Boldness Explains a Key Difference Between Psychopathy and Antisocial Personality Disorder

Although antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) has represented the current operationalization of psychopathy since DSM-III, it has long been recognized as failing to capture the full range of the construct. The current study examined the degree to which Boldness, a trait domain within the triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy that captures fearlessness, dominance and low stress reactivity, represents a distinct difference between psychopathy and ASPD. Utilizing a sample of 152 male prison inmates, the current study examined the extent to which Boldness, relative to Meanness and Disinhibition (indexed by the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure [TriPM]), accounted for incremental variance beyond ASPD symptom counts (indexed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Disorders ASPD module) in predicting psychopathy (as indexed by Psychopathy Checklist-Revised [PCL-R] total, factor and facets scores). TriPM Boldness added to the incremental prediction of PCL-R Factor 1(Interpersonal/Affective) and Facet 1 (Interpersonal) scores above and beyond ASPD scores.