Emotional deficits in psychopathy and sexual sadism: implications for violent and sadistic behavior

Those who (enjoy to) hurt: The influence of dark personality traits on animal- and human directed sadistic pleasure

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Sadistic pleasure - gratuitous enjoyment from inflicting pain on others - has devastating interpersonal and societal consequences. The current knowledge on non-sexual, everyday sadism - a trait that resides within the general population - is scarce. The present study therefore focussed on personality correlates of sadistic pleasure. It investigated the relationship between the Dark Triad traits, and both dispositional and state-level sadistic pleasure.

METHODS

N = 120 participants filled out questionnaires to assess their level of Dark Triad traits, psychopathy subfactors, and dispositional sadism. Then, participants engaged in an animal-directed task in which they were led to believe that they were killing bugs; and in a human-directed task where they could ostensibly noise blasts another participant. The two behavioral tasks were administered within-subjects, in randomized order. Sadistic pleasure was captured by increases in reported pleasure from pre-to post-task.

RESULTS

All Dark Triad traits related to increased dispositional sadism, with psychopathy showing the strongest link. The coldheartedness psychopathy subscale showed a unique combination with both self-reported sadism and increased pleasure following bug grinding.

LIMITATIONS

Predominantly female and student sample, limiting generalizability of findings.

CONCLUSIONS

Out of all Dark Triad components, psychopathy showed the strongest link with gaining pleasure from hurting others. The results underscore the differential predictive value of psychopathy's subcomponents for sadistic pleasure. Coldheartedness can be considered especially disturbing because of its unique relationship to deriving joy from irreversible harm-infliction (i.e. killing bugs). Our findings further establish psychopathy - and especially its coldheartedness component - as the most adverse Dark Triad trait.

Social exclusion evokes different psychophysiological responses in individuals high on the psychopathy facets fearless dominance and self-centered impulsivity

Individuals with psychopathic personality traits are generally thought to have difficulties in processing and experiencing emotions. These difficulties could also translate to emotionally charged social situations such as social exclusion. Being socially excluded is often experienced as stressful and unpleasant, potentially even leading to selfish or aggressive behavior-both of which are linked to certain aspects of psychopathy. The current study investigated self-report and physiological responses to social exclusion in the cyberball paradigm in a carefully selected community sample of individuals either scoring high on primary (N = 24) or secondary psychopathy traits (N = 17). Across the sample, the cyberball paradigm decreased experiences of joy and approach motivation, increased subjective anger reports, and induced changes in heart rate. In contrast, individuals scoring high on secondary psychopathy traits (Self-Centered Impulsivity group) displayed stronger physiological reactivity during a habituation phase of prolonged social exclusion than individuals scoring high on primary psychopathy traits (Fearless Dominance group), indexed by changes in skin conductance level. Moreover, a potential mismatch between self-reported and physiological arousal seemed to be only observable in individuals with high secondary psychopathy traits. Overall, the current results suggest diverging patterns of emotional processing and regulation in a social exclusion situation when comparing well-functioning individuals with varying psychopathy traits. It seemed as if individuals high on primary psychopathy traits were insensitive to contextual social cues, while individuals high on secondary psychopathy traits were more affected by the potentially threatening social situation. Cautiously transferring the current findings to forensic samples, they support the idea of moving from a behavioral understanding of the psychopathy construct to a more clinical picture with distinct cognitive and emotional processing patterns in individuals high on either primary or secondary psychopathy traits.

Psychopathic Personality as a Moderator of the Relationship Between Atypical Sexuality and Sexual Coercion Proclivity in the General Population

Being sexually coerced can have long-lasting psychological impacts on victims; with perpetration strongly predicted by elevated psychopathic traits. Owing to recent legislative developments in the United Kingdom that criminalize coercive control under the Domestic Abuse Act (2021), this study offers a timely investigation into the mechanisms of sexual coercion in domestic abuse across sexual abuse and coercive control. We used moderation analysis (n = 405) to investigate whether sexual coercion proclivity was predicted by facets of atypical sexuality (non-clinical elevated levels of sex drive, sexual sadism, and sexual masochism), and whether this relationship was moderated by psychopathic personality traits specifically the factor one components, which encompasses interpersonal and affective characteristics. Psychopathic personality traits significantly moderated the positive association between sex drive and sexual coercion proclivity, and between sexual sadism and sexual coercion proclivity in males (but not females), but psychopathic personality traits had no such moderating effect in the sexual masochism model. Results are discussed in terms of identifying risk factors of sexual coercion within a general population sample and international application. Open data and a preprint of this paper are available at [https://osf.io/xkcah/?view_only=134ff9c93ad24ba286515b348ce79c0c].

