Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by affective, interpersonal, and behavioural problems. The current study aims to examine the role of psychopaths’ emotional deficiencies in their...Show morePsychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by affective, interpersonal, and behavioural problems. The current study aims to examine the role of psychopaths’ emotional deficiencies in their moral reasoning. We hypothesized that psychopathy severity predicts utilitarian decisions (1), empathy (2), and alexithymia (3) and that the relationship between psychopathy severity and utilitarian decision-making is mediated by empathy (4) and alexithymia (5). A total of 20 PCL-R confirmed psychopaths psychiatric inpatients were recruited from five different psychiatric hospitals in the Netherlands. Empathy and alexithymia were measured using the IRI and TAS-20 questionnaires. Each participant was shown 12 fictional moral dilemmas to which a utilitarian (greater good-sacrificial) or deontological (harm-avoiding) action had to be chosen. Contrary to expectations (1), results showed that psychopathy severity was negatively related to utilitarian decision-making (β = -.49, p = .030), with higher PCL-R scores reflecting lower percentages of utilitarian decisions on moral dilemmas. All other hypotheses were not supported, as psychopathy severity was not related to any empathy subscale (2) β ranging from <∣.01∣ to ∣.35∣, p > .05) or alexithymia subscale (3) (β ranging from ∣.16∣ to ∣.30∣, p > .05), and no mediation effects were found for either empathy (4) (β ranging from <∣.01∣ to ∣.23∣, BCIs contain 0) or alexithymia (5) (β ranging from ∣.01∣ to ∣.04∣, BCIs contain 0). A possible explanation for the contradictory finding that higher scoring psychopaths make fewer utilitarian decisions is the study setting. Despite the study data being used solely for academic purposes, participants might feel a need to ‘’fake good’’ to nonetheless avoid any negative evaluations that might affect their sentence. Furthermore, the inability to detect any mediative effects might be due to the current studies limited sample size. This made it unfeasible for analyses to differentiate the variables psychopathy and moral reasoning into potentially meaningful subcategories. Future studies should examine how these subcategories relate to moral decision-making. Additionally, it is recommended to make further efforts to minimize the perceived need to fake good, to further investigate the counterintuitive finding that higher scoring psychopaths display more harm-avoiding moral reasoning than lower scoring psychopaths.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
open access
2017-02-22T00:00:00Z
The narrative of superhero stories is key to understanding why superhero movies became so popular after 9/11. What qualifications do you need to become a superhero and what are key elements for...Show moreThe narrative of superhero stories is key to understanding why superhero movies became so popular after 9/11. What qualifications do you need to become a superhero and what are key elements for their stories. This model of the superhero narrative, eventhough it applies to all superheroes, leaves room for diversity amongst them. Batman and Spider-Man, both without a doubt famous superheroes, could be seen as opposites in terms of their completion of the superhero narrative. Especially the way in which they portray the multiple identities of the superhero and the alter ego. The moral dilemmas arising from the plural identity complex make superhero movies interesting in times of social and political turmoil.Show less
This Thesis is a defense for Compulsory Voting. I the light of reasonable pluralism, societies need a moral compromise. In order to faccilitate the forming of a moral compromise widespread...Show moreThis Thesis is a defense for Compulsory Voting. I the light of reasonable pluralism, societies need a moral compromise. In order to faccilitate the forming of a moral compromise widespread political participation is necessary. Compulsory voting faccilitates participation and is thus justifiable.Show less
