Abstract
There is accumulating evidence that certain XYY males are more prone to sociopatic behavior than are XY males, and that the extra Y chromosome may be causally related to this behavior. Eleven studies were surveyed which the percentage of XYY were identified among selected male populations in prisons and mental hospitals. The men were selected for height (over 59 in.), having dangerous or violent propensities, or for being mentally subnormal. These percentages were contrasted with the findings of XYY males in several surveys of newborn populations. There was found a strikingly higher incidence (1.8 to 12.0 percent) of XYY males in institutions than in the general populations as determined from newborn surveys (0.14 to 0.38 percent). It could appear that only a small fraction of the total numbers of XYY males known to exist in the population are institutionalized sociopaths. The XYY sociopaths represent a numerically small subdivision of the large group of mostly normal XYY individuals (there is some indication that a nosologic classification is developing, since XYY males with abnormal genitalia appear to represent a discrete subgroup.). The implications of these data are obvious in the counselling of parents of XYY children. It is especially important that the physician allay the fears created in parents by the numerous popular articles linking the XYY karytotype to criminality through a careful presentation of the data thus far at hand.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gardner, L., Neu, R. Evidence linking an extra Y chromosome to sociopathic behavior. Pediatr Res 5, 422 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197108000-00214
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197108000-00214