Stephanie Mullins-Sweatt and her collaborators tried a different tack. They surveyed hundreds of members of the American Psychological Association's Division 41 (psychology and law), criminal attorneys and professors of clinical psychology about whether they'd ever known personally an individual who was successful in their endeavours and who also matched Hare's definition of a psychopath: 'social predators who charm, manipulate and ruthlessly plow their way through life ... completely lacking in conscience and feeling for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret.'
Of the 118 APA members, 31 attorneys and 58 psychology professors who replied, 81, 25 and 41, respectively, said they'd previously known a successful psycho. The examples given were predominantly male and included current or former students, colleagues, clients, and friends (sample descriptions here). The survey respondents were asked to rate the personality of the successful psychopath they'd known and to complete a psychopathy measure of that person. These ratings were then compared with the typical profile for a standard (unsuccessful) psychopath.
The key difference between successful and standard psychopaths seemed to be in conscientiousness. Providing some rare, concrete support for the 'successful psychopath' concept, the individuals described by the survey respondents were the same as prototypical psychopaths in all regards except they lacked the irresponsibility, impulsivity and negligence and instead scored highly on competence, order, achievement striving and self-discipline.
'The current study used informant descriptions to provide information about successful psychopaths,' the researchers concluded. 'Such persons have been described in papers and texts on psychopathy but only anecdotally. This was the first study to conduct a systematic, quantitative analysis of such persons.'
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Mullins-Sweatt, S., Glover, N., Derefinko, K., Miller, J., & Widiger, T. (2010). The search for the successful psychopath. Journal of Research in Personality, 44 (4), 554-558 DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2010.05.010
Apparently some of them knew Dick Cheney.
ReplyDeleteThis is still bunkum research.
ReplyDeleteAsking people if they remember meeting someone who matched a certain profile falls foul of the confirmation tendency cognitive bias.
The descriptions could easily have been instead titled 'people I am jealous of, bear a grudge against and who are more successful than me.'
It's still lightyears away from a clinical interview, case study or anything which actually involved these psychopaths themselves.
There's absolutely no way in the world that this category can be said to be viable until someone actually gets a hold of one of these individuals, or better still, their diary.
Dr., you should know that diaries in and of themselves present cognitive bias!
ReplyDeleteWell, a snake in the grass by any other name would slither yet. Successful psychopaths or sub-criminal sociopaths or whatever they're called, we've all known a few at least; they exist. Their very art itself makes qualifying them by objective means a difficult task.
ReplyDeleteIronic that criminal attorneys should be enlisted to ferret out those who make up a large proportion of their own profession.
ReplyDeleteShe's about 20 years behind. Check out :
ReplyDeleteTHE COGNITIVE-DEVELOPMENTAL STATUS OF THE ADULT MALE ANTI-SOCIAL PERSONALITY: AN ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT (SOCIOPATHY, CRIMINALS, PSYCHOPATHOLOGY, LEARNING)
by ANSEVICS, NANCY LEAH Educat.D., University of South Dakota, 1986, 167 pages; AAT 8616583
This publication found the same thing and more through serendipity.
How does the research differentiate Psychopaths from Narcissists- or do they subsume both under Psychopathy?
ReplyDeleteHow does the research seperate out other forms of bias such as projection?
She just needs to sleep with a ridiculously successful one for five years and she'll stop questioning the obvious. They do exist and they are the most fascinating beings on earth. They bend and mould the system precisely to their liking. They will take without remorse, carve their own path and rejoice in their successes with... yes... successful friends like themselves. I have been there, got the T-shirt, and know more than I ever wanted to know.
ReplyDeleteThe world could not exist and function without people who think instead of emote. Get over yourselves.
ReplyDeleteThe successful predator recognizes emotion, recognizes the emotional baggage tied to "right" or "wrong." A succesful psychopath recognizes a conscience. And a succesful psychopath chooses to ignore it. Compassion is a normal persons greatest weakness. Emotions cause nothing but mistakes.
ReplyDeleteYes, they do exist and are likely more prevalent than their criminal cousins. Once acquainted with the criminal variety, it is not difficult to recognize them. i.e., by patently false vocal quality, and pathological lies -- such as a dentist, practicing successfully for 30 years, who repeatedly tells patients that they need invasive (and expensive) procedures on teeth which are in reality perfectly sound. Most patients either suspect nothing, or are vaguely uncomfortable and leave without really knowing the full extent of what is wrong. Someone educated in the field of psychopath understands what he/she is up against.
ReplyDelete