Blunted startle reactivity in everyday sadism and psychopathy

Two studies examined the amplitude of the startle response as a function of the Dark Tetrad of personality (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism). We measured electromyographic activity of the orbicularis oculi muscle evoked by a startle stimulus while participants viewed images on a computer screen. Both studies revealed a negative correlation between general startle reactivity (averaged across positive, negative, and neutral images) and sadistic tendencies. In Study 2, all four dark traits were negative correlates of general startle reactivity. Study 2 also examined the personality correlates of aversive startle potentiation (ASP; indexed by greater reactivity while viewing negatively-valenced images than positive or neutral images). ASP correlated negatively with a variety of personality measures of psychopathy and sadism, their facets, and related personality tendencies (callousness, risk-taking, and restricted affect). These findings suggest that ordinary people with high levels of callousness and antagonism display physiological evidence of non-reactivity (i.e., blunted acoustic startle in general), whereas psychopathy and sadism are preferentially associated with reduced ASP.

Parental burnout and borderline personality stand out to predict child maltreatment

Parental burnout is a severe disorder resulting from the exposure to chronic stress in the parental role, that can translate into neglectful and violent parental behaviors towards the offspring. This study (N = 1003 parents) aims to examine the relative weight of parental burnout, job burnout, depression, generalized anxiety disorder, borderline personality, sadism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, narcissism, and child abuse potential, in predicting violence and neglect towards the offspring. Social desirability was controlled. When all predictors are entered together in the model, violence and neglect towards the offspring are best predicted by borderline personality and parental burnout. Our results also indicate that sadism is a robust predictor of violence, however weaker than parental burnout and borderline personality. These results emphasize the importance of preventing parental burnout and supporting parents with borderline personality.

Understanding the dark side of personality in sex offenders considering the level of sexual violence

This study examined the relationship between the actual level of physical violence in sexual offenses and dark triad, empathic and impulsive personality traits of their perpetrators. Sixty-four male perpetrators of sexual offenses without any serious mental illness were included. A 5-point Likert-type coding system based on Violence Profile for Current Offense was applied to assess the severity of physical violence of each sexual offense. Personality traits of dark triad (psychopathy, Machiavellianism, narcissism), trait empathy and impulsiveness were also evaluated. Multivariate analyses indicated that non-stranger victim, secondary psychopathy, narcissism and empathy could significantly predict greater involvement of physical violence in a sexual offense. In addition, empathy was negatively correlated with all dark triad traits. Sexual violence should be conceptualized in the form of a continuum, and, considering such an approach, offenders with high secondary psychopathy and narcissism may show preference for sexual assaults that are more violent in nature.

Psychopathy among condemned capital murderers

Psychopathy is an important forensic mental health construct. Despite this importance, the research base of psychopathy among individuals convicted of capital murder is limited. Archival data were collected from a sample of 636 persons convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in the State of California. Psychopathy was assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist - Revised (PCL-R) instrument. Data on criminal careers and other behavioral disorders were also extracted. The sample mean PCL-R total score was 23.31 (SD = 9.92) and one-third of individuals in this sample were considered clinically psychopathic with PCL-R total scores of 30 or greater. Factor analytic examination yielded support for four facets: affective, interpersonal, lifestyle, and antisocial. Criterion validity findings revealed positive correlations of psychopathy scores with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ρ = 0.72), Conduct Disorder (ρ = 0.46), sexual sadism (ρ = 0.24), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ρ = 0.20), ADHD (ρ = 0.15), arrest charges (r = 0.56), prison sentences (r = 0.53), and age of arrest onset (r = -0.57). Individuals convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death reflect heterogeneity in psychopathy with some individuals exhibiting pronounced psychopathic features.

Dark Tetrad and workplace deviance: Investigating the moderating role of organizational justice perceptions

This study tested the direct effects of Dark Tetrad traits on organizational and interpersonal counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). We also examined the moderating effects of the three dimensions of organizational justice - distributive justice, procedural justice, and interactional justice - on the Dark Tetrad-CWBs relationships. Based on the data from 613 employees across different occupations, the results revealed that only psychopathy and sadism had significant effects on CWBs targeted at the organization. The results also supported the direct effect of sadism on interpersonal CWBs. The findings confirmed the moderating role of interactional justice but differentially, depending on the dark trait and the target of workplace deviance. Whereas low and medium levels of interactional justice moderated the relationship between Machiavellianism and CWBs directed to the organization, it did not play any role in narcissism, psychopathy, and sadism. Regarding CWBs aimed at other people, interactional justice emerged as a significant moderator in Machiavellianism and sadism. But, whereas sadistic employees performed more harmful behaviors toward other individuals whatever their level of interactional justice, if people high in Machiavellianism (Machs) perceived a high fair interpersonal treatment, they did not show deviant behaviors directed at other employees. The paper concludes with some suggestions and recommendations about the relevance of organizational justice in the influence of dark personality traits on CWBs.

