Currently, my primary research interests include: (a) psychopathy and other externalizing disorders; (b) interpersonal factors in psychopathology and psychotherapy; and (c) cognitive factors in health anxiety. Much of my research on psychopathy has used Meehl’s taxometric method to examine whether psychopathy and related disorders (e.g., antisocial personality disorder, conduct disorder) exist along a continuum or are discrete, qualitatively distinct conditions. In other words, this research is interested in the question of whether there are “psychopaths” who are uniquely different from others or whether psychopathy is a dimensional construct. I am also interested in the behavioral correlates of psychopathic personality traits, such as the association between psychopathy and risky sexual behavior. My second line of research has involved applying David Kenny’s Social Relations Model to study interpersonal perception and processes in clinical areas such as individual and group psychotherapy. Finally, my research on health anxiety has focused on how dysfunctional beliefs and a ruminative cognitive style contribute to health anxiety.
