Psychopathy, a severe personality disorder characterized by emotional coldness, impulsivity, and antisocial tendencies, has long fascinated researchers and the general public alike.
A new Italian study sheds light on the relationship between psychopathy and intelligence in female criminal offenders, finding that higher psychopathic traits are associated with lower IQ.
Key Facts:
- Researchers administered psychological assessments to 56 female criminals judged to be mentally insane. All had committed violent crimes.
- 21 women (37.5%) met criteria for psychopathy based on their scores on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R).
- Psychopathic women scored significantly lower on Raven’s Progressive Matrices, a nonverbal test of fluid intelligence.
- There were strong negative correlations between PCL-R scores (total and facet scores) and IQ estimates. The higher women scored on psychopathy, the lower their intelligence.
Source: Psychol Med.
Psychopathy and Intelligence: A Complex Link
The connection between psychopathy and intelligence has been debated for decades.
Early theorists believed clever psychopaths with above-average intelligence were able to fake emotions and manipulate others.
Some research on successful (non-incarcerated) psychopaths supports this view.
However, other experts argue that psychopaths prone to repeated criminal acts have deficits in planning, learning from punishment, and foreseeing consequences of actions.
Unsuccessful, imprisoned psychopaths tend to score lower on IQ tests.
Findings on male prisoners have been mixed.
Some studies show modest links between psychopathy and lower intelligence, while others find positive correlations or no relationship.
Very little research has examined imprisoned female psychopaths.
Psychopathy Scores & IQ Links (Study)
The Italian team recognized that using overall psychopathy scores may obscure important findings.
So they looked at correlations between IQ and different facets of the PCL-R, including:
- Interpersonal traits like charm, grandiosity, and deception
- Affective traits like lack of empathy, guilt, or remorse
- Impulsive, irresponsible lifestyle
- Antisocial behaviors like crime and violence
Breaking psychopathy into specific traits and behaviors yielded clearer insights.
The Criminal Mind: Female Psychopaths
The researchers tested 56 women confined to a maximum-security psychiatric hospital after being convicted of violent crimes including murder, assault, and arson.
- 37.5% met criteria for psychopathy on the PCL-R
- Psychopathic women had significantly lower IQ scores on Raven’s matrices, a nonverbal test of fluid reasoning.
- There were strong negative correlations between IQ and PCL-R total scores as well as scores on the four facets. The more psychopathic a woman was, the lower her IQ tended to be.
- The relationships were particularly strong for the affective, lifestyle, and antisocial facets of psychopathy.
- Even the interpersonal facet showed a significant negative correlation, contrary to some findings in males.
The study indicates impaired cognitive abilities are tied to unsuccessful criminal psychopathy in women.
These insights could inform risk assessment, treatment, and rehabilitation programs.
Why Focus on Female Psychopaths?
Most research on psychopathy focuses on men, who are diagnosed at higher rates.
Studying psychopathic women is important to flesh out gender differences.
While the charming, bold traits captured by the interpersonal PCL-R facet may confer advantages to men, they appear linked to lower intelligence in criminal women in this study.
Other gender differences may exist.
Replication in larger female samples is needed, but these findings suggest important nuances in how psychopathy manifests across genders.
Psychopathy’s Biological Roots: Frontal Lobes
From a neuroscientific perspective, the observed links between psychopathy and intellectual deficits make sense.
Both personality traits and fluid intelligence rely heavily on the frontal lobes of the brain.
Psychopaths show structural and functional abnormalities in prefrontal regions involved in:
- Planning
- Impulse control
- Decision making
- Learning from experience
- Foreseeing consequences
Likewise, fluid intelligence taps into frontal networks critical for on-the-fly reasoning, problem solving, focus, and goal management.
While causal conclusions cannot be drawn from this study, the findings fit with theories that certain forms of psychopathy stem from impaired frontal lobe functions that undermine real-world intelligence.
Psychopathy & Intelligence: Complexity
Of course, psychopathy and intelligence are complex constructs shaped by multiple factors.
The researchers caution that results may not generalize beyond incarcerated female psychopaths studied here.
Furthermore, some theorists argue that successful, non-criminal psychopaths have above-average intelligence and excellent frontal lobe functioning.
More research is needed to parse differences between successful and unsuccessful psychopaths.
Still, the in-depth analysis of imprisoned women provides compelling evidence that fluid intelligence tends to be compromised in criminal psychopathy.
These insights have implications for risk assessment, intervention, and rehabilitation in justice system settings.
Takeaway: Female Psychopaths Have Lower IQs
In mentally ill women confined for violent crimes, higher scores on the Psychopathy Checklist were tied to lower IQ estimates across the board.
The relationship was robust and held for overall psychopathy severity as well as different facets.
Findings suggest real-world cognitive deficits in criminal female psychopaths, consistent with theories that certain manifestations of psychopathy arise from frontal lobe impairments.
Unpacking gender differences and contrasts between successful and unsuccessful psychopaths remains an important direction for future research.
References
- Study: Intelligence and psychopathy: a correlational study on insane female offenders
- Authors: C Spironelli et al. (2014)
