Not all psychopaths are criminal
Experts have recognised for some time that not all psychopaths are violent criminals. Many of them live inconspicuously amongst us (see item 4 here). But according to Mehmet Mahmut and his colleagues, these more benign psychopaths have been relatively uninvestigated. It's not even clear how comparable they are to their more notorious counterparts.
One hundred university students completed a self-report measure of psychopathy that probed four key areas - lack of empathy, grandiosity, impulsivity and delinquency. The top 33 per cent and bottom 33 per cent of scorers subsequently formed high and low psychopathy groups. The low and high psychopathy groups then completed the kinds of neuropsychological tests that have often been used on research with criminal psychopaths.
The high psychopathy students, as well as recording low empathy on the self-report test, also scored poorly on the Iowa Card Gambling task (relative to the low psychopathy students), reflecting the same kind of performance seen in criminal psychopaths. This gambling task is thought to measure functioning in a specific frontal region of the brain called orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), which is known to be involved in emotion and decision-making.
Yet despite this deficit, the high psychopathy students showed normal executive function and IQ, just as most criminal psychopaths do. The researchers said their findings show that criminal and non-criminal psychopaths share the same neuropsychological profile.
So what is it that makes criminal psychopaths get into trouble, while non-criminal psychopaths do not? The researchers speculated that criminal psychopaths may be steered towards criminality by their backgrounds, in particular a lack of early parental supervision, deprivation and having a convicted parent.
"An increased research focus as to the nature of psychopathy across non-criminal and criminal populations is important in that it may reveal factors protecting non-criminal psychopaths from becoming criminal psychopaths and hence reduce the emotional and financial havoc they can wreak" the researchers concluded.
Link to related Digest item on psychopaths.
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MAHMUT, M., HOMEWOOD, J., STEVENSON, R. (2008). The characteristics of non-criminals with high psychopathy traits: Are they similar to criminal psychopaths?. Journal of Research in Personality, 42(3), 679-692. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2007.09.002
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9 comments:
May I suggest _People of the Lie_ by M. Scott Peck? He explored the concepts of everyday evil committed by law abiding citizens many years ago. For me, it provided the parameters with which I could express my gut discomfort with certain people I've known. Reading this book will change you; you'll never be the same again.
Anyone who has spent time around corporate management has seen a whole zoo of psychopaths.
I wonder about the sweeping conclusions drawn about psychopaths vs. nonpsychopaths. Is a psychopath, especially a non-criminal one, by nature unreformable and always a psychopath? Is it possible that psychopaths have flashes of conscience? I ask because the current wave of latchkey kids/Internet addicts might well be considered psychopathic by some standards.
It seems to me you are still using 'psycopath' as innately derogatory. Perhaps this research shows lower levels of empathy can be part of normal human diversity and not lead to cruelty--therefore not need to be cured.
Could it just mean they haven't been caught committing a crime yet?
Could it be that emotions are not necessary for ethical/socially acceptable conduct? I bet many ethicists would say so.
No, psychopaths don't have any conscience. They couldn't tell the expression of fear or sad, which make them not consider the bad consequence of their behavior. They fail to associate the cues which signals the later punishment, therefore can't follow the rules or law. However, we must consider the large population with psychopathic-like characteristics but do not break the law, such as the college students with high psychopathy score. The researchers' mission is to find out what protect these at-risk individuals from becoming a criminal.
Having been in a relationship with a psychopath for 3 years, just because they are not "caught" breaking the law, doesn't mean they don't.
