.26, 63% male, 70% white, 25% black, 4% Asian/Other, 4% Hispanic/Latino) • Researchers have long been interested in what causes crime. In the United States in 2019, there were an estimated 1,203,808 violent crimes comprised of 68.2% aggravated assaults, 22.3% robberies, 8.2% rapes and 1.4% murders (FBI, 2019). • Fearlessness and low physiological arousal are associated with antisocial behavior (Ortiz & Raine, 2004). Often the relationship between fearlessness and antisocial behavior is studied through the lens of psychopathy (Blair, 2013, Lykken, 2013, Waller et al., 2013). • Psychopathy is a construct comprised of a constellation of symptoms and traits, including callous unemotionality, lack of remorse, superficial charm (interpersonal and affective traits) and externalizing disinhibition (impulsive and antisocial traits) (Cleckley, 1976; Hare, 1991, Allen et al., 2018, Fowles, 2018). Those with high psychopathy scores are 15 to 25 times more likely to commit crime than those with low psychopathy scores, and that they are much more likely to recidivate than other criminals (Kiehl & Hoffman, 2011). • One physiological measure of fear is fear-potentiated startle (FPS), defined as startle response to aversive stimuli. FPS scores among those with high interpersonal affective scores on measures of psychopathy have been replicated in male prisoners (Patrick & Bernat, 2009), female prisoners (Verona et al., 2013), and male community samples (Benning et al., 2005), as well as a university sample who had low scores on a measure of trait fear (Vaidyanathan et al., 2009). • The present study will examine the relationship between fearlessness, criminality and psychopathic traits. It will investigate if fearlessness and criminality have a relationship themselves, or if they are only connected through their relationship to psychopathic traits. Measures of Fearlessness • Sensation-Seeking Subscale of UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior scale (Lynam, Smith, Whiteside, & Cyders, 2006). Low scores=more sensation seeking. • Anxious Arousal subscale of the Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire (MASQ; Watson & Clark, 1991). Low scores=less anxiety. • Startle magnitude was measured as EMG orbicularis oculi responses to sudden noise bursts occurring during a shock threat paradigm, where participants were exposed to shock during certain blocks (threat blocks of predictable or unpredictable shock) and not others (no threat). Fear-potentiated startle (FPS) was calculated as the difference in startle magnitude in threat blocks vs no-threat blocks. Low scores=less fear. Measures of Crime and Aggression • Lifetime History of Aggression (LHA; Coccaro et al., 1997). Aggression and Consequences/Antisocial Behavior subscales. Low scores=less aggression. • Criminal History: Illinois arrest record at time of study completion including number of arrests and types of charges. General prior arrests and violent arrests subscales. Measures of Psychopathy • Self Report Psychopathy (SRP III) (Paulhus et al., 2015): scores on the Interpersonal Affective Factor and the Impulsive Antisocial Factor subscales. Low scores=less psychopathic traits. • Aim 1 analyses indicated that sensation-seeking but not low anxiety or fear potentiated startle was related to measures of criminal history and self-reported aggression and antisocial behavior. • Aim 2 hypotheses were not supported: fear-potentiated startle was not correlated with either psychopathy factor, and stimulation-seeking and anxious arousal were correlated with the impulsive-antisocial factor but not the interpersonal-affective factor. • Aim 3 hypotheses were supported in that the relationship between sensation seeking and general criminal history, as well as sensation seeking and LHA aggression and antisocial behavior subscales remained significant when psychopathy was a covariate. • Other results of interest are the significant correlation between anxious arousal and impulsive antisocial factor, as well as anxious arousal and LHA consequences and total, suggesting that high anxiety, instead of low anxiety, may relate to antisocial behavior. • Future research should focus on mechanisms connecting stimulation seeking and criminality • Limitations: • A small sample size (n=71) • Spurious results are possible due to multiple testing; replication is essential. Table 3 (See Aim 2) Linear Regression results for fearlessness as a function of psychopathy factors Conclusion & Discussion *p<.05, **p<.01., ***p<.001 Analytic Strategy Aim 1: Poisson or Negative Binomial Regression (depending on distribution) for count data (arrests) and linear regression for continuous data (LHA). • IVs: Fearlessness (stimulation seeking, low anxious arousal, fear-potentiated startle) • Covariates: Age, Race, Income, Sex • DVs: Criminal history (number of prior arrests, number of violent arrests) and LHA (self-reported aggression, antisocial behavior) in separate analyses Aim 2: Linear Regression • IVs: Interpersonal-Affective psychopathy scores and Impulsive-Antisocial psychopathy scores • DVs: Measures of fearlessness (FPS, Sensation Seeking and Anxious Arousal) in separate analyses Aim 3: Poisson or Negative Binomial Regression (depending on distribution) for count data (arrests) and linear regression for continuous data (LHA). • IVs: Fearlessness (stimulation seeking, low anxious arousal, fear-potentiated startle) • Covariates: Age, Race, Income, Sex, Psychopathy Factors (Interpersonal-Affective and Impulsive-Antisocial) • DVs: Criminal history (number of prior arrests, number of violent arrests) and LHA (self-reported aggression, antisocial behavior) in separate analyses *p<.05, **p<.01., ***p<.001 *p<.05, **p<.01., ***p<.001 (See Aims 1 & 3) (See Aims 1 & 3)
