2.1 Participants
Analyses were based on a convenience sample of undergraduate students
recruited from criminology and criminal justice courses at a public
university in the Midwest. Measurements included a self-report survey
and physiological data. There were a total of 112 participants in the
laboratory protocol. Cases that did not provide complete data for the
psychopathic trait measures in the self-report survey were dropped from
the analytical sample (n = 14). Six additional cases were
excluded for either failure to complete the laboratory protocol, failure
to report age, or data recording error (e.g., failure to save file).
Finally, skin conductance exceeded the maximum measurable threshold
allowed by the recording software for three participants. This resulted
in an analytical sample of 92 participants for heart rate and 89
participants for skin conductance. Of the 92 subjects, 71 (77%)
identified as female and 21 (22%) identified as male. Subjects averaged
21.54 years (SD = 3.24) of age and their self-reported race/ethnicity
was 57.6% White, 23.9% Hispanic, 6.5% Black, 5.4% Asian or Pacific
Islander, 4.3% Multiracial, 1% as American Indian/Native American and
1% as Other.