Semester
Summer
Date of Graduation
2005
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
MS
College
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences
Department
Psychology
Committee Chair
William J Fremouw
Abstract
Clinical lore suggests that psychopaths should be successful malingers, yet empirical evidence is inconclusive. To further investigate the relation of psychopathy and malingering, 56 undergraduate males were classified into three groups based on responses to one trauma screener (Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale; PDS, Foa, Cashman, Jaycox & Perry, 1997) and one psychopathy screener (Psychopathic Personality Inventory: Short Form; PPI: SF, Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996). This multimodal simulation study examined the ability of participants high and low in psychopathic characteristics to successfully malinger PTSD. Contrary to predictions, results indicated that individuals high in psychopathic characteristics were not better at convincing raters of a PTSD diagnosis, nor were they better at producing valid PTSD profiles on self-report measures. Individuals high in psychopathic characteristics were not more confident in their ability to avoid detection of malingering. Results from this study failed to demonstrate that individuals high in psychopathic characteristics are more successful malingerers.
Recommended Citation
Tyner, Elizabeth Ann, "The relation of psychopathic characteristics and malingering of PTSD" (2005). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 4202.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/4202