Psychopathy and Risky Sexual Behavior in Incarcerated Women

• Author: Amanda M. Cook,J. Michael Maurer,Brooke L. Reynolds,Carla L. Harenski,Kent A. Kiehl
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/00938548221105057
• Published date: 01 October 2022
• Date: 01 October 2022
• Subject Matter: Articles

CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND BEHAVIOR, 2022, Vol. 49, No. 10, October 2022, 1456 –1473.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00938548221105057

Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions

© 2022 International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology

1456

PSYCHOPATHY AND RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIOR

IN INCARCERATED WOMEN

AMANDA M. COOK

J. MICHAEL MAURER

BROOKE L. REYNOLDS

CARLA L. HARENSKI

The Mind Research Network

KENT A. KIEHL

The Mind Research Network

The University of New Mexico

To date, very few studies have explored the association between psychopathic traits and risky sexual behavior (RSB) among

women. Here, we investigated this relationship in a sample of 137 incarcerated women. Psychopathic traits were assessed via

the Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R) and lifetime RSB measures, including number of lifetime sexual partners,

frequency of engaging in sexual intercourse while intoxicated, and frequency of forgoing protection (e.g., condom usage)

during sexual intercourse, were assessed through self-report. PCL-R Facet 3 scores (assessing lifestyle psychopathic traits)

were associated with an increased frequency of engaging in sexual intercourse while intoxicated. In addition, women scoring

high on the PCL-R were more likely to engage in sexual intercourse while intoxicated compared with a previously collected

sample of men scoring high on the PCL-R. The results obtained in the current study help improve our understanding of the

association between psychopathic traits and RSB among women.

Keywords: psychopathy; risky sexual behavior; incarcerated women; gender differences

INTRODUCTION

PSYCHOPATHY AND GENERAL RISK-TAKING

Individuals with elevated psychopathic traits are notorious for their involvement within

the criminal justice system. For example, while around 1% of the general population meets

the criteria for psychopathy, the base rate increases in incarcerated samples, where 6% to

17% of incarcerated women (Verona & Vitale, 2018) and 15% to 25% of incarcerated men

(Hare, 2003) meet the criteria for psychopathy. Psychopathic individuals are characterized

by high rates of antisocial behavior, as they engage in risk-taking and risk-promoting

AUTHORS’ NOTE. We would like to thank the New Mexico Corrections Department for their support in mak-

ing this research possible. This study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) through

grant number R01 MH085010 (PI: Kiehl) and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) through grants

numbers R01 DA026964 (PI: Kiehl) and R01 DA020870 (PI: Kiehl). Correspondence concerning this article

should be addressed to Kent A. Kiehl, The Mind Research Network, 1101 Yale Boulevard NE, Albuquerque, NM

87106; e-mail: kkiehl@mrn.org.

1105057CJBXXX10.1177/00938548221105057Criminal Justice and BehaviorCook et al. / Female Psychopathy and Risky Sexual Behavior

research-article2022

Cook et al. / FEMALE PSYCHOPATHY AND RISKY SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 1457

behavior to a greater degree compared with those scoring low on psychopathy. For exam-

ple, those with elevated psychopathic traits are characterized by increased risk-taking

across several domains, including social, ethical, financial, health/safety, and recreational

domains (Hosker-Field et al., 2016; Swogger et al., 2010). Furthermore, specific psycho-

pathic traits appear to relate to increased risk-taking. Specifically, lifestyle (e.g., impulsiv-

ity, irresponsibility, and proneness to boredom) and antisocial (e.g., history of juvenile

delinquency, criminal versatility, and poor behavioral controls) psychopathic traits are

associated with increased risk-taking, rather than interpersonal (e.g., pathological lying,

conning and manipulative behavior, and a grandiose sense of self-worth) and affective

(e.g., a lack of empathy, guilt, and remorse, and callousness) psychopathic traits (Hosker-

Field et al., 2016). Although psychopathy has been previously associated with increased

risk-taking across several domains, one specific form of risk-taking, namely, engaging in

risky sexual behavior (RSB), has been infrequently explored in relation to psychopathy.

This is surprising, given promiscuous sexual behavior is included as an item within the

Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R [Hare, 2003]), a commonly used measure to

assess psychopathic traits in incarcerated samples.

RSB

RSB can be operationally defined as engaging in sexual activity that increases one’s

chance of acquiring a sexually transmitted infection (STI; Chawla & Sarkar, 2019). As

such, multiple forms of RSB exist, including engaging in sexual intercourse with a higher

number of overall partners (Falasinnu et al., 2014), engaging in sexual intercourse while

intoxicated (Seth et al., 2011), or forgoing protection when engaging in sexual intercourse

(Gallo et al., 2007). In relation to psychopathy, those characterized by higher levels of psy-

chopathic traits have been previously described as engaging in promiscuous sexual behav-

ior to a higher degree compared with those scoring low on such traits. Specifically, those

scoring high on psychopathy are more likely to engage in reckless, impersonal, and trivial

sexual relationships compared with those scoring low on psychopathy (Cleckley, 1941,

1976; Hare, 2003). Cleckley attributed this propensity for sexual promiscuity to a lack of

self-imposed restraint, reflecting the impulsive and irresponsible nature of psychopaths

(Cleckley, 1941, 1976), supporting the notion of lifestyle psychopathic traits contributing to

increased risk-taking behavior (Hosker-Field et al., 2016). Furthermore, psychopaths are

more likely to engage in short-term mating strategies (Harris et al., 2007), which have been

previously associated with an increased rate of contracting STIs (McLeod & Day, 2014). As

such, psychopathic individuals should be characterized by higher rates of RSB compared

with nonpsychopathic individuals.

STUDIES RELATING RSB TO MEASURES OF PSYCHOPATHY

Previous studies investigating the association between psychopathic traits and RSB have

predominantly recruited participants from community samples, including college under-

graduate students. In these studies, higher self-reported psychopathy scores have been asso-

ciated with several RSB measures, including reporting a higher number of lifetime sexual

partners (Fulton et al., 2010; Jonason et al., 2009; Visser et al., 2010), engaging in sexual

intercourse while intoxicated (Fulton et al., 2010), and forgoing protection, including con-

dom usage, during sexual intercourse (Fulton et al., 2010, 2014). Additional studies have