The Influence of Psychopathy and Vengeance on Punishments of Crime

• In Event: The Influence of Psychopathic Traits, Gender, and Biological Evidence on Juror Decision-Making

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the motivations that those higher in psychopathic traits use to punish others in criminal contexts. Those higher in psychopathic traits have been shown to be less retributive when punishing a murderer (Aharoni, Weintraub, & Fridlund, 2007) and this study examined whether that relationship can be generalized to a variety of crimes. Those higher in psychopathy have been shown to be more vengeful in personal mistreatments (Book & Quinsey, 2004) and this trait vengeance is associated with more retributive punishments and increased support for the death penalty for offenders (McKee & Feather, 2008). Given this, we also explored the influence of trait vengeance on the relationship between psychopathic traits and punishment allocations. Using self-reports, we found that individuals higher in psychopathic traits allocated less harsh punishments than individuals lower in psychopathic traits and this was driven by the interpersonal and affective features of psychopathy. Trait vengeance did not moderate the relationship between psychopathic traits and punishments. Relationships among psychopathic traits, motivations to punish, and sentencing decisions will be discussed. These findings have implications for how jurors’ psychopathic traits may affect their punishment allocations in criminal court.

Authors

• Leah Efferson, University of Alabama

• Andrea Glenn, University of Alabama