Emotional intelligence in incarcerated sexual offenders with sexual sadism

Emotional intelligence (EI) is defined by the ability to perceive, manage, and reason about emotions in oneself and others. Studies have reported deficits in EI abilities among certain antisocial populations such as individuals with psychopathy, and enhanced performance among sexual offenders. Despite EI's relevance to offending behaviour, the association between EI and paraphilic offending has been under-studied. We examined the association between EI, sexual offending, and sexual sadism in 80 incarcerated men with sexual offenses and 207 incarcerated men with non-sexual offences. EI was assessed using the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT). Sadism was measured using the Severe Sexual Sadism Scale (SeSaS). Results showed that SeSaS scores were positively associated with Strategic EI (the ability to understand and manage emotions), but were not significantly related to Experiential EI. This may reflect core characteristics of sexual sadism including domination and manipulation, challenging the prevalent notion that higher EI is invariably positive.

Neural Correlates of Moral Judgment in Criminal Offenders with Sadistic Traits

Sexual sadism is a paraphilia that focuses on domination, humiliation, and infliction of pain on a victim to stimulate sexual arousal. Although extensively described in psychology and forensic sciences, less is known about whether the harmful acts committed by sexual sadists are accompanied by deficits in moral judgment. A limited amount of behavioral research suggests moral insensitivity in sexual sadists; however, the neural networks underlying moral judgment in sadists have not been studied. In this pilot study, 21 incarcerated male sexual offenders with (n = 11) and without (n = 10) sexual sadism were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while they viewed pictures that did or did not depict situations considered by most individuals to represent moral transgressions, and rated their degree of moral transgression severity. Results indicated primarily overlapping neural systems underlying moral judgment in sadists and non-sadists. However, non-sadists but not sadists showed a positive correlation between moral transgression severity ratings and activity in the anterior temporal cortex (ATC). This lack of ATC engagement in sadists might be a biomarker of altered moral judgment.

Relationships Between Alexithymia and Psychopathy in Heroin Dependent Individuals

BACKGROUND

Psychopathy and substance use disorders are highly co-morbid and their co-occurrence is associated with higher severity of addictive behavior and increased risk of violent offending. Both substance use disorders and psychopathy are related to prominent impairments in emotion processing, which are also central features of alexithymia. The nature of the relationship between psychopathy and alexithymia is not well-understood and has been particularly understudied among substance dependent individuals.

AIM

Our goal was to evaluate the levels of psychopathy and alexithymia in a relatively homogeneous sample of heroin dependent individuals (HDIs) and healthy controls and to examine group differences in the pattern of associations between these constructs.

METHODS

We examined 62 participants (31 heroin dependent individuals and 31 healthy controls) with the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening version (PCL:SV, Hart et al., 1995) and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20, Bagby et al., 1994).

RESULTS

Heroin dependent individuals were characterized by higher levels of both psychopathy and alexithymia as compared to the control group. In addition, HDIs with higher levels of psychopathy reported more difficulties in identifying and verbalizing emotional states. In the heroin group, alexithymia was more strongly associated with the impulsive/antisocial characteristics (impulsivity, irresponsibility, antisocial behavior) than with the interpersonal/affective features of psychopathy (grandiosity, manipulativeness, lack of empathy, and remorse).

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that alexithymia may be one potential mechanism linking psychopathy with opioid use disorders. The development of interventions targeting alexithymia could have significant applications in relapse prevention programs and psychotherapy of substance use disorders with concurrent psychopathy.

Sexual Sadism and Psychopathy in Sexual Homicide Offenders: An Exploration of Their Associates in a Clinical Sample

Sexual sadism and psychopathy are often considered synonymous with sexual homicide, but there is limited research on their associates in sexual homicide offenders. Associates of dimensional measures of sexual sadism (Sexual Sadism Scale; SeSaS) and psychopathy (Psychopathy Check List-Revised [PCL-R] total, Factor 1, and Factor 2) were examined in 51 male Scottish cases. Over a third were DSM-IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV) sexual sadists, just under a third screened in with the SeSaS, and a quarter were "Hare psychopaths." Sexual sadism and PCL-R measures were moderately associated. Sexual sadism predicted control, sexual deviance, and unusual behaviour at crime scenes; attempted homicide and having a co-accused; and multiple sexual homicides and previous sexual offending. PCL-R Factor 1 predicted violent, exploitative, and evading detection behaviours at crime scenes; completed homicide; and previous violent offending. PCL-R Factor 2 predicted impulsive behaviours at crime scenes, substance misuse, and previous general offending. Psychopathy and sexual sadism play key roles in sexual homicide, interact with each other, and determine different aspects of offences and offenders.

