Sex, Lies, and More Lies: Exploring the Intimate Relationships of Subclinical Psychopaths

Although relationship violence is of great interest to researchers and the general public, studies examining connections with personality rarely consider the most destructive personality -subclinical psychopathy. We examined the influence of subclinical psychopathy on the intimate relationships of 612 undergraduates as measured by self-reported attitudes and behaviors. Subclinical psychopathy was associated with a wide range of risky and violent sexual behaviors, various negative attitudes and cognitions towards their partners and towards relationships in general, and several indicators of infidelity. Overall, these results suggest that the intimate relationships of subclinical psychopaths are extremely abusive and volatile, with respect to both attitudes and behaviors.