Identifying distinct profiles of impulsivity for the four facets of psychopathy

Abstract

Psychopathy comprises antagonistic personality traits and antisocial behaviors that are associated with critical outcomes for the individual and society (e.g., violent behavior). Since its inception, impulsivity has been theorized as a core feature of psychopathy. Research supports this assertion, yet psychopathy and impulsivity are both multifaceted constructs. As such, the associations commonly observed between psychopathy and impulsivity may obscure more nuanced profiles of impulsivity that are only observable at the facet-level. To address this gap in the literature, we collected data from a community sample using a clinical psychopathy interview along with dispositional and neurobehavioral measures of impulsivity. We regressed each of the four facets of psychopathy onto eight impulsivity variables. We followed these analyses with bootstrapped dominance analyses in order to determine which of the impulsivity variables shared the most variance with each psychopathy facet. Our analyses revealed that positive urgency was the most important aspect of impulsivity to all four facets of psychopathy. We further identified distinct profiles of impulsivity linked to each psychopathy facet–the interpersonal facet was typified by sensation seeking and temporal impulsivity. The affective and lifestyle facets were both typified by general trait impulsivity and affective impulsivity. The antisocial facet was typified by affective impulsivity and sensation seeking. Such distinct profiles of impulsivity suggest that specific behaviors linked with each facet (e.g., manipulativeness and the interpersonal facet) may be explained in part by the distinct forms of impulsivity aligned with them.