Exploring the differential contribution of boldness, meanness, and disinhibition to explain externalising and internalising behaviours across genders

Abstract

Psychopathic personality traits are positively associated with externalising behaviours, and negatively associated with internalising behaviours. However, the contribution of different facets of psychopathy (boldness, meanness, disinhibition) in explaining externalising and internalising behaviours across genders are inconsistent. In this study, we explored gender differences in the assessment of, and relationships between, psychopathic personality traits, trait anxiety, social anxiety, depression, mental health, and aggressive behaviour in 822 students from a German University (586 women, 236 men; M age = 22.27). Using a structural equation model, we found a positive relationship between aggressive behaviour and all three facets of psychopathy, a positive relationship between internalising behaviours and disinhibition, and a significant negative relationship between internalising behaviours and boldness. Despite gender differences in absolute levels of these variables, the overall pattern of the relationships between variables was consistent across genders. This indicates that symptom level differences across gender cannot be accounted for by variation in early developing personality traits like psychopathy.