Psychopathic traits and relationship satisfaction in intimate partners: a dyadic approach

Martijn, FM, Cahill, L ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7897-0862, Decuyper, M and Uzieblo, K, 2025. Psychopathic traits and relationship satisfaction in intimate partners: a dyadic approach. Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy. ISSN 1533-2691

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Abstract

Maladaptive personality traits, including psychopathic traits, are inherently associated with interpersonal deficits and can undermine relationship quality. This study examined self‑ and partner‑reported psychopathic traits (Interpersonal Manipulation, Callous Affect, Erratic Lifestyle, Antisocial Tendencies) and relationship satisfaction in 85 male‑female couple dyads using Actor‑Partner Interdependence Modeling. Higher psychopathic traits were related to lower relationship satisfaction; most consistently, perceiving one’s partner as more psychopathic was related to lower actor‑effect relationship satisfaction, while higher self‑rated Interpersonal Manipulation and partner‑rated Callous Affect were related to lower partner‑effect relationship satisfaction. Findings highlight complex associations between psychopathic traits and relationships, underscoring the importance of partner perceptions.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy
Creators:	Martijn, F.M., Cahill, L., Decuyper, M. and Uzieblo, K.
Publisher:	Informa UK Limited
Date:	13 September 2025
ISSN:	1533-2691
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1080/15332691.2025.2557249 DOI 2515914 Other
Rights:	© 2025 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	17 Oct 2025 10:20
Last Modified:	17 Oct 2025 10:20
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/54591

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