Clarifying the Relationship between Psychopathy and Intelligence Using Four Dimensions of the WASI-II

ABSTRACT

Empirical evidence concerning the relationship between psychopathy and intelligence remains equivocal. The aim of the current study was to clarify the nature of the relationship by examining the association between four facets of the Psychopathic Personality Traits Scale (PPTS) and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence – Second Edition (WASI- II) . Based on a non- institutionalised sample (N = 253), Affective Responsiveness demonstrated a significant negative association with Similarities, whereas Interpersonal Manipulation demonstrated a significant positive association with Vocabulary. Egocentricity demonstrated a significant negative relationship with both Vocabulary and Matrix Reasoning. Implications of these findings for the assessment of psychopathy and intelligence are discussed.

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Notes on contributors

Kathryn Sharratt

Kathryn Sharratt, MSc, ia a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Huddersfield. Her research interests and publications include emotional effects of suspicious child death cases on police investigators, assessment and rehabilitation of offenders, psychopathy and intelligence.

Daniel Boduszek

Daniel Boduszek, PhD is a Professor of Criminal Psychology at the University of Huddersfield. His current research interests and publications include the aspects of criminal social identity, homicidal behavior, psychopathy, prisonization, and recidivis.

Christopher Retzler

Christopher Retzler, PhD is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Huddersfield. His current research interests and publications include combining behavioural paradigms with EEG to investigate the underlying mechanisms involved in addiction.