Psychopathic and antisocial, but not emotionally intelligent

Abstract

Psychopaths are characterized as skilled manipulators, yet they are also said to be deficient in recognizing others’ emotions. These two depictions suggest opposing predictions for the relation of ability-based emotional intelligence (EI) to psychopathy. The current study investigated EI, psychopathy, and antisocial behavior in a sample of 429 undergraduate students from three universities. Results indicated that, as expected, EI was negatively correlated with antisocial behavior, and psychopathy was highly positively correlated with antisocial behavior. Total EI was significantly negatively correlated with all psychopathy scales for both sexes. There were no positive correlations between any EI subscales and psychopathy in either sex, suggesting that psychopathy is not related to high ability in any aspect of EI.