1. AFFECTIVE LANGUAGE IN
ASPD SERIAL KILLER
LETTERS
A CASE STUDY OF TED BUNDY
Tina Leszkiewicz – Hofstra University
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2. The Research
The Problem:
◦ There is a large disconnect between psychological and linguistic research
The Question:
◦ How do emotional markers manifest themselves in the writings of a serial killer
diagnosed with ASPD?
3. Antisocial Personality Disorder
◦ THE DSM-V criteria for ASPD:
◦ Impairments in self-functioning
◦ A) Identity
Or
◦ B) Self– Direction
AND
◦ Impairments in interpersonal-functioning
◦ A) Empathy
Or
◦ B) Intimacy
Stance
Markers
4. Appraisal Analysis
J.R. Martin and P.R.R. White (2005)
The Focus:
• The System of Attitude
• Affect
• Judgment
• Appreciation
• Polarity
Stance: an emotional or intellectual attitude towards a particular person, object, or idea
6. Affect
The instances of affect:
• Portray Ted in a mostly
positive manner
• Demonstrate his feelings
without going into detail
“ I guess I just feel free to in a way I wasn’t before.”
“It’s also important that I feel inwardly moved to
write to a certain person.”
“I enjoyed your letter and enjoyed writing to you.”
7. Judgment
• LOTS of Judgment
• Mostly aimed towards
Diane/others (78.5%)
• Highly critical
• He provides justification
for all of his own actions
“In your letter you speculated…”
“And it may also be that people assume or have heard rumors…”
“Perhaps you were only being half serious on this one.”
“I’m not being critical, Diane. That’s just the way it is.”
8. Appreciation
• Is concentrated on the
importance of stamps
(or lack thereof)
• Does not display any
time of progressive
inclination towards
objects in general
“I don’t have the stamps.”
“…if I don’t have the stamps.”
“…the few stamps I have…”
“…your theories...”
“…I made little or no effort to write to
people like yourself…”
9. Polarity
• More than ¾ of the data found was negatively skewed
• Primarily found in the areas of judgment
• The only positivity he tended to display was towards himself.
• Positivity towards others was generally always followed by a negation
• Ex: “You’ve got a point here […] I agree with you [...] The main problem here isn’t so
much that ...”
10. The Connection
Antisocial Personality Disorder
◦ Impairments in self-functioning
◦ A) Identity
Or
◦ B)Self– Direction
AND
◦ Impairments in interpersonal-functioning
◦ A) Empathy
Or
◦ B) Intimacy
The Data
◦ Affect only says positive things about self
◦ Judgment critical of other’s behaviors
◦ Appreciation blunt expressions
◦ Polarity mostly negative (Towards others)
11. Conclusion
The Data reflects the psychological patterns listed for ASPD
Correlation does not equal causation
Future Research
Further research needs to be conducted on the link between
ASPD and emotional markers to determine if the findings
were a coincidence or a true correlation.
13. Affect
◦ ”...I just feel free to…” +
◦ “...I feel inwardly moved...” +
◦ “...I don’t always feel that way.” -
◦ “...I enjoyed your letter and enjoyed writing to you.” +
14. Judgment
◦ “…you say that you have...” -
◦ “...you speculated...” -
◦ “You’ve got a point here.” +
◦ “I made little or no effort...” -
◦ “People don’t send me stamps...” -
◦ ”I’m not being critical…” +
◦ “I can’t send people letters...” -
◦ “...people assume or have heard rumors...” -
◦ “...you proposed.” -
◦ “...you were being only half serious...” -
o “My wife doesn’t allow me to...” -
o “…if you knew my wife...” -
o “...you would understand immediately...” -
o ”I’ve already addressed this point...” -
o “...you assumed...” -
o “...I am lasy in a relaxed, controlled, and positive
way...” +
15. Appreciation
◦ “…your theories...” -
◦ “...the main problem...” -
◦ “…people like yourself...” -
◦ “...the real problem...” -
◦ “...I don’t have the stamps...” -
◦ “...they are by far the exception...” -
◦ “...the few stamps that I have...” -
◦ “...what can be considered an extra stamp or two...” +
◦ “...time available is limited...” -
◦ “...there are many people...” -
o “…too much of this stamp buisness...”
o ”Time is not a key factor...” +
o “...nor is lasyness...” +
