The Positives of Psychopathy

Psychopathy is a psychological construct that refers to callous and unemotional patterns of attitudes or behaviors. While much of the popular opinion on psychopathy is actually negative, there are some behaviors of psychopaths which are also seen positively. An evidence of the allure of psychopathy can be seen in the fact that Ted Bundy, the American serial killer who reportedly killed 30 women between 1974 and 1978, received fan mail during his incarceration.

But this article does not talk about why psychopathy is attractive. Rather, I argue that certain behaviors that are classically found in psychopaths can actually produce good outcomes and/or are valued by society in general.

Psychopathy can actually be a helpful trait in various contexts.

As evidence, there was a large survey of psychologists, attorneys, and professors. The researchers gave them a list of psychopathic features. Following this, they asked the volunteers to say if they knew someone in their field who had those traits and was either good at their job or bad at it. The findings were interesting because the people who took part did say that successful psychopaths can be found in all fields.

But before we go into some benefits of psychopathy, first, let’s answer a burning question.

Can a Psychopath be a Good Person?

It is complicated. Research increasingly suggests that psychopathy is heterogeneous, and that its behavioral expression can be influenced by personality, environment, culture, and social context. One particularly interesting possibility concerns what researchers describe as successful psychopathy. A literature review by Lin and Xie (2023) found that psychopathic characteristics may be expressed differently depending on the person’s circumstances and the factors surrounding them.

A person may possess some traits associated with psychopathy while nevertheless maintaining adaptive social behavior.

So, how is it complicated?

The Complicated Nature of Being a ‘Good Psychopath’

Some self-report studies found increased prosocial behavior under particular circumstances. One possible explanation is impression management. Because some individuals high in psychopathic traits are interpersonally charming and highly concerned with how they are perceived, they may engage in socially desirable or apparently altruistic behavior when doing so benefits their reputation or social position.

This is not exactly genuine altruism. Someone might help another person because they genuinely care about their wellbeing, while another person might help because it enhances their reputation, creates an advantage, or strengthens their position within a group. The outward behavior can therefore be identical even when the underlying motivation differs.

The social environment may also matter. The review suggests that psychopathic traits are associated with stronger in-group bias and out-group prejudice, meaning that prosocial behavior may be more readily directed toward people perceived as belonging to one’s own group. Conversely, certain forms of self-image – particularly which emphasizes social connectedness, responsibility, and group harmony – may encourage more socially adaptive behavior among individuals with psychopathic traits.

Culture can further influence how psychopathic traits are expressed. Norms surrounding interpersonal behaviour, conformity, responsibility, and social relationships may alter whether potentially maladaptive traits become visible in everyday behaviour.

Therefore, having psychopathic traits does not automatically make someone a “bad person.” Some individuals may display loyalty, cooperation, generosity, or other socially beneficial behaviours, particularly when their environment encourages these tendencies.

However, this should not be confused with evidence that psychopathy itself is a positive trait.

The more accurate conclusion is that psychopathy can be expressed in heterogeneous ways, and that personality traits do not completely determine a person’s behaviour or moral character.

High Charisma in Psychopathy

A study looked at the personalities, behaviors, and results of the lives of 315 people. They discovered a link between psychopathy and charm. They also discovered that these people were more likely to “work the system” in order to get ahead. People in general gravitate towards charismatic individuals. It can be through the way that they conduct themselves with others.

Charisma can elevate others’ perception of you. For example, another study showed that the superiors of ‘corporate psychopaths’ thought they were great at their jobs and should get awards. According to the higher-ups, these people were organizational stars.

Problems with Charisma

It is also important to consider that charisma is often used as a mask in psychopathy. The first study I quoted also indicated that many times, psychopathic people who were very charming were able to cheat on their partners, lie, abuse their work rights, or commit crimes without getting caught or punished. This was more common for psychopathic people who were less charismatic.

Moreover, studies also showed that these corporate stars bullied, scared, and forced those below them to do things that were not acceptable.

So, I would recommend you to separate the wheat (charisma) from the chaff (exploitation).

High Levels of Confidence in Psychopathy

People who are psychopaths are known for not being able to change their bad habits or stop responding to punishments. This is not exactly a desirable trait.

However, consider this persistence in the context of pursuing a tough goal. Whatever the world throws at you, you remain persistent. That’s not really bad at all!

Some scientists link psychopaths’ inability to change old habits to a “low fear IQ,” or a higher threshold for reacting to things that make you afraid. People who are less sensitive to dangerous cues tend to have a fearless personality as kids, which can grow into social confidence, daring behavior, and mental strength as teens and adults.

Problems with Very High Confidence

If we generalize this very low fear to one’s entire life – that’s when we get into the problematic waters. It could happen that in one’s high confidence level, they might perform tasks very wrongly. This would lead to eventual failures.

Moreover, if this is a recurring behavior, the individual might continue to fail again and again.

Having sais that, as long as the low fear is used in a few demanding situations, psychopathy could actually make a person confident in themselves.

Goal-directed Attitude in Psychopathy

The third ‘beneficial’ trait of psychopathy is goal-directed approach observed in many psychopaths (mostly of the primary subtype) Psychopaths have been proven to be less affected by conflicting information. It has been shown in task-based studies that they only attend to the prepotent goal-related information.

They do not seem to be affected by peripheral non-target information.

This means that psychopaths focus less on information that is not directly related to a goal they have if they are on to something. The pinpoint focus on the goal at hand is actually a great trait to have – as long as it can be controlled.

By focusing on the target and remaining fixated on it, one could ignore unnecessary anxiety-causing information. We already know that anxiety can be debilitating in itself. So, only attending to the goal might actually cause you much less distress.

Problems with High Levels of Target-directed Attitude

One can very easily overlook important conflicting information – much as is the case with too high confidence. In fact, pursuing a target single-mindedly could also mean that the individual neglects other responsibilities.

This could then cause major issues in domestic life. This tilt towards just one direction would mean that other important things would just be ignored completely.

High Self-Esteem in Psychopathy

Self-esteem is the psychological trait which signifies how we feel about ourselves. Primarily, of the four dark tetrad traits, the trait has mostly been relevant to narcissism. With respect to psychopathy, people who have psychopathic characteristics are said to have high self-esteem.

However, this can vary with the subtypes of psychopathy.

Researchers have found that there are two types of psychopathy: primary psychopathy and secondary psychopathy. These two types share antagonism, hostility, and rashness.

But the two are different in a way that has to do with their social habits called “withdrawal–sociability.”

Psychopaths who are of the primary type tend to be outgoing, dominating, confident, and low in anxiety. Secondary psychopaths, on the other hand, tend to be less social, have low self-esteem, be moody and nervous, and have more mental health problems.

Feeling good about oneself can lead to various desirable outcomes, even a decade onward!

Problems with Very High Self-Esteem

However, having too high a self-esteem could lead to a lack of insight – a problem with most psychopaths. This, conversely, has bad outcomes because out of very high self-esteem, the person might not take into account all the risks involved in setting unrealistic goals.

This could lead to major failures.

Conclusion

While psychopathy is considered to be a part of the dark tetrad of personality, it is a nuanced trait. There are factors of psychopathy which in many situations could actually be considered to benefit the environment and not just the psychopath’s self-interest. Perhaps that is the main reason why many psychopaths continue to build successful careers and lives. However, it is also very possible that such individuals have built up many adaptive behaviors to either mask or manage their psychopathy.

Whatever the case might be, there is definitely a lot to be learnt from even dark personality traits!