Adaptive Psychopaths: Empathy And Subclinical Expressions

Recent research by the American Psychology Association has shown that some socially adaptive psychopaths are even able to feel empathy. In other words, people who meet the characteristics of a psychopath and do not engage in criminal activity can express skills that adapt well to the rest of the population.

Therefore, we leave behind the controversy that the term “psychopath” continues to produce in a large number of psychologists, and focus on the coexistence of completely conflicting traits in these individuals. And the fact that research in the field of psychopathy is divided into two different fields in this area.

It is argued that psychopathy cannot, by default, include any adaptive features. At the same time, the other side argues that adaptive traits may be found to some extent in some individuals with psychopathic traits.

Based on these two perspectives, several tools have been developed to study psychopathic properties, and there are many differences between the results. Of all the research done, the most comprehensive is a study by Guillaume Durand called an  innovative perspective that explains how socially adapted psychopaths control their emotions.

Adaptive psychopaths: broadening and improving the definition

The researchers who participated in the above study, led by Guillaume Durand, performed a series of different psychological tests on a total of 529 participants. They used these tests to measure psychopathy, fear of pain, anxiety, and stress.

In their study, they took advantage of a test designed to look for two different types of psychopathy: dominance and impulsive antisociality. The first of these is related to courage and courage, while the latter is related to selfishness, blaming others, and impulsivity.

The researchers found that those people who scored high on a test measuring supremacy were generally less afraid of pain, anxiety, and stress. On the other hand, those who rose high on a scale measuring impulsive antisociality showed greater anxiety and stress.

Research results

Research suggests that the definition of psychopathy given by the media (any kind of mass murderer above morality) is quite far from the truth. While such people do exist, there are other people who meet the definition of a psychopath who have more adaptable than non-adaptive traits, which in turn makes them fully functioning individuals from a societal perspective.

The results of the study on the relationship of psychopathic traits to fear, stress, and anxiety can be very different depending on the model used (with or without adaptive traits). The diagnosis of psychopathic traits is often made using a test called the PCL-R, or Psychopathy Check List – Revised, developed from the PCL list developed by Canadian psychologist Robert D. Hare. However, this test focuses on poorly adaptable behaviors and traits.

The great importance of adaptive and non-adaptive properties in the study of psychopathy

The focus of this study was to investigate differences in outcomes in the field of psychopathy, where adaptive features of the questionnaire were negatively correlated with fear, anxiety, and stress, while completely opposite results were measured with poorly adaptive features.

To address this problem, Guillaume Durand created a questionnaire on adaptive psychopathic traits (Durand, 2017; Journal of Personality Evaluation) that evaluates exclusively adaptive psychopathic traits. The use of this tool by individuals perceived to be highly psychopathic allows researchers to clearly distinguish adaptive psychopathic individuals from non-socially adaptable psychopaths.

Adaptive psychopaths: what has been studied about their empathy?

Empathy, while serving altruism, is also a tool of the Machiavellian mind that needs good “knowledge” to evaluate and possibly take advantage of others.

Psychopathy can, in fact, serve the common good; for example, in high-performance situations such as lifeguards, health care workers, soldiers, and other occupations involving high-risk situations. In these situations, emotions can fade and make room for a cold and simplified calculation.

Mihailides, Galligan, and Bates (2017) call this “adaptive psychopathy,” which describes a “quarantine vector” within which empathic knowledge merges with useful psychopathic mental processes. A good example of this is dealing with threats that conflict with one’s own values ​​and beliefs.

Empathy comes in two different forms: cognitive and affective empathy. They are independent of each other, but they also tend to work together. Cognitive empathy is the ability to see things from someone else’s perspective. Affective empathy, in turn, is the ability to vibrate with other emotions. Cognitive empathy is stronger in the minds of people with narcissistic traits, whereas affective empathy seems to be on the weaker side.

Adaptive psychopaths: some of their traits serve society

Traits conveyed by adaptive psychopaths offer an evolutionary advantage. Otherwise, they would not be as common as they are.

People who take advantage of psychopathic thinking are sometimes at an advantage. They can be essential to the survival of a community, providing an unobstructed and more aggressive set of people who are able to concentrate and do their jobs. This is a very delicate balance.

Adaptive psychopaths have a better ability to understand the motivations of others. They need to help make decisions while maintaining the ability to choose when to participate and when not to participate. Together, groups made up of different individuals can provide control and counterbalance to maintain a dynamically adapted community.

Increased empathy and the gloomy traits of a psychopath can maintain a relationship of quality. In other words, the questionable traits of adaptive psychopaths are sometimes ignored because they show some degree of empathy. In this way, if they did not show it, they would not be welcomed into the community.