The Relation Between the Two Factors of Psychopathy and Intimate Partner Aggression

Same Personality, New Ways to Abuse: How Dark Tetrad Personalities Are Connected With Cyber Intimate Partner Violence

New technologies bring new forms of intimate partner violence (IPV) or abuse, such as cyber intimate partner violence (C-IPV). This is a contemporary issue with different consequences from in-person IPV. C-IPV is a complex phenomenon triggered by a number of factors, including personality traits such as the Dark Tetrad, composed of four "malevolent" qualities: subclinical narcissism, Machiavellianism, subclinical psychopathy, and everyday sadism. The Dark Tetrad plays an important role in predicting the perpetration or victimization of the resulting pervasive behaviors. Although the correlations between in-person IPV and the Dark Tetrad have been studied before, to our knowledge this investigation is the first to look at the links between these four dark personality traits and C-IPV. With a sample of 1,189 participants, we measured C-IPV victimization and perpetration rates and compared the results with the Dark Tetrad profiles of the respondents. To analyze these correlations, we conducted bivariate analysis and structural equation modeling. The analysis yielded positive relations of psychopathy and narcissism with cyber controlling behaviors. Psychopathy was found to be strongly related with direct cyber aggression behaviors; sadism was mainly related with C-IPV victimization in both controlling and direct aggression, and, finally and interestingly, Machiavellianism presented negative correlations with direct cyber aggression. Remarkable is that joining sadistic personalities increased vulnerability to victimization from C-IPV direct aggression, as well as more psychopathic traits and an increased probability of perpetration. These combinations may create dangerous situations. In conclusion, we found that both C-IPV perpetrators and victims present higher scores in the dark personality traits and gender-based differences than in-person IPV actors.

Psychopathic femicide: The influence of psychopathy on intimate partner homicide

High scores in psychopathy were associated with acts of violence, and the prevalence of this condition is greater among the prison population than among the general population. In terms of its relation to femicide, two studies, one carried out in Sweden and another in Spain with a prison population, found that psychopathy is an uncommon condition among perpetrators of femicide. This study analyzes 97 cases of femicide in the whole of Spain, in which it was possible to evaluate the degree of psychopathy of the perpetrators using the Psychopathy Checklist‐Revised (PCL‐R). The scores are analyzed not only directly, but also in terms of Factors and Facets. The results show an average in the total score of the PCL‐R of 14.4, with only 13 subjects (13.4%) presenting scores of 25 or more, and just 3 (3.1%) of these presenting scores of 30 or higher. It was found that, in general, high scores in psychopathy are associated with shorter relationships and less time between the first complaint, the breakup, and the femicide. What is more, characteristics of the victims, such as addiction to toxic substances or economic dependency, also demonstrated a relationship to the scores of the perpetrators of femicide in the PCL‐R. Lastly, it was found that the scores in the different dimensions of psychopathy are associated with different types of violence, whereby there was a noteworthy difference between the most explicit violence and control exercised over the partner.

Intimate Partner Aggression Committed by Prison Inmates with Psychopathic Profile

Psychopathy and intimate partner aggression (IPA) are two concepts that usually appear concomitantly. Male violence toward women is often considered a psychopathic trait that sometimes involves the woman's homicide by her partner and, at other times, attempted homicide. This phenomenon has been studied by conducting interviews following Hare's model with 92 men incarcerated under a compliance regime in a Spanish prison (Córdoba). The results detected six explanatory factors of IPA as a result of attempted homicide or homicide: criminal past and delinquency, impulsivity, the need to stand out from others, lack of empathy, manipulation of others, and instability in partner relationships. The first two factors predict a occurrence of high scores on Hare's Psychopathy Checklist. The results are discussed, and future lines of research are presented, especially focused on the concept of dehumanization and revenge.

Alcohol-related relationship dissatisfaction: A putative mechanism for intimate partner aggression

Decades of research has identified alcohol use as a contributing cause of intimate partner aggression (IPA) perpetration; however, there have been fewer studies that seek to identify mediators of the relation between alcohol use and IPA perpetration. Building on research showing a positive association between problematic drinking and relationship dissatisfaction and relationship dissatisfaction and IPA, we examined whether relationship dissatisfaction accounted for the relation between problematic drinking and IPA perpetration in couples using statistical modeling that accounted for the interdependence between partners. Our results showed that (a) actor problematic drinking was related to actor psychological and physical IPA perpetration and that this relation was partially explained by actor relationship dissatisfaction, (b) partner problematic drinking was related to actor physical and psychological IPA perpetration and that this relation was partially explained by actor relationship dissatisfaction, and (c) partner problematic drinking was related to actor psychological IPA perpetration and that this relation was partially explained by partner relationship dissatisfaction. Together, our results highlight that when partner interdependence is considered, relationship dissatisfaction could be a potential mechanism of the alcohol-IPA association and provide some evidence for different pathways for psychological and physical aggression. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration and Psychopathy: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the physical, sexual, and psychological abuse of an intimate partner and is a widespread, international public health crisis. An important proximate risk factor for IPV perpetration is the presence of psychopathic traits but there has not been a systematic review of the research linking psychopathic traits to IPV perpetration. We identified 43 studies using 13,476 participants (9,024 men and 4,452 women) across 10 countries that met our search criteria that led to the following conclusions. First, psychopathy was associated with IPV perpetration with medium effect sizes, even after accounting for various distal and proximate risk factors. Second, the different dimensions of psychopathy did not consistently differ in their prediction of IPV perpetration. Third, within individuals with a history of IPV perpetration, psychopathy did not relate to the frequency or severity of partner violence. Fourth, a few studies have tested the associations among child abuse, psychopathy, and IPV, with one study reporting that the combination of child abuse and psychopathic traits led to especially high risk for IPV perpetration. Lastly, we conclude by making recommendations for how future research and interventions should consider psychopathy to reduce the societal burden of IPV.