People with psychopathic traits are predisposed toward antisocial behavior that can result in “unsuccessful” outcomes such as incarceration.
However, many individuals with psychopathic traits are able to control their antisocial tendencies and avoid committing the antagonistic acts that can result.
A team of researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Kentucky set out to explore what mechanisms might explain why certain people with psychopathic traits are able to successfully control their ‘dark impulses’ while others are not.
The first study involved 80 adults in long-term relationships who were placed in an MRI scanner where researchers took a high-resolution scan of their brain.
Afterward, participants completed a battery of questionnaires, including one that measured the “dark triad” of personality traits, individually assessing psychopathy (e.g., “it’s true that I can be mean to others”), narcissism (e.g., “I like to get acquainted with important people”), and Machiavellianism (e.g., “it’s not wise to tell your secrets”).
The second looked at another “successful” population: undergraduate students.
The researchers recruited 64 undergraduate students who were assessed for psychopathic traits and tendencies using an assessment tool designed for use in community and student populations, measuring primary psychopathy (e.g., “I enjoy manipulating other people’s feelings”) and secondary psychopathy (e.g., “I quickly lose interest in the tasks I start”).
The participants were then scanned at the University of Kentucky’s Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Center.
In both studies, the researchers observed that gray matter density in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex—which the researchers call “a hub for self-regulation”—was positively associated with psychopathic traits.
This suggests that “successful” psychopathic individuals—those who control their antisocial tendencies—have more developed neural structures that promote self-regulation.
The ventrolateral prefrontal cortex is one of the brain regions involved in self-regulatory processes, including the down-regulation of more primitive and reactive emotions, such as fear or anger.
The findings indicating that this region is denser in people higher on certain psychopathic traits suggest that these individuals may have a greater capacity for self-control.
This is important because it is some of the first evidence pointing us to a biological mechanism that can potentially explain how some psychopathic people are able to be ‘successful’ whereas others aren’t.
The lead author of the study is Emily Lasko, a doctoral student in the Department of Psychology at VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences.
The study was published in the journal Personality Neuroscience.
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