Fearless Dominance and Self-Centered Impulsivity Interact to Predict Predatory Aggression among Forensic Psychiatric Inpatients

Recent research has begun to investigate the relationship between the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R; Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005) and its primary subscales, Fearless Dominance (FD) and Self-Centered Impulsivity (SCI), and violent behavior. In this follow-up study, we examined the PPI-R subscales' prospective relationship with predatory, impulsive and psychosis-motivated aggression in an inpatient forensic psychiatric facility (N = 200). FD and SCI each modestly predicted predatory aggression, and SCI was also modestly associated with any form of aggression. Neither subscale predicted impulsive or psychotic aggression. The statistical interaction between FD and SCI significantly improved the prediction of predatory aggression beyond the individual subscales, indicating that those high on both constructs were particularly at risk to engage in such conduct. Moreover, this interactive effect continued to predict predatory aggression even after controlling for the predictive utility of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (Hare, 2003).