Primary and Secondary Psychopathic Traits: Investigating the Role of Attachment and Experiences of Shame

Figures & data

Table 1. Means, Standard Deviations (SD) and Correlations Between Psychopathic Traits, Attachment and Shame Dimensions.

	Mean (SD)	1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1. LSRP primary psychopathic traits	28.96 (7.80)	–
2. LSRP secondary psychopathic traits	20.77 (4.62)	.50**	–
3. Age	30.77 (12.64)	−.43**	−.23**	–
4. ECR-R attachment anxiety	60.62 (24.60)	.28**	.43**	−.34**	–
5. ECR-R attachment avoidance	58.75 (19.73)	.33**	.39**	−.22**	.50**	–
6. ESS characterological shame	27.30 (9.63)	.21**	.43**	−.28**	.46**	.29**	–
7. ESS behavioral shame	23.12 (7.00)	.15*	.31**	−.27**	.37**	.14*	.68**	–
8. ESS body shame	10.68 (4.19)	−.07	.22**	−.24**	.34**	.04	.54**	.62**

Note. LSRP = Levenson’s Self-Report Psychopathy Scale; ECR-R = Experience in Close Relationships Revised Questionnaire; ESS = Experience in Shame Scale.

* p < .05.

** p < .01.

Table 2. Hierarchical Regression Analysis.

	Primary psychopathic traits						Secondary psychopathic traits
	Model 1		Model 2		Model 3		Model 1		Model 2		Model 3
Variable	β	ΔR²	β	ΔR²	β	ΔR²	β	ΔR²	β	ΔR²	β	ΔR²
		.28**		.06**		.03**		.07**		.19**		.07**
Age	−.43**		−.36**		−.36**		−.23**		−.08		−.03
Genderª	−.31**		−.30**		−.25**		−.14*		−.13*		−.16**
Attachment anxiety			.10		.10				.32**		.20**
Attachment avoidance			.18*		.14*				.20**		.19**
Characterological shame					.12						.25**
Behavioral shame					.12						−.02
Body shame					−.23**						.04

Note. β = Standardized Beta Coefficient, ΔR² = adjusted R².

^a Gender Coded 1 = Male and 2 = Female.

* p < .05.

**p < .001.

Table 3. Direct and Indirect Effects of Attachment Dimensions (Avoidance, Anxiety) on Psychopathic Traits (Primary and Secondary) with Shame Dimensions (Characterological, Behavioral and Body) as Mediators, Controlling for Age and Biological Sex.

1. Independent variable (IV): Attachment avoidance dependent variable (DV): Primary psychopathic traits	b	SE	t	p
Age (control variable)	−.23	.03	−7.77	<.001
Sex (control variable)	−4.71	.79	−5.93	<.001
Attachment avoidance to characterological shame (path a1)	.12	.03	4.53	<.001
Attachment avoidance to behavioral shame (path a2)	.04	.02	1.88	.06
Attachment avoidance to body shame (path a3)	.00	.01	.30	.77
Characterological shame to primary psychopathic traits (path b1)	.11	.06	1.90	.06
Behavioral shame to primary psychopathic traits (path b2)	.13	.08	1.72	.09
Body shame to primary psychopathic traits (path b3)	−.40	.12	−3.38	<.001
Total effect of attachment avoidance (path c)	.09	.02	4.52	<.001
Direct effect attachment avoidance (path c’)	.07	.02	3.57	<.001
	F(3,284) = 46.76; R² = .33; p < .001
Bootstrap results for indirect effects
	Effect	SE	Lower CI	Upper CI
Characterological shame	.01	.01	.00	.03
Behavioral shame	.01	.00	−.00	.02
Body shame	−.00	.01	−.01	.01
2. Independent variable (IV): Attachment anxiety dependent variable (DV): Primary psychopathic traits	b	SE	t	p
Age (control variable)	−.22	.03	−6.99	<.001
Sex (control variable)	−5.08	.80	−6.34	<.001
Attachment anxiety to characterological shame (path a1)	.16	.02	7.27	<.001
Attachment anxiety to behavioral shame (path a2)	.09	.02	5.36	<.001
Attachment anxiety to body shame (path a3)	.05	.01	4.86	<.001
Characterological shame to primary psychopathic traits (path b1)	.12	.06	2.06	.04
Behavioral shame to primary psychopathic traits (path b2)	.12	.08	1.51	.13
Body shame to primary psychopathic traits (path b3)	−.47	.12	−4.02	<.001
Total effect of attachment anxiety (path c)	.06	.02	3.63	<.001
Direct effect attachment anxiety (path c’)	.05	.02	3.05	.002
	F(3,284) = 43.38; R² = .31; p < .001
Bootstrap results for indirect effects
	Effect	SE	Lower CI	Upper CI
Characterological shame	.02	.01	.00	.04
Behavioral shame	.01	.01	−.00	.03
Body shame	−.02	.01	−.04	−.01
3. Independent variable (IV): Attachment avoidance dependent variable (DV): Secondary psychopathic traits	b	SE	t	p
Age (control variable)	−.06	.02	−2.88	.004
Sex (control variable)	−1.05	.52	−2.03	.043
Attachment avoidance to characterological shame (path a1)	.12	.03	4.54	<.001
Attachment avoidance to behavioral shame (path a2)	.04	.02	1.88	.06
Attachment avoidance to body shame (path a3)	.00	.01	.30	.77
Characterological shame to secondary psychopathic traits (path b1)	.14	.03	3.95	<.001
Behavioral shame to secondary psychopathic traits (path b2)	.02	.05	.44	.66
Body shame to secondary psychopathic traits (path b3)	.08	.07	1.11	.27
Total effect of attachment avoidance (path c)	.08	.01	6.49	<.001
Direct effect attachment avoidance (path c’)	.06	.01	5.17	<.001
	F(3,284) = 22.58; R² = .19; p < .001
Bootstrap results for indirect effects
	Effect	SE	Lower CI	Upper CI
Characterological shame	.02	.01	.01	.03
Behavioral shame	.00	.00	−.00	.01
Body shame	.00	.00	−.00	.00
4. Independent variable (IV): Attachment anxiety dependent variable (DV): Secondary psychopathic traits	b	SE	t	p
Age (control variable)	−.03	.02	−1.50	.14
Sex (control variable)	−1.42	.51	−2.83	.005
Attachment anxiety to characterological shame (path a1)	.16	.02	7.27	<.001
Attachment anxiety to behavioral shame (path a2)	.09	.02	5.36	<.001
Attachment anxiety to body shame (path a3)	.05	.01	4.86	<.001
Characterological shame to secondary psychopathic traits (path b1)	.14	.03	4.01	<.001
Behavioral shame to secondary psychopathic traits (path b2)	.01	.05	.13	.89
Body shame to secondary psychopathic traits (path b3)	.01	.07	.10	.92
Total effect of attachment anxiety (path c)	.08	.01	7.69	<.001
Direct effect attachment anxiety (path c’)	.06	.01	5.22	<.001
	F(3,284) = 28.72; R² = .23; p < .001
Bootstrap results for indirect effects
	Effect	SE	Lower CI	Upper CI
Characterological shame	.02	.01	.01	.03
Behavioral shame	.00	.00	−.01	.01
Body shame	.00	.00	−.01	.01

Availability of Data and Material

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request. When collecting the data participants were informed that their data would not be made publicly available.