Psychopath
From BurnZero
Psychopathy is characterised by “antisocial, impulsive, manipulative, and callous behavior” and was long considered a mental disorder. Today, many of the defining features of psychopathy fall under the diagnostic criteria of Antisocial Personality Disorder in the DSM-5. Psychopathy has been primarily examined in the criminal justice system, and is a robust predictor of criminal behavior, recidivism, violent behavior, and sexual aggression[1]. These features can be quantified by various psychometric tests including:
- Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R)
- Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM)
- Elemental Psychopathy Assessment (EPA)
Cause
In neuroscience it is thought that psychopathy is related to a dysfunction in the amygdala[2][3][4]. This is a part of the brain which regulates emotions[5].
References
- ↑ Henning, J., Wygant, D., & Barnes, P. (2014). Mapping the Darkness and Finding the Light: DSM-5 and Assessment of the “Corporate Psychopath”. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 7(1), 144-148. doi:10.1111/iops.12123
- ↑ Weber, S., Habel, U., Amunts, K., & Schneider, F. (2008). Structural brain abnormalities in psychopaths a review. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 26(1), 7–28.
- ↑ Anderson, N. E., & Kiehl, K. A. (2012). The psychopath magnetized: Insights from brain imaging. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 16, 52–60.
- ↑ Blair, R. (2008). The amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex: Functional contributions and dysfunction in psychopathy. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 363(1503), 2557–2565.
- ↑ Fallon, J. (2013). The psychopath inside: A neuroscientist’s personal journey into the dark side of the brain. New York: Penguin.