What Allows Some Psychopaths to Be Successful?
When describing certain psychopathic individuals as “successful” versus “unsuccessful,” the researchers are referring to life trajectories or outcomes.
A “successful” psychopath, for example, might be a CEO or lawyer high in psychopathic traits, whereas an “unsuccessful” psychopath might have those same traits but is incarcerated.
The study tests a compensatory model of “successful” psychopathy, which theorizes that relatively “successful” psychopathic individuals develop greater conscientious traits that serve to inhibit their heightened antisocial impulses.Our findings support a novel model of psychopathy that we propose, which runs contradictory to the other existing models of psychopathy in that it focuses more on the strengths or ‘surpluses’ associated with psychopathy rather than just deficits.Psychopathy is not a personality trait simply composed of deficits — there are many forms that it can take.