The psychological basis of threatening behaviour

The psychological make-up of persons who threaten to harm others is poorly understood despite psychologists in every clinical setting encountering this disturbing and aberrant conduct. Measures of personality and psychopathology, cognitive capacity, anger, adult attachment and attitudes were administered to 128 males who had uttered homicidal threats. Data quality was assessed with response style measures. A pattern of psychological dysfunction emerged among threateners with and without diagnosed mental disorders. This pattern was characterized as a suspicious interpersonal style, self-alienation and pessimism. Verbal skill deficits further complicated the clinical picture for many. Recommendations for addressing these problems in treatment are given with the goal of ameliorating clients reliance on threatening the people with whom they struggle to interact.