Psychopathic Personality Traits and the Successful Criminal
| Published date | 01 November 2018 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0306624X18787304 |
| Date | 01 November 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
research-article2018
Article
International Journal of
Offender Therapy and
Psychopathic Personality
Comparative Criminology
2018, Vol. 62(15) 4834 –4853
Traits and the Successful
© The Author(s) 2018
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Criminal
https://doi.org/10.1177/0306624X18787304
DOI: 10.1177/0306624X18787304
journals.sagepub.com/home/ijo
Cashen M. Boccio1 and Kevin M. Beaver2,3
Abstract
A significant body of literature links psychopathy and psychopathic personality traits
with criminal behavior and involvement with the criminal justice system. However,
very little research has examined whether psychopathic personality traits are related
to being a successful criminal (e.g., evading detection). This study addresses this gap
in the literature by examining whether psychopathic personality traits are associated
with the likelihood of being processed by the criminal justice system (i.e., arrest). Our
findings reveal that psychopathic personality traits are generally not associated with
criminal success. Specifically, individuals with high levels of psychopathic personality
traits commit more crimes and report more arrests, but they do not seem to have an
advantage when it comes to avoiding arrest for the crimes they commit. We discuss
the implications of these findings for the psychopathy literature.
Keywords
arrest, psychopathy, criminal behavior, detection, criminal success
Psychopathy is one of the most studied personality traits in relation to criminal and
violent behavior and, as a result, there has been a significant knowledge base of
research created on this topic. The findings that have been generated from studies
examining the psychopathy–antisocial behavior link have shown that, among other
things, persons who are characterized as being psychopaths or who score high on
measures of psychopathic personality traits are significantly more likely to engage
1The University of Texas at San Antonio, USA
2Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA
3King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Corresponding Author:
Cashen M. Boccio, San Antonio, TX 78207, USA.
Email: c.boccic@gmail.com
Boccio and Beaver
4835
in violence and aggression and to be arrested for criminal involvement (Beaver,
Boutwell, Barnes, Vaughn, & DeLisi, 2017; DeLisi, 2009; Hare, 1993, 1996;
Vaughn & DeLisi, 2008). Other studies have shown that psychopaths are less likely
to show empathy toward their victims (Babiak & Hare, 2006; Blair, 2007; Blair,
Colledge, Murray, & Mitchell, 2001; Hare, 1993; Jones, Happé, Gilbert, Burnett, &
Viding 2010) and are less likely to benefit by completing a rehabilitation program
(Gretton, McBride, Hare, O’Shaughnessy, & Kumka, 2001; Hare, 1996). Despite
the tremendous amount of research that has examined psychopathy and crime, there
remains much to be learned about this association.
Perhaps one of the more glaring gaps in the literature—and one that has direct
application from a public safety standpoint—has to do with whether psychopathy is
related to being a successful criminal—that is, to engage in criminal activity, but to
avoid detection and apprehension by the criminal justice system. This is somewhat
surprising because (a) psychopathy is strongly related to crime and (b) there is a
general belief—perhaps a mythical one—that psychopaths are cunning, clever, and
conniving and thus are able to avoid detection, even after many years of engaging
in acts of serious, violent criminal behavior (DeLisi, Vaughn, Beaver, & Wright,
2010). To date, there has been virtually no research bearing directly on the possibil-
ity that psychopaths are able to avoid detection at a rate that is better than the aver-
age criminal. There is, however, at least two lines of research that hint at the very
real possibility that psychopaths may be much better at evading detection than
nonpsychopathic criminals.
First, while there has been a dearth of research examining psychopathy and
being a successful criminal, there has been a body of research examining what has
been termed, the “successful psychopath.” This line of research has examined
whether psychopathy might be associated with successful life outcomes and, if so,
under what conditions. The findings from these studies have been decidedly mixed.
