Level of personality integration in psychopathy

Aim of this research was to determine whether differences in clinical picture of psychopathy (on the basis of which subtypes of psychopathy are identified) reflect differences in pathology of personality organization (integration) according to O. Kernberg.

The research was conducted on 417 subjects, of whom 88.5% were criminals, 11.5% - non-criminals. Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R), developed by S.O. Lilienfeld, was used to assess level of psychopathy while personality organization level was assessed by Borderline Personality Inventory (BPI) developed by F. Leichsenring. K-means cluster analysis was supported by AUC.

Cluster analysis allowed for differentiation of two groups: cluster 1 - fearlessly dominating psychopaths and cluster 2 - egocentrically-impulsive psychopaths. Egocentrically-impulsive psychopaths are significantly more frequently characterized by borderline personality organization than psychopaths from cluster 1. In addition to symptoms of psychopathy they show evidence of deeper identity disorders, apply primitive defense mechanisms more frequently, experience fear of fusion and severe problems in reality testing.

Differences in picture of psychopathy reflect different pathology of personality organization. Results confirm the thesis of distinctive nature of coldheartedness and its invariant presence in picture of psychopathy regardless of configuration of other traits in both subtypes.