Examining the relationship between self-reported compliance and psychopathic personality traits

The relationship between antisocial traits and forensically-relevant compliance is equivocal, perhaps due to the heterogeneity of antisocial traits. In an effort to better understand this relationship, the current study used the construct of psychopathy as a means of parsing this heterogeneity. Specifically, the relationship between psychopathy as captured by the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005) and compliance measured by the Gudjonsson Compliance Scale (GCS; Gudjonsson, 1989 and Gudjonsson, 1997) among a sample of university students (n = 131) was explored. Results revealed that total scores on the PPI-R were unrelated to compliance. However, specific facets of the PPI-R were related to the GCS, but in opposite directions. This might explain inconsistent findings in the extant literature. The findings stemming from the study provide insights into the relationship between antisocial traits and forensically-relevant compliance and offer direction to future efforts aimed at understanding this relationship. Implications for these distinct relationships in the context of false confessions are discussed.

► The current study examines the association between compliance and psychopathy. ► The Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R) captured psychopathy. ► The Gudjonsson Compliance Scale (GCS) captured compliance. ► Total scores on the PPI-R were unrelated to GCS-compliance. ► Unique associations were found between compliance and PPI-R factor scores.