Dimensions of Psychopathy Among Incarcerated Individuals Convicted of Violent Offenses in Romania: The Role of Offense Type, Age, and Personality Traits

Psychopathy is a multidimensional construct consistently associated with antisocial and violent behavior; however, its affective-interpersonal and behavioral components may contribute differently to distinct forms of violent offending. The present study investigated variations in psychopathy dimensions according to the type of violent offense and age, as well as the predictive role of agreeableness and conscientiousness in a sample of incarcerated individuals convicted of violent crimes. The sample comprised 500 incarcerated individuals from six Romanian prisons (M age = 38.49 years, SD = 10.39), assessed using the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale–III (SRP-III), the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP), and the Agreeableness and Conscientiousness dimensions of the Big Five personality model. Data were analyzed using analyses of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation analyses, and hierarchical linear regression. The results revealed significant differences in psychopathy levels according to the type of violent offense (SRP-III: F(2, 484) = 12.13, p < .001, η² = .048), with higher psychopathy scores observed among individuals convicted of physical violence offenses. Psychopathy decreased significantly with age, particularly in its behavioral dimension. Agreeableness and conscientiousness emerged as significant negative predictors of psychopathy (β = −.179, p < .001, and β = −.175, p = .001, respectively), accounting for an additional 10% of the explained variance. These findings support a dimensional conceptualization of psychopathy and highlight the role of personality traits in the psychological profile of violent offenders. The results have important implications for violence risk assessment and the development of individualized intervention strategies within correctional settings, although the modest proportion of variance explained (13%) and the predominantly small effect sizes observed indicate that these findings should be considered preliminary rather than a basis for standalone clinical decision-making.