A comparison of the manifestation of psychopathic traits between women with and without Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

One popular school of thought posits that the development of both psychopathicpersonality and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may be underpinned, at least in part, byin utero elevations of testosterone. Although there is a large body of literature delineatingthe relationship between increased testosterone and the presence of psychopathic traits,psychopathic traits in women with PCOS has not been previously explored. In the currentstudy, we compared self-reported psychopathic traits between 82 women with PCOS and 85women without PCOS. Results showed that women with and without PCOS did not differ onmeasures of interpersonal manipulation, callous affect, erratic lifestyle, or anti-socialbehaviour. Our findings offer opposing evidence to the proposed relationship betweentestosterone and psychopathy, and are interpreted in the context of measurementlimitations in PCOS as well as the absence of accurate indices of hormone levels. Results ofthis study will likely inform research into psychopathy in the general population and conveymeaningful knowledge and impact for patients living with, and practitioners working withPCOS. The data file and pre-print of this paper is available here:https://osf.io/54g9n/?view_only=be718f9a551d4a2fbb75a554e4108268