Table 2. Socio-demographic data of the participants.

	Known-Group Comparison		Simulation Design
	KGC_SM (n = 22)	KGC_Controls (n = 35)	SD_SM (n = 35)	SD_Controls (n = 36)
Age: mean±SD	36 ± 10	38 ± 8	44 ± 10	41 ± 11
Education level: n (%)
>  = High school	2 (9)	1 (3)	3 (9)	5 (14)
Middle school	14 (64)	30 (86)	20 (57)	23 (64)
Elementary school	6 (27)	4 (11)	12 (34)	8 (22)
Nationality: n (%)
Italy	10 (43)	20 (57)	29 (80)	15 (42)
Europe	4 (17)	1 (3)	3 (11)	7 (19)
Extra-Europe	8 (39)	14 (40)	3 (9)	14 (39)
Type of Crime: n (%)
Personal injuries	5 (23)	5 (14)	7 (20)	6 (17)
Drugs	10 (45)	18 (52)	22 (63)	13 (36)
Property Crimes*	7 (32)	12 (34)	6 (17)	17 (47)
Judicial status: n (%)
Condemned	2 (9)	1 (3)	3 (9)	5 (14)
Waiting for trial	20 (91)	34 (97)	32 (91)	31 (86)
Psychiatric disease: n (%)
OCD	3 (14)	1 (3)	–	–
Anxiety Disorders	12 (55)	27 (77)	–	–
Sleep Disorders	3 (14)	2 (6)	–	–
Adaptation Disorders**	3 (14)	3 (9)	–	–
Psychotic Disorder	1 (5)	2 (6)	–	–

Notes.

Differences between simulators and controls for both KGC and SD paradigms were tested by One-way ANOVA (Age) and Fisher’s Exact Test (the remaining data). Significance threshold was set at p < 0.05. Numbers in italics identify significant differences between the two groups within the same experimental design. Significant differences for Nationality and Type of Crime are present in the SD group only (see text for a discussion). All participants were fluent in Italian and fully understood the questions of the questionnaires. This ruled out the possibility of a significant bias due to cultural aspects (Correa, 2010).

OCD

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

*

fraud, theft, robbery

**

Adaptation Disorders include clinically significant emotional or behavioral symptoms that develop in response to one or more identifiable psychosocial stressors

KGC_SM

suspected malingerers

SD_SM

simulated malingerers