The disturbing fact, is that some get away with destroying life after life, not by killing them, but by systematic control, manipulation, mind games, mental cruelty, emotional abuse, threats to kill and actual bodily harm. Once they have rendered someone of no more use because they have rendered the victim exhausted, emotionally wrecked, etc , etc (the hurt is endless), they move on to the next . . . . . . . Believe me, it is soul destroying and you cannot even imagine what really goes on, I hope you never do. x
I don't even know how to put into words the destruction of your inner self when you become involved & in a relationship with this type of person.You can be in the relationship and know theres something not right with this person,the way he thinks,acts conducts himself,even tell him,he is NOT wired properly,that something is just not right with him,but him being so much of a con a manipulator he agrees or gives really good believable reason to his way of thinking.They can lie without thinking and can make u believe something that u know is not true,have a way of making u dis-trust ur close friends and family.They can be the sweetest most attentive ppl,feeling ur needs and wants and come across as the best thing to walk into ur life,they can keep this up for yrs if need be,but I guess its in them just waiting to come out.I have been in a relationship the last 16yrs with one(not now) but I didnt even know it,knew there was something wrong with him,that he wasnt wired "upstairs"properly" knew he had lack of epathy and felt he didnt have a conscience,he was never physical towards me nor did he call me down or make me feel worthless(2wards end he did).The 1st few yrs he was the best 2me,but treated others in a ruthless way then things started going down hill and I couldnt understand where this nice sweet attentive guy went,couldnt understand or get a grasp on it,the next 13yrs were spent with ups and downs,break ups,getting bk together and in these periods I'd see that sweet attentive guy who loved me to death and couldnt do enough to prove it or show it,but then when he had a feeling I was doing something I shdnt be ,the crazy guy came bk,I told him not to believe everything he thought,but have now come to realize,this was all an act he didnt think I was doing anything wrong,knew I wasnt,but this was his way to justify something he was up to that he shouldnt be.Told me once if I didnt go bk with him,he'd walk out on our kids,told him that wd destroy them & he said well thats on u,I said nope u can't blame me for ur actions,he said if u don't go bk with me,then its ur actions causing harm to them,I didnt go bk then and he basically walked out on them for 14months,the whole while still trying to control and sabotage my life.He was jealous of my friends,job anything I had that made me happy he tried to destroy,even pics,clothes,furniture.I had no privacy he broke into everything I had,went thru my place with a fine tooth comb when I wasnt even there,took away every piece of privacy I as a human being is entitled to,but what bothered me most was he justified his every action,he truly believed he was doing nothing wrong,showed no re morse and when he did apologize,he'd only turn around and do the exact same thing again,he just never "GOT IT" and when I thought he did,he'd do something again to make me see he didnt....No matter what went wrong in his life,he'd find a way to make me think 75%of it was my fault,never took responsibity for his own actions(always told him this) he wd lie to me effortlessly to friends about me,,try making me look like the liar,gd thing my friends know who I truly am and knew he had a tendency to lie,but I'm sure he put doubt in some of their heads...He would use stuff I told him about to try and hurt me and ppl I love,even if it was 10yrs ago I told him,he wouldnt/couldnt let the past die,never forgot ANYTHING I've ever said to him!!Everytime we broke up he became soo vindictive I cdnt rap my brain around how he cd do this to me,he would interfere in shameless ways to end every relationship I started,but I always felt sorry for him and partly fearful of what he'd do to me if I didnt,b/c he'd shown in past to be ruthless,crazylike,well I took him bk,thought he truly loved me and just went crazy b/c I wasnt giving him enough love/attention and he would tell that was y 2...I knew I didnt want 2b with him,knew I wasnt in love with him,but he always made me feel guilty for not loving him properly,he cd profess his undying love to me one day and of had done the sweetest thing,bt the next day he cd be with some other girl professing his love to her and pretending he hated me and ignoring me,always told him he had a switch he shut on/off with his feelings and this wasnt how "normal"ppl operated/felt...I cd go on forever on this b/c I'm just finding out 4sure what his problem is,always knew he had one but never researched it,I guess b/c I seen too much of the perfect guy in the 1st yrs that I mighta helped drive him to where he was in his thinking,I cdnt grasp why I a smart,intelligent honest person kept half believing all his lies,felt like he always was manipulating me,so I typed up manipulate on Google,brought me to the Emotional Manipulator,then to Psychopaths and also to Borderline Personality disorders and I was like OMG THATS HIM!!!! he displays 99% of these traits we argued about these traits,it really wasnt me,he really is wired differently then the majority of the population,I am NOT crazy,but I am glad to be free,even tho I miss him to some degree I now know I did everything I cd,but it was never enough for him.He's in another relationship just like that,claiming to love her and wants to marry her,only been with her a month(did the same to me)Its just mind blowing to see all of his actions,words laid out like that on articles about Emotional Manipulators/psychopaths and ppl with borderline personality disorders,its just Nuts and very relieving at the same time,glad I'm out,hope he stays with her b/c if not he'll be bk to make my life miserable and thats what scares me,is he will never leave me alone,I believe if he breaks up with her in 5yrs he'll be bk at me,but maybe not maybe he'll suck her in the next few yrs b4 he shows his true self and Iall that'll take is for her to do one thing that he portrays as betrayal,then she's in for the rollercoaster ride with the monster from hell..I tried to warn her,but I came off looking like the crazy one,he even started off there relationship with a one month lie,telling her he wasnt with me and he didnt love me,while the whole time telling me how much he loved me and wd forever and wd do anything to prove it,she forgave him for the lies(her 1st mistake) now he knows he's already gotten her somewhat attached to him..Let the Games begin...now I get to leave in peace
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