Capturing the Psychopathic Female: A Prototypicality Analysis of the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP) Across Gender

• Published in: Behavioral sciences & the law Vol. 29; no. 5; pp. 634 - 648
• Main Authors: Kreis, Mette K. F., Cooke, David J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.09.2011; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Antisocial Personality Disorder - diagnosis; Antisocial Personality Disorder - psychology; Conceptualization; Female; Gender differences; Gender Identity; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Personality Assessment; Personality disorders; Personality tests; Psychometrics; Psychopathology; Psychopathy; Sex Characteristics; Surveys and Questionnaires; Symptoms; Validation studies; Women; Women - psychology
• ISSN: 0735-3936; 1099-0798; 1099-0798
• DOI: 10.1002/bsl.1003

Psychopathy in women has been subject to little systematic investigation; no coherent conceptualization of the disorder in women exists. Previous research is constrained by the reliance both on a male conceptualization of psychopathy and on assessment instruments developed, and primarily validated, with men. This study utilized a newly developed, broad, personality‐based, and gender‐sensitive lexical model of psychopathy, the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP). Prototypical analysis was used to explore gender differences in the construct and the content validity of the CAPP model across gender. Symptoms were rated by international mental health professionals (N = 132). The findings support the content validity of the CAPP across gender and suggest that – at symptom and domain levels – psychopathic men and women have key similarities, but also that important gender differences exists. This has implications for the assessment of psychopathy in women, and has relevance for the proposed revision of diagnostic criteria for personality disorders. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.