For instance, some studies have shown that psychopathic personality traits may
confer a benefit when it comes to some professions, particularly those that might
require cutthroat business decisions, a lack of empathy, superficial charm, and
other traits that are often manifested in psychopaths (Babiak, Neumann, & Hare,
2010; Boddy, Ladyshewsky, & Galvin, 2010; Howe, Falkenbach, & Massey, 2014;
Lykken, 1995). That is part of the reason perhaps that psychopaths have been shown
to be successful businessmen (Babiak & Hare, 2006) and why some of the top rated
American Presidents are also ranked as scoring among the highest on psychopathic
personality traits (Lilienfeld, Waldman, et al., 2012).
While these studies provide some evidence that psychopathy might actually be ben-
eficial with some types of jobs, for the most part, the majority of individuals scoring
high on psychopathic personality traits do not achieve much success (Andersen,
Sestoft, Lillebæk, Mortensen, & Kramp, 1999; Harpur, Hare, & Hakstian, 1989;
Ullrich, Farrington, & Coid, 2008). The question, thus, is what separates successful
psychopaths from unsuccessful psychopaths. While there is not a lot of research on
this topic, there is some research showing that psychopathy only leads to positive,
noncriminal outcomes among persons who have normal or enhanced neurobiological
functioning (Gao & Raine, 2010).1 For instance, a review by Gao and Raine (2010)
4836
International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology 62(15)
examining psychopaths in five separate contexts (i.e., community sample, college stu-
dents, employment agencies, serial killers, and industrial psychopaths) revealed that
successful psychopaths tend to have normal-to-superior cognitive and executive func-
tioning. Unsuccessful psychopaths, in contrast, tend to exhibit neurobiological impair-
ments resulting in impaired executive functioning, reduced autonomic nervous system
activity, and more severe and extreme variations of antisocial and aggressive behavior.
In addition, one characteristic that may distinguish between psychopaths who achieve
success and those who are less successful is “fearless dominance” that has been linked
with occupational choice, persuasiveness, communication aptitude, and perceptions of
leadership ability (Lilienfeld, Waldman, et al., 2012; Lilienfeld, Watts, & Smith, 2015;
Patrick, Fowles, & Krueger, 2009). Fearless dominance involves a conception of bold-
ness that incorporates fearlessness, poise, interpersonal potency, and emotional resil-
ience (Lilienfeld et al., 2015). As a result, psychopaths with high levels of fearless
dominance may be able to achieve higher levels of success in business and the social
world than psychopaths lacking in these characteristics.2
Further complicating the relationship between psychopathy and success is that the
different components of psychopathy appear to have different associations with intel-
ligence, which is also highly correlated with occupational, financial, and interpersonal
success (DeLisi et al., 2010; Herrnstein & Murray, 1994). For instance, the interper-
sonal component of psychopathy has been linked with higher levels of intelligence
(Salekin, Neumann, Leistico, & Zalot, 2004; Vitacco, Neumann, & Jackson, 2005;
Vitacco, Neumann, & Wodushek, 2008), whereas the affective component of psychop-
athy appears to be inversely linked with intelligence (Salekin et al., 2004; Vitacco
et al., 2005). Therefore, some of the characteristics associated with the interpersonal
component of psychopathy (e.g., charming, deceitful, manipulative), along with intel-
ligence, may assist individuals with high levels of psychopathic personality traits in
achieving success both in the business world and perhaps in the criminal world.
Despite some findings linking psychopathy to success in some specific types of
employment positions, there is other research that has failed to find any evidence of
successful psychopaths. In one study, for instance, Ullrich and associates (2008)
examined whether psychopathic personality traits were associated with a range of
measures of life success, including social class, job satisfaction, and partner rela-
tionship quality. The results of the analysis did not reveal that these traits were
related to positive life outcomes and thus they concluded that their “findings cast
doubt on the existence of the successful psychopath” (p. 1162). So whether it is pos-
sible for psychopaths to achieve success consistently across a broad range of life
domains remains an open-empirical question.
The second reason to believe that psychopathy might be associated with being a suc-
cessful criminal is because of research revealing that psychopaths might be more adept
at identifying weak or vulnerable targets (Book, Costello, & Camilleri, 2013; Ritchie,
Blais, Forth, & Book, 2018; Wheeler, Book, & Costello, 2009). Indeed, there is some
evidence bearing on this possibility. To illustrate, there is some research indicating that
psychopaths are able to filter social cues around them to...
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