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Psychopathy and intelligence: a second look.

Peter Johansson1, Margaret Kerr

  • 1Orebro University, Orebro, Sweden. peter.Johansson@bsr.oru.se

Journal of Personality Disorders
|September 24, 2005
PubMed
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Psychopaths show a reversed association between intelligence and criminal development compared to non-psychopaths. Higher intelligence in psychopaths correlated with earlier violent crime onset, unlike non-psychopaths.

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Criminology
  • Forensic Psychology

Background:

  • Empirical studies using the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) indicate no intelligence differences between psychopaths and non-psychopaths.
  • Contrasting this, historical views suggest psychopaths may possess superior intelligence.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the hypothesis that intelligence and criminal development severity correlate inversely between psychopaths and non-psychopaths.
  • To reconcile discrepancies between clinical observations and empirical findings on psychopathy and intelligence.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of a sample of 370 men convicted of violent (nonsexual) offenses.
  • Assessment of psychopathy using the PCL-R and evaluation of intelligence (IQ) and criminal history.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • For non-psychopaths, higher total IQ and verbal intelligence were associated with a later onset of violent offending.
  • For individuals diagnosed as psychopaths, higher intelligence was paradoxically linked to an earlier start in violent criminal behavior.

Conclusions:

  • The study supports the hypothesis of an inverse relationship between intelligence and the severity of criminal development in psychopaths compared to non-psychopaths.
  • This finding may explain the historical discrepancy regarding intelligence levels in psychopathic individuals.