abstract
-
Psychopathic traits vary continuously within the general population and are characterized by bold, callous, and disinhibited personality features. Research in psychopathy primarily focuses on associations with various negatively-valenced social and affective constructs, but less work has investigated the relationship between psychopathy and positively-valenced constructs. The present investigation examined self-reported psychopathy and associations with reward responsiveness and self-reported social networks among first-year university students (N = 245). Results indicated that the triarchic psychopathy facets uniquely mapped onto two different domains of reward; specifically, boldness predicted increased reward responsiveness whereas disinhibition predicted increased delay discounting. With respect to social networks, boldness predicted increased, and meanness predicted decreased, self-reported quantity and quality of peer relationships. No other subscales of psychopathy significantly predicted either facet of reward or social networks. These findings provide insight on reward-relevant models of psychopathy as well as the socially maladaptive, as well as adaptive, facets of psychopathy during emerging adulthood. This study further promotes the benefits to understanding the multidimensional nature of psychopathy and the triarchic model.