Otakuism and the Appeal of Sex Robots

Social robots are becoming increasingly prevalent in everyday life and sex robots are a sub-category of especially high public interest and controversy. Starting from the concept of the otaku, a term from Japanese youth culture that describes secluded persons with a high affinity for fictional manga characters, we examine individual differences behind sex robot appeal (anime and manga fandom, interest in Japanese culture, preference for indoor activities, shyness). In an online-experiment, 261 participants read one out of three randomly assigned descriptions of future technologies (sex robot, nursing robot, genetically modified organism) and reported on their overall evaluation, eeriness, and contact/purchase intentions. Higher anime and manga fandom was associated with higher appeal for all three future technologies. For our male subsample, sex robots and GMOs stood out as shyness yielded a particularly strong relationship to contact/purchase intentions for these new technologies.

Predicting Short- and Long-Term Mating Orientations: The Role of Sex and the Dark Tetrad

Previous literature has extensively considered factors that influence short- and long-term mating orientations, with specific attention given to individual differences (e.g., sex and personality). Although research has established the role "darker" personality traits (i.e., the dark triad) play in mating orientation, this triad has recently been reconceptualized as a tetrad. Due to this reconceptualization, the current study sought to establish the utility of sex and the dark tetrad in predicting individual short- and long-term mating orientations. In addition, as an alternative to previous methodology, the orientations were assessed using a continuous measure. A total of 464 participants, ages 18 to 69, completed an online questionnaire assessing dark tetrad traits and mating orientations. Results showed that sex, trait psychopathy, and trait sadism were significant predictors of a short-term mating orientation. For long-term mating orientations, there was no predictive utility of sex, but there were positive associations for narcissism and negative associations for psychopathy and sadism. These findings add further understanding of the predictors of mating orientation and the utility of the tetrad in predicting mating orientations. In addition, the findings offer future mating orientation studies an alternative measure to the traditional dichotomous format.

Embodiment and Humiliation Moderation of Neural Responses to Others' Suffering in Female Submissive BDSM Practitioners

Giving and receiving pain are common in the practice of BDSM (bondage-discipline, dominance-submission, and sadism-masochism). Playing a submissive role during BDSM practice weakens both the behavioral and neural empathic responses of female individuals to others' suffering, suggesting that long-term BDSM experience affects BDSM practitioners' empathic ability. This study further investigates whether physical restriction during BDSM practice also modulates individuals' neural responses to others' suffering. We measured neural responses to others' suffering by recording event-related potentials (ERPs) in female submissives while they viewed painful and neutral expressions in sexual sadistic/general social contexts under ball gag Blocking and Relaxed conditions. The neural responses recorded during 92-112 ms (N1), 132-172 ms (P2), 200-340 ms (N2), early late positive potential (LPP, 400-600 ms), and late LPP (700-1,000 ms) were included in the analyses. Compared to the relaxed condition, when a ball gag was used to prevent facial muscle movement and facial mimicry, the N1, early LPP, and late LPP responses neural responses to others' suffering were inhibited. The moderation effect of ball gag blocking on the N1 and early LPP amplitudes was positively correlated with the subjective feelings of facial muscle stillness, and the blocking moderation effect on the late LPP amplitudes was positively correlated with subjective feelings of humiliation. This study is the first neuropsychological investigation of the transient BDSM-related physical restriction effects on BDSM practitioners. These findings suggest that physical restriction (via a ball gag) during BDSM practices increases the wearer's facial muscle stillness and sense of humiliation. This physical restriction inhibits both early automatic responses and late controlled processes in response to the suffering of others.

The oxytocinergic system modulates sadistic context-dependent empathy in humans

The oxytocinergic system is crucial for sociality and well-being and is associated with empathy. It is suggested that the oxytocinergic system exerts context- and person-dependent effects. We examined how sexual sadistic contexts influenced the effects of the oxytocinergic system on empathic-related behaviors and brain activity in healthy adults. Combining genetic neuroimaging, pharmacological techniques and a psychological paradigm of empathy, we recorded EEG neural responses in female OXTR rs53756 G/G and A/A carriers and measured subjective empathic ratings after intranasal administration of oxytocin/placebo in healthy male adults during the perception of painful facial expressions in sadistic/general social contexts. The results revealed that sadistic contexts modulate oxytocinergic effects on empathy at both behavioral and neural levels. The oxytocinergic system preferentially modulated empathic responses to sadistic contexts. These effects are moderated by individual’s trait empathy. Our combined genetic-pharmacological-imaging results provide a neurochemical mechanism for sadistic context-dependent effects of the oxytocinergic system on empathy.

"Identifying and Describing Emotions": Measuring the Effectiveness of a Brief, Alexithymia-Specific, Intervention for a Sex Offender Population

Certain individuals who sexually offend may have difficulty differentiating, identifying, and articulating emotions. These clients may prove challenging for therapists when engaging with them in treatment. Such clients may suffer from alexithymia. There has been a dearth of research regarding specific psychotherapeutic interventions for alexithymia in both the clinical and forensic fields. The present study provides results from a pilot study on the efficacy of a brief, four-session, alexithymia-specific intervention with adults who have sexually offended. The intervention also aimed to increase emotional awareness and psychological mindedness. The intervention was comprised of both mindfulness and mentalization treatment components. Thirty-two men (Mage = 41.8 years, SD = 11.9) convicted of sexual offences completed the intervention group. When compared with a matched control condition (n = 27; Mage = 39, SD = 10.8), the intervention was effective in decreasing alexithymia characteristics and increasing psychological mindedness. Results suggest that the intervention was an effective means of increasing emotional awareness in this population. These provisional results must be tempered by the limitations of the study. However, the positive findings warrant future investigation. Clinical implications and ideas for future work are also discussed.

Attentional Bias in Psychopathy: An Examination of the Emotional Dot-Probe Task in Male Jail Inmates

Numerous studies have identified differences in the identification of emotional displays between psychopaths and non-psychopaths; however, results have been equivocal regarding the nature of these differences. The present study investigated an alternative approach to examining the association between psychopathy and emotion processing by examining attentional bias to emotional faces; we used a modified dot-probe task to measure attentional bias toward emotional faces in comparison with neutral faces, among a sample of male jail inmates assessed using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). Results indicated a positive association between psychopathy and attention toward happy versus neutral faces, and that this association was attributable to Factor 1 of the psychopathy construct.

Sadism and Violent Reoffending in Sexual Offenders

A diagnosis of sadism in sexual offenders is commonly regarded as indicative of high risk for violent reoffending. The purpose of the current two studies was to evaluate whether sadism is indeed associated with higher rates of violent (including sexual) reoffending. In Study 1 (meta-analysis), the rate of violent and sexual recidivism was assessed across seven samples of male sex offenders (total N = 2,169) as a function of diagnoses of sexual sadism. In Study 2 (N = 768) the outcome (violent recidivism yes/no) was regressed on sadism, along with behavioral indicators of sexually sadistic offending, and scores from violence risk assessment instruments. In Study 1 (meta-analysis), the overall risk of sadists compared with nonsadists with respect to violent (including sexual contact) reoffending was slightly elevated (by a factor of 1.18), yet not significantly increased. Similarly, the risk of sexual reoffending among sadists was slightly, but not significantly, higher than among nonsadists (factor 1.38). According to Study 2, only a measure of sadistic behavior, not the clinical diagnosis, was associated with violent reoffending. This association, however, was not present once age and customary risk assessment instruments for violence risk were included in the regression. A clinical diagnosis of sexual sadism and behavioral measures of sadism are related to the risk of violent reoffending in sexual offenders. These associations, however, are weak and do not hold once variables relevant for the prediction of violence are controlled for. At the individual level, the risk for future violence in sadists can therefore be adequately described by customary risk assessment instruments.

The Dark Tetrad

Abstract. Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy are personality traits understood to be dispositions toward amoral and antisocial behavior. Recent research has suggested that sadism should also be added to this set of traits. In the present study, we tested a hypothesis proposing that these four traits are expressions of one superordinate construct: The Dark Tetrad. Exploration of the latent space of four “dark” traits suggested that the singular second-order factor which represents the Dark Tetrad can be extracted. Analysis has shown that Dark Tetrad traits can be located in the space of basic personality traits, especially on the negative pole of the Honesty-Humility, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Emotionality dimensions. We conclude that sadism behaves in a similar manner as the other dark traits, but it cannot be reduced to them. The results support the concept of “Dark Tetrad.”

Emotional Intelligence and Sexual Functioning in a Sample of Swiss Men and Women

INTRODUCTION

Past research has emphasized the importance of psychologic factors in the multifactorial etiology of sexual problems.

AIM

The purpose of the study was to examine (i) how emotional intelligence (EI) associates with sexual functioning; and (ii) whether EI moderates the association between sexual functioning and sexual quality of life (SQoL).

METHODS

A total of 211 participants completed questionnaires relating to EI, sexual functioning, and SQoL. A set of standardized and validated questionnaires were used, including the International Index of Erectile Function, the Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool, the Female Sexual Function Index, the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form (TEIQue-SF), and the Sexual Quality of Life Questionnaire (SQoL).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Correlation, partial correlation, and moderation analyses were used to investigate the associations and moderations.

RESULTS

When taking into account age and relationship duration, EI was significantly negatively correlated with female sexual desire only (rs  = -0.39, P < 0.01). No associations between EI and male sexual functioning on any domain could be detected. A moderation effect of EI in the association between sexual satisfaction and SQoL was observed in women, but not in men. Sexual functioning correlated positively with SQoL in both sexes.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings show for the first time an association between female desire levels and normal variations in EI. Findings also tentatively suggest a relative gender difference in the factors contributing to sexual problems and SQoL, although results need to be confirmed in larger samples.

