Eastern Kentucky University
The Relationship Between Psychopathy, Sensation Seeking, and Deception
Institution
Eastern Kentucky University
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Cheryl Ramey; Adam Lawson; Richard Osbaldiston
Abstract
Psychopaths are the truly bad element of our society. These individuals are the people who commit violent crimes, manifest other antisocial behavior, and who make up a large portion of the prison population. If we could understand the precursors and correlates of psychopathy, it would help with the diagnosis and treatment of this chronic mental disorder. Two personality traits believed to be correlates of psychopathy are deception and sensation seeking. This study aims to establish a relationship between these constructs and evaluate the strength of that relationship. An expected sample of 100 undergraduate students enrolled in psychology courses will complete three questionnaires assessing their level of sensation seeking (SSS-V), deception (MACH-IV), and psychopathy (TriPM). Each of the three distinct phenotypic constructs measured by the TriPM will also be correlated with total SSS-V and MACH-IV scores. It is expected that significance will be found at the p < .01 level using Spearman and Pearson correlations. Implications from this study could serve to further research in understanding the precursors and correlations of psychopathy and may allow us to identify this mental disorder in its early stages so that an effective treatment may be established.
The Relationship Between Psychopathy, Sensation Seeking, and Deception
Psychopaths are the truly bad element of our society. These individuals are the people who commit violent crimes, manifest other antisocial behavior, and who make up a large portion of the prison population. If we could understand the precursors and correlates of psychopathy, it would help with the diagnosis and treatment of this chronic mental disorder. Two personality traits believed to be correlates of psychopathy are deception and sensation seeking. This study aims to establish a relationship between these constructs and evaluate the strength of that relationship. An expected sample of 100 undergraduate students enrolled in psychology courses will complete three questionnaires assessing their level of sensation seeking (SSS-V), deception (MACH-IV), and psychopathy (TriPM). Each of the three distinct phenotypic constructs measured by the TriPM will also be correlated with total SSS-V and MACH-IV scores. It is expected that significance will be found at the p < .01 level using Spearman and Pearson correlations. Implications from this study could serve to further research in understanding the precursors and correlations of psychopathy and may allow us to identify this mental disorder in its early stages so that an effective treatment may be established.