TESTOSTERONE, CORTISOL, PSYCHOPATHY, AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN MEN in ...

126 Pages·1999·5.65 MB·English

TESTOSTERONE, CORTISOL, PSYCHOPATHY, AND
ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR IN MEN
A thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology
in confodty with the requirements for
the degree of Master of Arts
Queen's University
Kingston, Ontario, Canada .
July, 1998
copyright O Adrian W. Laxton, 1998
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ABSTRACT
The relationships between testosterone, cortisol, psychopathy and an-
tisocial behavior were examined in a sample of 118 undergraduate students,
58 community volunteers, and 62 prison inmates. It was predicted that tes-
tosterone would be positively associated with psychopathy and antisocial be-
havior, whereas cortisol would be negatively associated with psychopathy
and antisocial behavior. In accordance with predictions, testosterone was
positively associated with chronic violent behavior in male prison inmates.
Also in accordance with predictions, cortisol was negatively associated with
prison inmates' actuariauy assessed risk of violent behavior. Contrary to pre-
dictions, however, cortisol was positively associated with history of severe
violent behavior. Furthemore, no evidence was found for the hypothesized
associations between testosterone, cortisol, and general measures of psy-
chopathy. Recommendations for future research examining the hormonal cor-
relates of violent antisocial behavior in criminal and noncriminal populations
are discussed.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
1 would like to thank Dr. Vernon Quinsey for his willingness to share
some of his encyclopedic knowledge and keen intellect with me over the last
two years. In particular, 1 appreciate his thoughtfid guidance in the planning
and completion of this research project and the preparation of this thesis.
I would also like to thank Dr. Katherine Wynne-Edwards for her active
interest and helpful guidance throughout this research project. Furthermore,
I would like to thank Dr. Wynne-Edwards, Ms. Tatania Bogoiavlenskaia, and
Ms. Cathy Reburn for the extraordinary time and effort that they put into
conducting the hormone assays for this project.
1w ould like to thank Dr. Fred Boland for his helpful comments in the
planning of this research project and during the preparation of this thesis. 1
would also like to thank Dr. Rick Beninger for his willingness to get involved
with this research project and his valuable guidance in the completion of this
thesis. A special thanks also goes to Dr. Lee Fabrigar for taking the time to
help me with my statistical analyses.
I would like to thank Ms. Helena Ho and Ms. Rahel Leigh Peckett for
collecting the data f?om the undergraduate and community participants. This
project would not have been possible without their hardwork and dedication.
1 would like to thank the Correctional Service of Canada and the war-
dens, deputy wardens, and psychology staff at Millhaven and Collins Bay In-
stitutions for allowing this research to be conducted. In particular, 1 would
iv
like to thank Mr. Bruce Malcolm and Dr. Dave Simourd for their generosity
in allowing me to conduct my research in their departments.
1 would also like to extend m y gratitude to the 238 individuais who
volunteered to participate in this study.
Finally, 1 would like to express my sincere appreciation to my wife,
Brandi Jacques, for her enthusiastic, unwavering support throughout this re-
search project.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES
INTRODUCTION
METHOD
Participants
Hormone Measurement
Materials
Procedure
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
APPENDM A: Psychopathy Checklist--Revised
APPENDM B: Childhood and Adolescent Taxon Scale--Self-Report
APPENDM C: Aggression Questionnaire
APPENDM D: Impulsiveness Questionnaire
APPENDM E: Psychopathic Style Inventory
APPENDM F: State/Trait Anxiety Inventory-1
APPENDIX G: StatePTrait Anxiety Inventory-2
APPENDM H: Cormier-Lang System
APPENDM 1: Sex Offender Risk Appraisal Guide
APPENDIX J: Level of S e ~ cIenv entory-Revised
APPENDM I(: Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding
APPENDM L: Lifestyle Questionnaire
APPENDM M: Experimenter's Instructions
APPENDIX N: Consent Form--Institution
APPENDIX O: Consent Form--Community
APPENDM P: Debriefing Guidelines
APPENDM Q: Debriefing Fom-Institution
APPENDM R: Participation Sheet-Community
APPENDIX S: Correlations among Al1 Measures in Each Group
APPENDIX T: Correlations among the Hormones
CURRICULUM VITAE
vii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Coefficient Alphas, Means, Standard Deviations and
Group Differences for Each Measure
Table 2. Correlations between Response Bias Measures and
Self-Report Scales 36
Table 3. Correlations between Hormones and Potential Influences
on Hormone Levels 38
Table 4. Correlations among Al1 Measures 39
Table 5. Summary of Hierarchical Regression of Self-Report
Measures on Hormones, Controlling for Response Bias 45
Table 6. Summary of Hierarchical Regression of Prison File
Information on Hormones 47
Table 7. Summary of Significant Interactions between
Hormones and Index Offense Scores 50
INTRODUCTION
The Chronic Offender
One of the most consistent findings in the research examining crime is
that a srnail percentage of people are responsible for the majority of the
crimes committed (see Lynam, 1996; Moffitt, 1993). For example, Wolfgang,
Figlio, & Sellin (1972) found that 6% of the people in their sample were re-
sponsible for over 50% of the crimes committed by their sample. In a sum-
mary of studies in this area, Farrington, Ohlin, & Wilson (1986) reported
that 5-7% of people commit about half of the known crimes. Chronic offenders
are thus a small group of people who have a very large and negative impact
on society. Research suggests that the people most likely to be chronic offend-
ers are psychopathic offenders (Lynam,1 996).
The Psychopath
Psychopathic offenders commit more crimes (Hare, McPherson, &
Forth, 19881, more types of crimes (Kosson, Smith, & Newman, 19901, more
violent crimes (Hare & McPherson, 1984), and are more likely to recidivate
than nonpsychopathic offenders (Hart, Kropp, & Hare, 1988; Serin, Peters, &
Barbaree, 1990; Salekin, Rogers, & Sewell, 1996). Furthermore, treatment
interventions have been ineffective in decreasing psychopathic offenders'
criminal behavior (see e.g., Harris, Rice, & Cormier, 1994; Ogloff, Wong, &
Greenwood, 1990). For these reasons, psychopathic offenders present a seri-
ous problem for society and researchers have attempted to gain a better un-
derstanding of the factors that underlie psychopathic criminality.
Cleckley (1976) describes the psychopathic person as an individual
who is callous, remorseless, and deceitful, and whose lifestyle is character-
ized by unstable relationships and an inability to learn from negative experi-
ences. Hare (1980, 1991) has developed a checklist for the assessrnent of psy-
chopathy in cnminal populations based on Cleckley's conception of the psy-
chopathic person. The current version of Hare's checklist is called the Psy-
chopathy Checklist-Revised (PCGR; 1991). Several studies have shown that
items on the PCGR cluster into two general factors-Factor 1 representing
psychopathic personality characteristics as described by Cleckley, and Factor
2 representing the characteristics of a chronically unstable lifestyle such as
impulsivity, irresponsibility, parasitic use of others, and antisocial behavior
(Harpur et al., 1989; Hare et al., 1990; Harris, Rice, & Quinsey, 1994). These
factors encompass a wide domain of penonality and behavioral traits, and
thus represent a broad conceptualization of the psychopathy construct.
Researchers do not al1 share this broad conceptualization of psychopa-
thy, however. Throughout the debate on how psychopathy should be defined,
three general perspectives are evident (Lilienfeld, 1994). Some, following
Cleckley (19761, believe that personality charactenstics such as remorseless-
ness, egocentricity, and shallow affect should be the central, defining features
of psychopathy (Lilienfeld, 1994). Others believe that behavioral cntena such