Emotional expression recognition and attribution bias among sexual and violent offenders: a signal detection analysis

Research with violent offenders has consistently shown impaired recognition of other’s facial expressions of emotion. However, the extent to which similar problems can be observed among sexual offenders remains unknown. Using a computerized task, we presented sexual and violent offenders, and non-offenders, with male and female expressions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise, morphed with neutral expressions at varying levels of intensity (10, 55, and 90% expressive). Based on signal detection theory, we used hit rates and false alarms to calculate the sensitivity index d-prime (d′) and criterion (c) for each emotional expression. Overall, sexual offenders showed reduced sensitivity to emotional expressions across intensity, sex, and type of expression, compared with non-offenders, while both sexual and violent offenders showed particular reduced sensitivity to fearful expressions. We also observed specific effects for high (90%) intensity female faces, with sexual offenders showing reduced sensitivity to anger compared with non-offenders and violent offenders, and reduced sensitivity to disgust compared with non-offenders. Furthermore, both sexual and violent offenders showed impaired sensitivity to high intensity female fearful expressions compared with non-offenders. Violent offenders also showed a higher criterion for classifying moderate and high intensity male expressions as fearful, indicative of a more conservative response style, compared with angry, happy, or sad. These results suggest that both types of offender show problems in emotion recognition, and may have implications for understanding the inhibition of violent and sexually violent behaviors.

Stigmatization of people with pedophilia: two comparative surveys

Despite productive research on stigma and its impact on people's lives in the past 20 years, stigmatization of people with pedophilia has received little attention. We conducted two surveys estimating public stigma and determining predictors of social distance from this group. In both studies, pedophilia was defined as a "dominant sexual interest in children." The survey was comprised of items measuring agreement with stereotypes, emotions, and social distance (among others). Responses were compared with identical items referring to either people who abuse alcohol (Study 1), sexual sadists or people with antisocial tendencies (Study 2). Study 1 was conducted in two German cities (N = 854) and Study 2 sampled 201 English-speaking online participants. Both studies revealed that nearly all reactions to people with pedophilia were more negative than those to the other groups, including social distance. Fourteen percent (Study 1) and 28 % (Study 2) of the participants agreed that people with pedophilia should better be dead, even if they never had committed criminal acts. The strongest predictors of social distance towards people with pedophilia were affective reactions to this group (anger and, inversely, associated, pity) and the political attitude of right-wing authoritarianism (Study 1). Results strongly indicate that people with pedophilia are a stigmatized group who risk being the target of fierce discrimination. We discuss this particular form of stigmatization with respect to social isolation of persons with pedophilia and indirect negative consequences for child abuse prevention.

The relation between emotional intelligence and criminal behavior: A study among convicted criminals

BACKGROUND

Lack of emotional intelligence (EI) may lead to maladjustment and inability to achieve desired goals. A relationship between low levels of EI and crime has been proposed.

AIM

The aim was to assess the relationship between EI and criminal behavior.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Study sample consisted of 202 subjects, in whom 101 subjects were convicted offenders, and 101 were matched normal controls. Offender group comprised of individuals convicted for different crimes such as murder, rape, and robbery, selected from Birsa Munda Central Jail, Hotwar, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India based on purposive sampling. Sample of the normal control group was taken from Ranchi and nearby areas. All subjects gave informed consent for participating in the study. Both the groups were matched on age, gender, education, occupation, and marital status. All participants were assessed on General Health Questionnaire-12 and Mangal Emotional Intelligence Inventory (MEII). The results were analyzed using statistical package SPSS-version 20.

RESULTS

The group of convicted offenders obtained significantly lower scores on all the domains of MEII such as intrapersonal awareness (own emotions), interpersonal awareness (others emotions), intrapersonal management (own emotions) and interpersonal management (others emotions), and aggregate emotional quotient in comparison to their normal counterparts.

CONCLUSION

The convicted offenders group had significantly lower EI compared to normal subjects. Starting EI enhancement program in prison can help the inmates better understand their feelings and emotions.

Sexual sadism in sexual offenders and sexually motivated homicide

This article gives a clinically oriented overview of forensically relevant forms of sexual sadism disorder and its specific relationship to sexual homicide. In sexual homicide perpetrators, peculiar patterns of sexual sadism may be a motivational pathway to kill. Sexual sadism increases the risk for reoffending in sexual offenders. Through psychotherapy and pharmacological interventions, treatment of sadistic sex offenders has to consider special characteristics that may be different from those of nonsadistic sex offenders. Many of these offenders share a combination of sexual sadistic motives and an intact self-regulation, sometimes combined with a high level of sexual preoccupation.

