文档介绍：Aggression and Violent Behavior
8 (2003) 513–546
Psychopathic personality or personalities?
Exploring potential variants of psychopathy
and their implications for risk assessment
Jennifer L. Skeema,*, Norman Poythressb, John F. Edensc,
Scott O. Lilienfeldd, Ellison M. Caled
aUniversity of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Box 455030, Las Vegas, NV 89154-5030, USA
bUniversity of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
cSam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA
dEmory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Received 29 October 2001; accepted 1 July 2002
Abstract
Although psychopathy typically has been construed as a relatively uniform construct, seminal
theories and contemporary research suggest that it may be heterogeneous. In this article, the most
promising literature is distilled to distinguish among potential variants of antisocial personality
disorder (APD) that can be derived from, and informed by, modern conceptions of psychopathy. This
analysis suggests that there are primary and secondary variants of psychopathy, which may be
distinguished based on the extent to which they are heritable and are characterized by affective deficits,
impulsivity, trait anxiety, and characteristics of borderline and narcissistic personality disorders (NPD).
These variants also may differ in their patterns of violence and responsivity to treatment. If variants of
psychopathy can be identified reliably and supported empirically, psychopathy may be transformed
from a global label to a set of more specific constructs that improve our ability to understand, manage,
and treat individuals who have largely been regarded as dangerous and untreatable.
D 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Psychopathy; Subtypes; Variants; Primary psychopathy; Secondary psychopathy; Anxiety
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-702-895-3303; fax: +1-702-895-0195.
E-mail address: ******@ (. Skeem).
1359-1789/02/$ – see front matter D 2002 Elsevi