Data from: The strategy of psychopathy: primary psychopathic traits predict defection on low-value relationships

Recent evidence suggests that psychopathy is a trait continuum. This has unappreciated implications for understanding the selective advantage of psychopathic traits. Whereas clinical psychopathy is typically construed as a strategy of unconditional defection, subclinical psychopathy may promote strategic conditional defection, broadening the adaptive niche of psychopathy within human societies. To test this, we focus on a ubiquitous real-life source of conditional behaviour: the expected relational value of social partners, both in terms of their quality and the likely quantity of future interactions with them. We allow for conversational interaction among participants prior to their playing an unannounced, one-shot prisoner’s dilemma game, which fosters naturalistic interpersonal evaluation and conditional behavior, while controlling punishment and reputation effects. Individuals scoring higher on Factor 1 (callous affect, interpersonal manipulation) of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale show two forms of conditional defection: one after being interrupted more frequently during the conversation, the other after failing to discover cues to future meetings with an interlocutor. Both interaction effects support the hypothesis that primary subclinical psychopathy potentiates defection on those with low expected relational value. These data clarify the function and form of psychopathic traits, while highlighting adaptive variation in human social strategies.最新研究证据表明，精神病态（psychopathy）是一种特质连续体。这一发现对于阐释精神病态特质的选择优势具有未被充分认知的重要启示。临床精神病态通常被解读为无条件背叛的策略，而亚临床精神病态则可能促成策略性的有条件背叛，进而拓宽了精神病态在人类社会中的适应性生态位。为验证这一假说，本研究聚焦于现实生活中无处不在的有条件行为来源：社交伙伴的预期关系价值，这一价值同时取决于其自身质量，以及与该伙伴未来互动的潜在频次。我们允许被试在参与未提前告知的单次囚徒困境博弈之前开展对话互动，该设计既能营造自然的人际评估与有条件行为场景，同时可控制惩罚与声誉效应的干扰。在利文森自我报告精神病态量表（Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale）第一因子（冷酷情感、人际操纵）上得分更高的个体，表现出两种形式的有条件背叛：一种是在对话中被更频繁打断后，另一种则是在未能察觉与对话者未来会面的线索时。这两种交互效应均支持如下假说：原发性亚临床精神病态会强化个体对预期关系价值较低对象的背叛行为。本研究数据不仅阐明了精神病态特质的功能与表现形式，同时也凸显了人类社会策略中的适应性变异。