Relating sexual sadism and psychopathy to one another, non-sexual violence, and sexual crime behaviors

Sexual sadism and psychopathy have been theoretically, clinically, and empirically linked to violence. Although both constructs are linked to predatory violence, few studies have sought to explore the covariation of the two constructs, and even fewer have sought to conceptualize the similarities of violence prediction in each. The current study considered all four Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) facets and employed well-defined, validated measures of sadism to elucidate the relation between sadism and psychopathy, as well as to determine the role of each in the prediction of non-sexual violence and sexual crime behaviors. Study 1 assessed 314 adult, male sex offenders using archival ratings, as well as the self-report Multidimensional Inventory of Development, Sex, and Aggression (the MIDSA). Study 2 used archival ratings to assess 599 adult, male sex offenders. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of crime scene descriptions yielded four sexual crime behavior factors: Violence, Physical Control, Sexual Behavior, and Paraphilic. Sadism and psychopathy covaried, but were not coextensive; sadism correlated with Total PCL-R, Facet 1, and Facet 4 scores. The constructs predicted all non-sexual violence measures, but predicted different sexual crime behavior factors. The PCL-R facets collectively predicted the Violence and Paraphilic factors, whereas sadism only predicted the Violence factor.

Emotional empathy and psychopathy in offenders: an experimental study

Previous studies associated psychopathy in adults with deficits in empathy but these studies did not directly compare cognitive and emotional facets of empathy. The present study sought to establish whether psychopathy is associated with impairments in emotional empathy among adult offenders. Participants were 90 male offenders scoring low (n = 29), medium (n = 33) or high (n = 28) on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) and n = 28 male noncriminal controls. Empathy functioning was assessed through self-report and computerized decision tasks, differentiating between perspective-taking (cognitive empathy) and compassion (emotional empathy). Against expectations, level of psychopathy among the offenders was not associated with either emotional or cognitive empathy. Offenders however had lower scores for both cognitive and emotional components of empathy functioning than controls. Both facets of empathy showed small but significant positive correlations with education level and social desirability. The methods employed to assess differences in empathy functioning may not be sensitive enough to assess differences in forensic samples.

Criminal thinking styles and emotional intelligence in Egyptian offenders

BACKGROUND

The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) has been applied extensively to the study of criminal behaviour and cognition. Increasingly growing evidence indicates that criminal thinking styles vary considerably among individuals, and these individual variations appear to be crucial for a full understanding of criminal behaviour.

AIMS

This study aimed to examine individual differences in criminal thinking as a function of emotional intelligence.

METHODS

A group of 56 Egyptian male prisoners completed the PICTS and Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i). The correlations between these assessments were examined using a series of Pearson correlations coefficients, with Bonferroni correction.

RESULTS

General criminal thinking, reactive criminal thinking and five criminal thinking styles (mollification, cutoff, power orientation, cognitive indolence and discontinuity) negatively correlated with emotional intelligence. On the other hand, proactive criminal thinking and three criminal thinking styles (entitlement, superoptimism and sentimentality) did not associate with emotional intelligence.

CONCLUSIONS

Emotional intelligence is an important correlate of individual differences in criminal thinking, especially its reactive aspects. Practical implications of this suggestion were discussed.

Empathy in sexually sadistic offenders: an experimental comparison with non-sadistic sexual offenders

Previous studies suggest that severe sexual sadism and psychopathy are phenotypically different, although both are characterized by deficits in emotional processing. We assessed empathic capacity in a sample of 12 sexual sadists in comparison with 23 non-sadistic offenders using the Multifaceted Empathy Test (MET). All participants were forensic patients under mandatory treatment orders who had committed sexual offenses. The MET is a computerized rating task that differentiates and measures cognitive and emotional components of empathy, or perspective-taking versus compassionate components. To identify the effects of possible empathy deficits caused by psychopathic traits, we controlled both samples for psychopathy as a covariate, measured by the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). According to our results, sexual sadists did not differ from non-sadistic sexual offenders with regard to emotional empathy for either positive or negative stimuli. The results suggest that severe sexual sadism is a distinct, pathological sexual arousal response, not a deficit in emotional processing.

Increased frontotemporal activation during pain observation in sexual sadism: preliminary findings

CONTEXT

Sexual sadism is a psychiatric disorder in which sexual pleasure is derived from inflicting pain, suffering, or humiliation on others. While the psychological and forensic aspects of sexual sadism have been well characterized, little is known about the neurocognitive circuitry associated with the disorder. Sexual sadists show increased peripheral sexual arousal when observing other individuals in pain. The neural mechanisms underlying this unusual response are not well understood. We predicted that sadists relative to nonsadists would show increased responses in brain regions associated with sexual arousal (amygdala, hypothalamus, and ventral striatum) and affective pain processing (anterior cingulate and anterior insula) during pain observation.

OBJECTIVE

To study the neural correlates of pain observation in sadists and nonsadists.

DESIGN

Case-control cross-sectional study. Sadists and nonsadists viewed 50 social scenes, 25 that depicted a person in pain (eg, one person stabbing another person's hand with scissors) and 25 thematically matched no-pain pictures (eg, one person stabbing a table with scissors, with another person's hand nearby). Pain severity ratings (range, 0 [none] to 4 [severe]) were acquired following each picture presentation.

