Two Approaches to Parsing the Heterogeneity of Psychopathy

Abstract

Individuals identified as psychopathic using Hare's (1991) Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) are of interest to forensic psychologists because of the high risk that they will engage in antisocial behavior (Hart, 1998). Existing crime data suggest that the PCL-R is a measure with great clinical utility, but evidence concerning the etiology of the PCL-R psychopath is less consistent. We propose that one potential source of the inconsistent evidence is that psychopathy is a construct, like mental retardation, that is etiologically heterogeneous. We suggest that the development of effective clinical interventions will require psychologists to (a) question the assumption that psychopathy is an etiologically homogeneous entity, (b) identify etiologically distinct variants of psychopathy for study, and (c) specify etiological mechanisms that may suggest tangible treatment targets. We discuss two complementary strategies for identifying etiological variants of psychopathy: (a) using general personality theory to identify specific psychopathic traits for study and (b) isolating specific bio-psychological mechanisms that possess the potential to explain specific psychopathic syndromes.

Corporate Psychopaths, Bullying and Unfair Supervision in the Workplace

“…The amygdala has been described as the seat of emotion and is reported to be important in processing socially relevant information, and so it is theorized that disruption of its functions could lead to socially inappropriate behavior (Wernke and Huss, 2008). This abnormal brain connectivity and chemistry makes psychopaths extraordinarily cold, much more calculating and ruthless toward others than most people are and a menace to the companies they work for and to society (Brinkley et al, 2004;Viding, 2004). This reported coldness and ruthlessness toward other people led to the second hypothesis in the research, H2, that if Corporate Psychopaths are bullies then they will account for a much greater proportion of bullying than their small numbers would imply.…”

The Corporate Psychopaths Theory of the Global Financial Crisis

“…The area of the brain known as the amygdala has been described as the seat of emotion and fear and is reported to be important in processing socially relevant information and it is therefore theorized that disruption of its functions could lead to cold and socially inappropriate behaviour (Wernke and Huss, 2008). This abnormal brain connectivity and chemistry of psychopaths makes them extraordinarily cold, much more calculating and ruthless towards others than most people are and therefore a menace to the companies they work for and to society (Brinkley et al, 2004;Viding, 2004).…”

Adolescent Psychopathy and Personality Theory—the Interpersonal Circumplex: Expanding Evidence of a Nomological Net

“…Recently, Widiger and Lynam (1998) and their colleagues (e.g., Brinkley, Newman, Widiger, & Lynam, 2004;Lynam, Whiteside, & Jones, 1999;Miller, Lynam, Widiger, & Luekefeld, 2001;Widiger, 1998) have argued that psychopathy can be understood from the perspective of the Five-Factor Model of personality (FFM;McCrae & Costa, 1990). The model emphasizes five broad domains of personality: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness.…”