The influence of perpetrator personality pathology on perceptions of relational stalking: Conference presentation

Misperceptions of stalking have the potential to prevent victims and support structures from identifying and intervening in stalking victimisation. Perpetrator personality pathology is a pertinent factor within stalking victimisation, yet remains unexamined within stalking perception literature. The present study examined the influence of perpetrator personality pathology on perceptions of relational stalking in a sample of 549 adult members of the public recruited through volunteer sampling (75.8% female). Participants read one of six accounts of a hypothetical stalking incident. Five accounts described distinct perpetrator personality pathology concordant with one of the five ICD-11 personality disorder ‘trait domain qualifiers’; one control condition did not describe the perpetrator’s personality. Perceptions of the hypothetical stalking incident were measured across seven Likert-scale questions. Stalking behaviour was perceived to be most serious when the perpetrator exhibited traits of dissociality, and least serious when the perpetrator exhibited traits of detachment. The perpetrator was most likely to be perceived as experiencing mental health and personality difficulties when exhibiting traits of negative affectivity. The perpetrator was least likely to be perceived as experiencing mental health difficulties when presenting with traits of disinhibition, and least likely to be perceived as experiencing personality difficulties when no personality description was included. The research findings highlight the potential for perpetrator personality pathology to differentially bias public perceptions of stalking behaviour. This has implications for efforts to improve the recognition and provision of support for stalking victimisation, and for future research concerning perceptions of stalking. N.b., this research output was originally presented at the British Psychological Society's Division of Forensic Psychology Annual Conference 2024 on 3 July 2024.