Rethinking Psychopathy: A More Nuanced Understanding Emerges

When asked to picture a psychopath, many people envision a remorseless, violent criminal someone willing to do anything to get their way. This image, shaped by decades of movies and media portrayals, reflects only the most extreme cases of psychopathy.

But that’s not the full picture, says Keanan Joyner, assistant professor of psychology at UC Berkeley. According to Joyner, psychopathy can present in far less obvious ways. He leads the Clinical Research on Externalizing and Addiction Mechanisms Laboratory, where he and his team explore the risk factors for addiction and why substance misuse often overlaps with mental health disorders including psychopathy.

A major reason many individuals with psychopathy go unnoticed, he explains, lies in how the disorder is currently assessed.

In a June 2024 study published in Psychological Assessment, Joyner and his colleagues argue that there's a more accurate way to identify psychopathy one of several personality disorders that impose significant costs on society. In fact, psychopathy is estimated to cost the U.S. criminal justice system more than $460 billion annually.

“The better we understand these disorders, the earlier we can intervene and reduce their impact,” says Joyner.

Currently, clinicians use a 20-item psychopathy checklist, developed in the 1970s by Canadian psychologist Robert Hare. It evaluates traits like superficial charm and pathological lying, and is used to specify antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) rather than diagnose psychopathy on its own. According to the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), a person must show evidence of conduct disorder such as fire-setting or animal cruelty before age 15 to qualify for an ASPD diagnosis.

However, Joyner points out that many individuals with psychopathic traits don’t meet these specific criteria and therefore fall through the cracks.

What’s missing from the current system is a critical personality trait that Joyner and his team believe is central to psychopathy but often overlooked. This trait forms the foundation of a new diagnostic approach the researchers propose.

A New Approach to Measuring Psychopathy

To better capture the core dimensions of psychopathy, Joyner’s team turned to the Elemental Psychopathy Assessment (EPA) a 178-question tool grounded in the five-factor model of personality. Unlike the traditional checklist, the EPA offers a more detailed picture of psychopathic traits.

Rather than relying on the DSM, this model uses the triarchic framework, which identifies three fundamental traits at the heart of psychopathy:

Disinhibition (impulsivity and poor self-control)

Callousness (a lack of empathy or emotional depth)

Boldness (fearlessness and social dominance)

Joyner believes this framework allows for a broader, more accurate understanding of psychopathy one that could improve early detection and ultimately reduce the disorder’s harmful effects on individuals and society alike.

Source: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/psychopathic-personality-measured-1970s-checklist-uc-berkeley-psychologist-says-its-time