I am bold, and do not care for social norms: The role of faux pas recognition in the relation between psychopathy and aggression

Josanne D.M. van Dongen*, Anuska Gobardhan, Pauline Korpel, Ingmar H.A. Franken

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Psychopathy is found to be associated with aggression. However, the role of “understanding the mental states of others” in this relation is not clearly understood yet. The current study aimed to increase our understanding of a specific ability of understanding the mental state of others, namely recognizing a faux pas, and understand the relation of this “social misstep” in self-reported aggressive behavior. The sample consisted of 105 individuals from the community (both males and females) who were tested with the Faux Pas test and several self-report questionnaires assessing triarchic psychopathic personality traits and aggression. We found a positive relationship between the triarchic constructs and self-reported proactive and reactive aggression. Additionally, although all psychopathy constructs were negatively related to self-reported empathy, only the boldness trait was negatively associated with faux pas recognition. No mediation effect of faux pas on the relation between psychopathy and aggression was found. Current findings underline the importance of differentiating different Theory of Mind and empathic abilities in relation to psychopathy and aggression, which is essential to develop effective interventions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)280-295
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of Forensic Psychology Research and Practice
Volume24
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 15 Sept 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Research programs

  • ESSB PSY

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