Reactions of primary and secondary psychopaths to anger‐evoking situations

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Offender patients at a psychiatric security hospital were classified as primary or secondary psychopaths or as conforming or inhibited non-psychopaths, and compared on a Situations-Reactions Inventory of Hostility. Prior factor analysis of this inventory indicated 2 classes of situation, labeled attack and frustration, and 3 classes of reaction-aggression, anger and arousal. Psychopathic subjects generally rated their reactions as more intense but differed significantly from non-psychopaths only in their response to attack. Secondary psychopaths produced the most intense reactions, but differed from primary psychopaths in reporting greater somatic arousal. Psychopaths as a group apparently more readily interpret provocation or threats from others as unwarranted attack. An attributional bias towards perceiving malevolent intent may be central to psychopathy.

This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit: