Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia \u2013 Psychopathy is often associated with a\ncold, unfeeling person who struggles to show emotion. However, recent\nresearch suggests that psychopathic personality traits may be reflected\nin the language people use in their writing, although not always in line\nwith familiar stereotypes.<\/p>\n
According to Science Alert, psychopathy is not listed as an official\ndiagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders\n(DSM), the guide used to classify mental disorders. The term is\nnevertheless widely used, particularly in criminology, to describe a set\nof specific personality traits.<\/p>\n
Under the triarchic model, psychopathy comprises three main\ndimensions: boldness, disinhibition and meanness.<\/p>\n
Research by Ky Bray and Laura Drislane, clinical psychology\nresearchers at the University of Mississippi in the United States, found\nthat these dimensions may be associated with language patterns in a\nperson\u2019s writing. The findings were published in the journal Personality\nand Individual Differences.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople tend to think of psychopathy as one single thing, when in\nfact it is multidimensional,\u201d Bray said.<\/p>\n
The researchers said everyone may have some degree of all three\ntraits. However, when several traits occur together at high levels, the\neffects can be more serious.<\/p>\n
Drislane explained that researchers increasingly prefer to understand\npsychopathy through personality dimensions rather than simply labelling\npeople. These characteristics may be associated with a range of\nconsequences, including criminal offending, reoffending and intimate\npartner violence.<\/p>\n
Study involved students and former prisoners<\/strong><\/p>\n Bray and Drislane recruited 307 university students and 144 former\nprisoners from the general community. Participants completed the\nTriarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM), a questionnaire designed to\nassess levels of boldness, disinhibition and meanness.<\/p>\n They were also asked to write about three life experiences: their\nhappiest or most memorable moment, the lowest point in their life, and a\nturning point that brought about significant change.<\/p>\n Bray emphasised that the study was not intended to use writing as a\nway to diagnose psychopathy. Rather, it sought to understand how certain\npersonality traits may be reflected in everyday behaviour, including\nword choice.<\/p>\n Three psychopathic traits and their links to\nlanguage<\/strong><\/p>\n The study found associations between the dimensions of psychopathic\npersonality and the use of certain words in writing.<\/p>\n People with higher boldness scores tended to use words associated\nwith anxiety less often, such as \u201cworried\u201d, \u201cafraid\u201d, \u201canxious\u201d and\n\u201cnervous\u201d.<\/p>\n Those with higher meanness scores tended to use words associated with\nnegative emotions less often, such as \u201cbad\u201d, \u201chate\u201d, \u201cpainful\u201d and\n\u201ctired\u201d, when writing about an important turning point in their\nlives.<\/p>\n Of the three dimensions, disinhibition showed the strongest\nassociation with language use. People with higher scores on this\ndimension tended to mention positive outcomes less often in all three\ntypes of writing requested by the researchers.<\/p>\n They also used more negatively toned language when writing about\ntheir best moments and turning points. This pattern was not found in\naccounts of their lowest points.<\/p>\n This group also tended to use more words associated with substance\nconsumption, such as \u201cbeer\u201d, \u201cwine\u201d, \u201cdrunk\u201d and \u201ccigar\u201d, when writing\nabout their lowest points and life turning points. The same tendency was\nnot seen in accounts of their best moments.<\/p>\n Writing cannot be used to diagnose psychopathy<\/strong><\/p>\n The findings indicate that the language used by people with\npsychopathic traits is not necessarily devoid of emotion or personal\nmeaning. They also challenge the assumption that people with these\ntraits are invariably cold and unfeeling.<\/p>\n Even so, the way someone describes their life experiences may not\nalways conform to social expectations or norms in a given situation.<\/p>\n Bray added that a multidimensional approach allows researchers to\nstudy psychopathic traits in non-forensic populations, including people\nwho have never committed a crime.<\/p>\n The research may therefore help explain how these characteristics\nrelate to the lives of students and professionals, as well as to\nrelationships between people. Drislane stressed that understanding the\nmechanisms underlying each dimension of psychopathy is an important step\ntowards addressing\u2014and even preventing\u2014the development of traits that\ncould have negative consequences.<\/p>\n However, language patterns in writing cannot be taken as evidence\nthat someone has psychopathy. The study identifies associations between\npersonality traits and word use; it does not offer a diagnostic method\nthat can be applied directly to an individual.<\/p>\n For that reason, psychopathy should be understood by considering a\nperson\u2019s range of personality characteristics, rather than relying\nsolely on their word choices or the way they write about their life\nexperiences.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/study-identifies-psychopathic-traits-that-may-be-reflected-in-a-persons-writing-1793195459",
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