“Successful” Psychopaths Learn To Control Their Antisocial Impulses

By Emma Young You’ll be familiar with the concept of the “successful psychopath”. Like regular psychopaths, such people are callous and manipulative, self-seeking, and free from guilt — but rather than ending up behind bars, they are able to flourish in their careers. However, though the concept of the successful psychopath is popular, it’s also contentious. That’s because there’s been a lack of data to substantiate it, or to explain it. But now, ten years after an initial study hinted that levels of the personality trait of conscientiousness might be important for understanding the path to “successful” vs criminal psychopathy, a new study, published in Personality Disorders: Theory, Research and Treatment, provides more robust support for that idea. The work published back in 2010 started with a survey of psychology and law specialists, criminal attorneys and professors of clinical psychology in the US. These people were asked if they’d ever known someone who matched Robert Hare’s definition of a psychopath, but who was successful in life. If so, they were asked to provide personality and psychopathy assessments for them. One key difference between successful and standard psychopaths emerged: successful psychopaths were reported as having higher levels of conscientiousness. Rather than being impulsive and irresponsible, they seemed to be more self-disciplined and driven to achieve. This conclusion was based solely on reports of peo...
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Personality Psychopathy Source Type: blogs