Is psychopathy associated with deficits in bonding in an adult noninstitutionalized sample? The association between intimate social network size, attachment behavior, and psychopathy

The diminished capacity to form bonds is an attribute that has been widely ascribed to psychopathy, particularly the affective domain of the construct. The purpose of the current study was to investigate this hypothesis by examining the association between psychopathy, intimate social network size, and attachment bonds, using self-report measures in a large mixed Australian sample of university students and members of the general community. Our results indicated that psychopathy is associated with some deficits in bonding. Psychopathy was associated with fewer peer relationships and less attachment behavior toward familial relationships. The results also tended to differ across psychopathy factors. Higher scorers on the affective domain of psychopathy consistently displayed diminished attachment behavior with both peers and family. However, the effect sizes were generally small and raise some question as to the centrality of bonding deficits to psychopathy, at least in adult noninstitutionalized samples.