Social preferences and psychopathy in a sample of male prisoners—a pilot study
Abstract Social decisions are influenced by a person’s social preferences. High psychopathy is defined by antisocial behaviour, but the relationship between psychopathy and social preferences remains unclear. In this study, we used a battery of economic games to study social decision-making and soci...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2024-04-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-59066-8 |
| _version_ | 1797209356206342144 |
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| author | Benjamin J. Kuper-Smith Alexander Voulgaris Peer Briken Johannes Fuss Christoph W. Korn |
| author_facet | Benjamin J. Kuper-Smith Alexander Voulgaris Peer Briken Johannes Fuss Christoph W. Korn |
| author_sort | Benjamin J. Kuper-Smith |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Social decisions are influenced by a person’s social preferences. High psychopathy is defined by antisocial behaviour, but the relationship between psychopathy and social preferences remains unclear. In this study, we used a battery of economic games to study social decision-making and social preferences in relation to psychopathy in a sample of 35 male prison inmates, who were arrested for sexual and severe violent offenses (mean age = 39 years). We found no evidence for a relationship between social preferences (measured with the Dictator and Ultimatum Games, Social Value Orientation, and one-shot 2 × 2 games) and psychopathy (measured by the overall Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised score and both factors). These results are surprising but also difficult to interpret due to the small sample size. Our results contribute to the ongoing debate about psychopathy and social decision-making by providing crucial data that can be combined with future datasets to reach large sample sizes that can provide a more nuanced understanding about the relationship between psychopathy and social preferences. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T09:53:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8ba7709d9bd24afca92cd5e2e4d05537 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T09:53:24Z |
| publishDate | 2024-04-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-8ba7709d9bd24afca92cd5e2e4d055372024-04-14T11:17:11ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222024-04-0114111210.1038/s41598-024-59066-8Social preferences and psychopathy in a sample of male prisoners—a pilot studyBenjamin J. Kuper-Smith0Alexander Voulgaris1Peer Briken2Johannes Fuss3Christoph W. Korn4Section Social Neuroscience, Department of General Psychiatry, Heidelberg UniversityInstitute for Sex Research, Sexual Medicine and Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-EppendorfInstitute for Sex Research, Sexual Medicine and Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-EppendorfInstitute for Sex Research, Sexual Medicine and Forensic Psychiatry, University Medical Center Hamburg-EppendorfSection Social Neuroscience, Department of General Psychiatry, Heidelberg UniversityAbstract Social decisions are influenced by a person’s social preferences. High psychopathy is defined by antisocial behaviour, but the relationship between psychopathy and social preferences remains unclear. In this study, we used a battery of economic games to study social decision-making and social preferences in relation to psychopathy in a sample of 35 male prison inmates, who were arrested for sexual and severe violent offenses (mean age = 39 years). We found no evidence for a relationship between social preferences (measured with the Dictator and Ultimatum Games, Social Value Orientation, and one-shot 2 × 2 games) and psychopathy (measured by the overall Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised score and both factors). These results are surprising but also difficult to interpret due to the small sample size. Our results contribute to the ongoing debate about psychopathy and social decision-making by providing crucial data that can be combined with future datasets to reach large sample sizes that can provide a more nuanced understanding about the relationship between psychopathy and social preferences.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-59066-8 |
| spellingShingle | Benjamin J. Kuper-Smith Alexander Voulgaris Peer Briken Johannes Fuss Christoph W. Korn Social preferences and psychopathy in a sample of male prisoners—a pilot study Scientific Reports |
| title | Social preferences and psychopathy in a sample of male prisoners—a pilot study |
| title_full | Social preferences and psychopathy in a sample of male prisoners—a pilot study |
| title_fullStr | Social preferences and psychopathy in a sample of male prisoners—a pilot study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Social preferences and psychopathy in a sample of male prisoners—a pilot study |
| title_short | Social preferences and psychopathy in a sample of male prisoners—a pilot study |
| title_sort | social preferences and psychopathy in a sample of male prisoners a pilot study |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-59066-8 |
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