Unknown

Dataset Information

0

Psychopaths are impaired in social exchange and precautionary reasoning.


ABSTRACT: Psychopaths show a profound lack of morality and behavioral controls in the presence of intact general intellectual functioning. Two hallmarks of psychopathy are the persistent violation of social contracts (i.e., cheating) and chronic, impulsive risky behavior. These behaviors present a puzzle: Can psychopaths understand and reason about what counts as cheating or risky behavior in a particular situation? We tested incarcerated psychopaths' and incarcerated nonpsychopaths' reasoning about social contract rules, precautionary rules, and descriptive rules using the Wason selection task. Results were consistent with our hypotheses: Psychopaths (compared with matched nonpsychopaths) showed significant impairment on social contract rules and precautionary rules, but not on descriptive rules. These results cannot be accounted for by differences in intelligence, motivation, or general antisocial tendency. These findings suggest that examination of evolutionarily identified reasoning processes can be a fruitful research approach for identifying which specific mechanisms are impaired in psychopathy.

SUBMITTER: Ermer E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3042879 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

altmetric image

Publications

Psychopaths are impaired in social exchange and precautionary reasoning.

Ermer Elsa E   Kiehl Kent A KA  

Psychological science 20100920 10


Psychopaths show a profound lack of morality and behavioral controls in the presence of intact general intellectual functioning. Two hallmarks of psychopathy are the persistent violation of social contracts (i.e., cheating) and chronic, impulsive risky behavior. These behaviors present a puzzle: Can psychopaths understand and reason about what counts as cheating or risky behavior in a particular situation? We tested incarcerated psychopaths' and incarcerated nonpsychopaths' reasoning about socia  ...[more]

Similar Datasets

| S-EPMC8409141 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC10631796 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC2598410 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC6059491 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC2867718 | biostudies-literature
2016-04-01 | E-GEOD-76403 | biostudies-arrayexpress
| S-EPMC4371087 | biostudies-literature
| S-EPMC4866737 | biostudies-literature
2016-04-01 | GSE76403 | GEO
| S-EPMC5003271 | biostudies-literature