In a recent study published in Law and Human Behavior, researchers found that certain psychopathic personality traits are significantly associated with attitudes and behaviors related to the use of force in law enforcement. The study, which involved both law enforcement professionals and undergraduates interested in law enforcement careers, offers a deeper understanding of how specific personality traits can influence critical aspects of policing.
The study centers around the triarchic model of psychopathy, a framework that breaks down psychopathic traits into three distinct categories. These components are boldness, characterized by fearlessness and social assertiveness; meanness, associated with a lack of empathy and cruelty; and disinhibition, which manifests as impulsivity and poor self-control. Unlike the traditional view of psychopathy as a uniform disorder, this model allows for a more nuanced understanding of how different traits can manifest in individuals.
Previous studies have noted that law enforcement professionals often exhibit characteristics like low anxiety, emotional resilience, and social dominance. Interestingly, these are also observed in individuals who score high on psychopathic traits. The researchers aimed to explore how these traits, particularly when examined through the lens of the triarchic model, could impact behavior in police work, focusing on the crucial area of use of force.
“Psychopathy is a construct that has often been studied in incarcerated populations to understand the relationship between these personality traits and antisocial behavior,” said study author Sean J. McKinley, a staff psychologist with the Orlando VA Healthcare System who completed this study with Professor Edelyn Verona for his PhD dissertation at the University of South Florida.
“A growing field of study has focused on examining psychopathy in other domains to understand how individuals with these traits ‘succeed’ in certain fields (e.g., business, medicine, politics, law enforcement). I decided to focus on studying psychopathic traits in law enforcement because I wanted to see which traits may contribute to job success and, conversely, which traits may contribute to instances of excessive use of force and other maladaptive behavior.”
The study involved 354 law enforcement officers and a group of undergraduate students, 166 who were interested in law enforcement careers and 417 who were not not. To assess the personality traits of the participants, the researchers used the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM).
Participants were also presented with vignettes – short, descriptive scenarios – based on real-life instances where law enforcement used force. They rated these scenarios on their acceptability, providing insight into their attitudes towards the use of force. Additionally, they participated in a first-person shooter task, a computerized exercise requiring quick decision-making on whether to shoot targets holding either a gun or a non-threatening object. This task aimed to measure the participants’ trigger bias or discrimination in firing decisions.
In both law enforcement officers and undergraduates with an interest in law enforcement careers, there was a notable association between the trait of meanness and the acceptance of unjustified use of force. This suggests that individuals who exhibit higher levels of meanness may be more prone to view excessive force as acceptable in policing scenarios.
Interestingly, the trait of disinhibition was linked to performance in the shooter task, especially among undergraduates interested in law enforcement. This finding indicates that individuals with higher impulsivity might make more errors in high-pressure decision-making situations, like those often encountered by police officers.
In contrast, the trait of boldness did not significantly influence attitudes towards use of force or performance in the shooter task, except in the law enforcement group. Here, lower levels of boldness, combined with high meanness, were associated with a greater acceptance of unjustified use of force, suggesting that boldness might play a protective role against such attitudes among actual law enforcement officers.
“The results of this study indicate that different facets of the psychopathic personality are associated with differing outcomes in performance,” McKinley told PsyPost. “Namely, the callous lack of empathy/antagonism facet of the construct was associated with acceptance of excessive use of force while the impulsive facet of psychopathy was associated with making more errors in a rapid decision-making task. However, of the three samples we collected for this study (police officers, law enforcement-interested undergraduates, and general undergraduates), the police officers were best able to differentiate good from bad police behavior.”
As with any study, there were limitations that need consideration. The use of self-report measures and online methodology might have affected the integrity of the data. Moreover, most participating officers were from specific urban areas in the United States and had considerable experience, limiting the generalizability of the findings to the broader population of law enforcement officers.
“A majority of our police officers came from one of two Southeastern United States police departments,” McKinley noted. “Also, we used an online self-report protocol as our main method of data collection; further research would ideally be able to measure police officer ‘performance’ more accurately (e.g., training simulation data, supervisor ratings of performance).”
This study opens up new avenues for understanding the psychological factors influencing law enforcement behavior, particularly in the use of force. The nuanced approach of the triarchic model of psychopathy provides a valuable lens through which to examine these factors. While the traits of meanness and disinhibition were linked to attitudes towards unjustified use of force and decision-making under pressure, the role of boldness, especially in actual law enforcement officers, points to the complexity of these personality traits in policing contexts.
“I will be presenting the findings of this research at the American Psychology-Law Society annual conference in March 2024 in Los Angeles,” McKinley added. “If you will be in attendance, please come to my talk and ask any additional questions you may have!”
The study, “Cool Under Fire: Psychopathic Personality Traits and Decision Making in Law-Enforcement-Oriented Populations“, was authored by Sean J. McKinley and Edelyn Verona.
