Emotion Goal Anger’s Gendered Link to Psychopathy Across Social Contexts

Abstract

In a community sample, this study examined the relationship between psychopathic traits and the emotion goal anger across different contexts while considering the influence of gender on the relationship. The use of emotion goals enables a distinctive understanding of motivated emotion regulation, as it considers what emotions participants want to feel. Examining emotion goals in the context of psychopathy offers insights on motivated emotion regulation and on how individuals with psychopathic traits may pursue anger within social contexts. The emotion goal anger and its interaction with gender were regressed on the expanded Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (eLSRP) in general, fight and reconciliation contexts. These contexts were considered from a self-perspective, examining the individual’s emotion goal, as well as an other-perspectives that examined the participant’s selection of another person in said contexts. Contrary to the assumptions, the emotion goal anger did not predict psychopathic traits in most contexts, except other-fight, indicating a nuanced interplay of motivated emotion regulation and psychopathic traits. Additionally, interaction effects suggest a gendered relationship of emotion goal anger and psychopathic traits. These outcomes may have important implications for research on the negative emotionality of psychopathic people and associated gender effects.