Psychopathy and Normal-Range Personality in Relation to Financial Risk Taking and Engagement in Antisocial Behaviors

We aimed to evaluate three measures of personality in relation to risky financial decision making and antisocial behavior. While measures of the HEXACO model and alternative-five factor model (AFFM) require validation due, in-part, to little attention in the literature, the triarchic model of psychopathy (TMP) has received substantial attention but requires further evaluation due to inconsistent findings. In study one we evaluated the relationship between the factors from the HEXACO model and the proportion of risky choices made in a decision task with two frames: loss and gains. While emotionality was directly related to lesser risky decision making, this relationship was not moderated by frames nor was this the case for any other factors. In study two, we evaluated measures of the TMP and AFFM factors in relation to both risky decision making and antisocial behavior. Traits from both models were not significantly related to risky decision making. Meanness, disinhibition, aggressiveness, and sensation seeking were predictive of all forms of antisocial behavior. We found that boldness and meanness as well as meanness and disinhibition interacted to predict greater antisocial behavior. Furthermore, disinhibition and meanness interacted to predict criminal behavior. We discuss implications for these findings, potential limitations in each study, and future directions.