Research in brief: Investigating gender differences in psychopathy using a non-clinical sample: Exploring the impact of empathy, anxiety and self-control

Abstract

The current study aimed to investigate gender differences within primary and secondary psychopathy and how cognitive empathy, emotional empathy, anxiety, and self-control were associated in a non-clinical sample. Men displayed significantly higher rates of primary psychopathy than women, but no significant difference was found for secondary psychopathy. It was found that low cognitive empathy, low emotional empathy, and low self-control predicted primary psychopathy for men and women; however, high anxiety was an added predictor for women. Both low cognitive empathy and low self-control predicted secondary psychopathy for both men and women. The implications of the gender differences found will be discussed in the context of current assessment tools and psychopathy research.