SETTING

Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center, Mauston, Wisconsin.

PARTICIPANTS

Fifteen violent sexual offenders, including 8 sadists and 7 nonsadists (defined using the Severe Sexual Sadism Scale) who were matched for age, IQ, and education.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Hemodynamic response revealed by functional magnetic resonance imaging and pain severity ratings.

RESULTS

Sadists relative to nonsadists showed greater amygdala activation when viewing pain pictures. They also rated pain pictures higher on pain severity than nonsadists. Sadists but not nonsadists showed a positive correlation between pain severity ratings and activity in the anterior insula.

CONCLUSION

These results provide neurobehavioral evidence of unusually heightened sensitivity to the pain of others in sadists.

Psychopathy and sexual sadism

Psychopathic personality disorder and sexual sadism share several common characteristics, such as emotional detachment from the suffering of others or the preparedness to inflict pain or injuries. Based on a sample of 100 male forensic patients (all of them sex offenders, half of them sadistic), the concept of psychopathy and sexual sadism as a unified construct was tested empirically. Pooling indicator variables for psychopathic and sexually sadistic disorders showed that a two-factorial solution yielded a better fit than a single-factor model. The two factors identified psychopathy and sexual sadism as separate latent variables. More specifically, the data were compatible with a path model in which affective deficits and behavioral disinhibition of the psychopathy domain are precursors to sexually sadistic conduct.

Oxytocin enhances amygdala-dependent, socially reinforced learning and emotional empathy in humans

Oxytocin (OT) is becoming increasingly established as a prosocial neuropeptide in humans with therapeutic potential in treatment of social, cognitive, and mood disorders. However, the potential of OT as a general facilitator of human learning and empathy is unclear. The current double-blind experiments on healthy adult male volunteers investigated first whether treatment with intranasal OT enhanced learning performance on a feedback-guided item-category association task where either social (smiling and angry faces) or nonsocial (green and red lights) reinforcers were used, and second whether it increased either cognitive or emotional empathy measured by the Multifaceted Empathy Test. Further experiments investigated whether OT-sensitive behavioral components required a normal functional amygdala. Results in control groups showed that learning performance was improved when social rather than nonsocial reinforcement was used. Intranasal OT potentiated this social reinforcement advantage and greatly increased emotional, but not cognitive, empathy in response to both positive and negative valence stimuli. Interestingly, after OT treatment, emotional empathy responses in men were raised to levels similar to those found in untreated women. Two patients with selective bilateral damage to the amygdala (monozygotic twins with congenital Urbach-Wiethe disease) were impaired on both OT-sensitive aspects of these learning and empathy tasks, but performed normally on nonsocially reinforced learning and cognitive empathy. Overall these findings provide the first demonstration that OT can facilitate amygdala-dependent, socially reinforced learning and emotional empathy in men.

The DSM diagnostic criteria for sexual sadism

I reviewed the empirical literature for 1900-2008 on the paraphilia of Sexual Sadism for the Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders Workgroup for the forthcoming fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The results of this review were tabulated into a general summary of the criticisms relevant to the DSM diagnosis of Sexual Sadism, the assessment of Sexual Sadism utilizing the DSM in samples drawn from forensic populations, and the assessment of Sexual Sadism using the DSM in non-forensic populations. I conclude that the diagnosis of Sexual Sadism should be retained, that minimal modifications of the wording of this diagnosis are warranted, and that there is a need for the development of dimensional and structured diagnostic instruments.

A cumulative scale of severe sexual sadism

The article assesses the scale properties of the criterion set for severe sexual sadism in a sample of male forensic patients (N = 100). Half of the sample consists of sexual sadists; the remainder is sampled at random from the general group of nonsadistic sex offenders. Eleven of 17 criteria (plus the additional item of inserting objects into the victim's bodily orifices) of Marshall, Kennedy, Yates, and Serran's list form a cumulative scale. More specifically, this scale comprises all the 5 core criteria that Marshall and his colleagues considered particularly relevant. The resulting 11-item scale of severe sexual sadism is highly reliable (r(tt) = .93) and represents a strong scale (H = .83) of the Guttman type (coefficient of reproducibility = .97). The 11-item scale distinguishes perfectly between sexual sadists and nonsadistic sex offenders in the sample.

Sex Offender Civil Commitment: Recommedations for Empirically Guided Evaluations

Evaluations of sex offenders in the context of civil commitment occur both pre- and post-commitment. Pre-commitment evaluations must address the relevant prongs of the state's civil commitment statute including the presence of a mental disorder or abnormality, likelihood of future sexual violence, and the volitional link between the two. Post-commitment evaluations must assess treatment progress and readiness for release. A thorough understanding of assessment and diagnostic issues relating to sexual offender civil commitment are essential in conducting both pre- and post-commitment evaluations. The high stakes nature of sex offender civil commitment demands rigorous and empirically based evaluations.