Personality and Psychopathy: Shared Behavioral and Biological Traits

Abstract

Evolutionary psychologists might regard the psychopathic personality as the preservation of an adaptive type in the evolutionary history of our species. The “selfish gene” (Dawkins, 1989) may characterize the narcissistic, egocentric psychopath. When the psychopath in the novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” (Kesey, 1964) is asked by a psychiatrist what he thinks the diagnosis of psychopathic personality means, he replies: “Fighting and fucking.” Aggressiveness and promiscuity are certainly traits which could be a biological advantage in the promulgation of one’s genes. Even today, however, small tribal groups regulate sexual and aggressive expressions, and individuals who transgress the mores of the particular group may be executed or expelled from the group, and this could amount to a death sentence in a hostile environment.KeywordsAntisocial BehaviorCorticotropin Release FactorAntisocial Personality DisorderSensation SeekShared EnvironmentThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.