Citation

Schwartz RL, Fremouw W, Schenk A, Ragatz LL. J. Interpers. Violence 2012; 27(5): 846-861.

Affiliation

West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0886260511423254

PMID

22007108

Abstract

This study had three purposes: to explore psychological characteristics of animal abusers (criminal thinking styles, empathy, and personality traits), to replicate previously reported results (past illegal actions, bullying behavior), and to examine potential gender differences. The self-reported animal abuser group was 29 college students who reported two or more incidents of animal abuse; controls were 29 college students matched on age and gender. Participants completed self-report measures of criminal thinking, illegal behaviors, bullying, empathy, and the five-factor personality traits. Results indicated animal abusers had more previous criminal behaviors, were more likely to bully, and had the highest scores on the power orientation criminal thinking scale. Abuser by gender interactions were detected; female animal abusers scored significantly higher on several measures of criminal thinking, were found to be more likely to bully, and exhibited lower scores on measures of perspective taking and empathy compared to female controls.

Language: en