Hypersexuality in college students: The role of psychopathy

Psychopathy is a maladaptive personality style that is marked by hypersexual activity that may put the individual or others at risk for unintended consequences such as pregnancy, STDs, pain, and emotional distress. The current study examined associations between psychopathic personality traits and normative sexual risk taking behaviors. In a sample of undergraduate students (n=393), we examined psychopathy, with an emphasis on the two facets of Fearless-Dominance and Impulsive-Antisociality, and various aspects of hypersexuality (e.g., sexual sensation seeking, compulsivity, excitation, and disinhibition), including risky sexual behavior. Both psychopathy facets, particularly Impulsive-Antisociality, were distinctly associated with all forms of hypersexuality. An interaction effect for the two psychopathy facets was found for predicting risky sexual behavior, indicating that scoring high on both facets was a stronger predictor of hypersexuality than scoring high on either facet in isolation. The psychopathy effects were present even when controlling for general sensation seeking, impulsivity, and antisociality.