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Implicit measurement of psychopathic traits as predictors of impulsivity and fearlessness / JENNIFER PINK

Swansea University Author: JENNIFER PINK

  • E-Thesis – open access under embargo until: 30th April 2026

DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.69447

Abstract

Psychopathy is associated with duplicity, deception and manipulation. Thus, self-reports of psychopathic traits and those relying on the judgments of others may be somewhat unreliable. As an alternative to self-report measures, this thesis explored the potential of implicit measures, experimental ta...

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Published: Swansea, Wales, UK 2025
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
Supervisor: Gray, Nicola S. ; Price, Menna J.
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69447
first_indexed 2025-05-07T11:14:27Z
last_indexed 2025-05-09T07:04:48Z
id cronfa69447
recordtype RisThesis
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spelling 2025-05-08T15:38:17.0364188 v2 69447 2025-05-07 Implicit measurement of psychopathic traits as predictors of impulsivity and fearlessness dd038765cab39e187c07fab2237ffdb5 JENNIFER PINK JENNIFER PINK true false 2025-05-07 Psychopathy is associated with duplicity, deception and manipulation. Thus, self-reports of psychopathic traits and those relying on the judgments of others may be somewhat unreliable. As an alternative to self-report measures, this thesis explored the potential of implicit measures, experimental tasks designed to tap into implicit processes, to index the psychopathic personality self-concept. Using the triarchic model of psychopathy as the conceptualisation of psychopathy, three novel Implicit Association Tests (IATs) were developed, one for each triarchic domain of psychopathy (Boldness, Meanness and Disinhibition). Priming tasks were also developed, using the same stimuli used in the IATs. Of the two tasks, only the IATs showed internal consistency and discriminant validity. Corresponding with dual-system models of cognition, the thesis next explored whether an implicit measure of psychopathy might be better at predicting more automatic or spontaneous psychopathic behaviours than a self-report equivalent measure. As the IATs had consistency and validity, these were used as the implicit measures of psychopathy. Behavioural tasks (Affect Misattribution Procedures, go/no-go task, Stroop tasks, attentional blink paradigm) were developed to use alongside the IATs. These intended to invoke more automatic or spontaneous behaviours associated with psychopathy. While limited predictive utility emerged for the IATs with these tasks, interesting findings emerged. The boldness-IAT was positively associated with threat ratings of threatening images, indicating that implicitly, bold individuals experience greater levels of threat. The disinhibition-IAT was variable in its relation to triarchic Disinhibition, possibly indicating that some disinhibited individuals may not implicitly view themselves as such. Furthermore, both the Stroop and go/no-go tasks, which index response inhibition, were associated with triarchic Disinhibition. Therefore, this thesis offers several contributions to the literature. It demonstrates the IAT’s potential in indexing the psychopathic self-concept and indicates that the implicit psychopathic self-concepts of Disinhibition and Boldness may differ from that represented by self-report measures. E-Thesis Swansea, Wales, UK psychopathy, impulsivity, implicit cognition 30 4 2025 2025-04-30 10.23889/SUthesis.69447 ORCiD identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3043-3774 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Gray, Nicola S. ; Price, Menna J. Doctoral Ph.D ESRC DTP ESRC DTP 2025-05-08T15:38:17.0364188 2025-05-07T12:08:53.4167065 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology JENNIFER PINK 1 Under embargo Under embargo 2025-05-08T15:28:38.0204995 Output 40940466 application/pdf E-Thesis – open access true 2026-04-30T00:00:00.0000000 Copyright: The Author, Jennifer Pink, 2025. true eng
title Implicit measurement of psychopathic traits as predictors of impulsivity and fearlessness
spellingShingle Implicit measurement of psychopathic traits as predictors of impulsivity and fearlessness
JENNIFER PINK
title_short Implicit measurement of psychopathic traits as predictors of impulsivity and fearlessness
title_full Implicit measurement of psychopathic traits as predictors of impulsivity and fearlessness
title_fullStr Implicit measurement of psychopathic traits as predictors of impulsivity and fearlessness
title_full_unstemmed Implicit measurement of psychopathic traits as predictors of impulsivity and fearlessness
title_sort Implicit measurement of psychopathic traits as predictors of impulsivity and fearlessness
author_id_str_mv dd038765cab39e187c07fab2237ffdb5
author_id_fullname_str_mv dd038765cab39e187c07fab2237ffdb5_***_JENNIFER PINK
author JENNIFER PINK
author2 JENNIFER PINK
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.23889/SUthesis.69447
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
document_store_str 0
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description Psychopathy is associated with duplicity, deception and manipulation. Thus, self-reports of psychopathic traits and those relying on the judgments of others may be somewhat unreliable. As an alternative to self-report measures, this thesis explored the potential of implicit measures, experimental tasks designed to tap into implicit processes, to index the psychopathic personality self-concept. Using the triarchic model of psychopathy as the conceptualisation of psychopathy, three novel Implicit Association Tests (IATs) were developed, one for each triarchic domain of psychopathy (Boldness, Meanness and Disinhibition). Priming tasks were also developed, using the same stimuli used in the IATs. Of the two tasks, only the IATs showed internal consistency and discriminant validity. Corresponding with dual-system models of cognition, the thesis next explored whether an implicit measure of psychopathy might be better at predicting more automatic or spontaneous psychopathic behaviours than a self-report equivalent measure. As the IATs had consistency and validity, these were used as the implicit measures of psychopathy. Behavioural tasks (Affect Misattribution Procedures, go/no-go task, Stroop tasks, attentional blink paradigm) were developed to use alongside the IATs. These intended to invoke more automatic or spontaneous behaviours associated with psychopathy. While limited predictive utility emerged for the IATs with these tasks, interesting findings emerged. The boldness-IAT was positively associated with threat ratings of threatening images, indicating that implicitly, bold individuals experience greater levels of threat. The disinhibition-IAT was variable in its relation to triarchic Disinhibition, possibly indicating that some disinhibited individuals may not implicitly view themselves as such. Furthermore, both the Stroop and go/no-go tasks, which index response inhibition, were associated with triarchic Disinhibition. Therefore, this thesis offers several contributions to the literature. It demonstrates the IAT’s potential in indexing the psychopathic self-concept and indicates that the implicit psychopathic self-concepts of Disinhibition and Boldness may differ from that represented by self-report measures.
published_date 2025-04-30T05:28:13Z
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score 11.089407

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