The Mediating Role of ToM Between Psychopathy and Willingness to Help
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2021-06-01
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en
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Psychopathy has been a much-debated topic within the scientific community for many years. It is seen to be a dimensional trait defined by an emotional dysfunction including reduced feelings of guilt and empathy, as well as overt antisocial behavior. Furthermore, the framework of Patrick et al., (2009) describes psychopathy by three phenotypic dimensions: meanness, disinhibition and boldness in which boldness is defined by resilience to stress, social dominance, and reduced emotionality. So far, most research concerned the effect of psychopathic traits on social behavior or investigated cognitive mechanisms underlying psychopathy. However, the effect of psychopathic traits on prosocial behavior and the mediating role of cognitive mechanisms, such as theory of mind (ToM), remains debated. Therefore, the current study investigated the role of ToM mediating the relationship between willingness to help and boldness. To test this research question, 214 participants, ranging from 19 years to 76 years, completed several online questionaries. A mediation analysis was conducted. Results showed that the psychopathic trait boldness was neither associated with willingness to help nor with ToM. Furthermore, ToM was not associated with willingness to help and no mediating effect of ToM on the relationship between boldness and willingness to help, was found. Nevertheless, this study contributes to the scientific research about psychopathy and adds to the debates regarding automatic ToM.
Keywords: psychopathy, boldness, ToM, willingness to help
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Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen