The Generalizability of the Construct of Psychopathy between UK and Korea

Abstract

Little is known about the influence of culture on the expression of psychopathic personality disorder. Understanding the influence of culture has both practical and theoretical importance in practice. Do our measures of psychopathy work in non-Western counties? Do the processes of enculturation and socialization affect how symptoms of the disorder displayed? Comparisons across distinct cultures using the same measures can inform both these practical and theoretical questions. Data from the psychopath checklist-revised (PCL-R; Hare, 2001) collected in South Korea and the United Kingdom were compared. As a result, PCL-R scores were not metrically equivalent across the two cultures. These differences may be linked to prevailing cultural differences between the two countries. In conclusion, scores on the PCL-R obtained in Korea are not directly comparable with UK. The critical cautions should be applied to the process of diagnosis and clinical decision-making.