Do good and evil overlap?

Do heroes and criminal psychopaths share the same personality traits?

More than one author and researcher speculated that was the case.

This post will delve into the literature to provide clear answers to the above questions.

Are Psychopaths Heroes?

In his book The Antisocial Peronalities David Lykken provocatively proposes that psychopaths and heroes share a common root.
Lykken, a pioneer in the study of psychopathy and antisocial personalities, says:

I believe, in short, that the hero and the psychopath may be twigs on the same genetic branch

This is a theory of successful psychopathy referred to as ‘Moderated Psychopathy Model’, and Lykken thought of parenting as the moderator effect:

In general, it’s also not uncommon sometimes to relativize evil and ascribing it to circumstances, rather than innate predispositions.

But is it true?
Are there little differences between people?
And are criminals more likely to be heroes?

This article digs deeper into the overlap between psychopathy/evil/heroes, and the relativity of evil.

What’s a Psychopath

Psychopathy is a mental illness and the exact definition varies.
Wikipedia defines it as:

A personality disorder characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, and egotistical traits

Despite the common public perception, not all psychopaths are out-of-control criminals.
The high-functioning ones can better control their impulses even if they feel little for the people around them. And they enter into relationships, hold jobs, and can form families.

Psychopath’s Mask

The high-functioning psychopaths “wear a mask” to blend in and often have families and jobs.

Individual cases rarely provide strong evidence, and much more so when anonymous and online.
But out of curiosity, I asked a self-identified psychopath on Quora about the idea of ‘wearing a mask.’ They described it as a persona constructed to blend in with others.
Note: This is a single anecdotal account and should not be taken as representative of all psychopaths.

Me: Thank you!  I’m curious about when you wrote on “wearing a mask”. Do you mean to play the part and pretend to have feelings and empathy?
Psychopath Individual: Indeed. It is a persona constructed to blend in with everyone else.

This is in line with general research.
Psychopaths typically show a marked deficit in conscience, empathy, and guilt. While there may always be some exceptions, these traits are generally diminished compared to non-psychopathic individuals.

One can expect that a lack of conscience and empathy, even in high-functioning psychopaths, removes a psychological inner brake against predation.

High Crime Incidence

Dr. Stephen McWilliams writes that psychopaths are around 1% of the US population and makeup around 25% of the inmate population.
This paper suggests that “93% of adult male psychopaths in the United States are in prison, jail, parole, or probation.”

Even though these statistics may seem on the high end, the overarching consensus is that psychopaths commit more crimes and more violent crimes than non-psychopaths.

These patterns suggest a potential challenge to the simplified narrative that heroes and psychopaths share key moral traits.

Heroes vs. Evil

A hero is an individual who goes incurs personal costs to help others and contribute to society.

It’s this idea of not caring about consequences, which seems to be shared by low-functioning psychopaths and heroes, that has led some to speculate the two may be similar.

What’s Evil

While ‘evil’ may sound simplistic, we can properly define to make it meaningful.

We use the word ‘evil’ for people with a complete lack of disregard for others’ well-being, no conscience, no empathy, and who actively harm others either for their own gain or for their own pleasure (sadism).

That might include psychopaths.
The lack of conscience that characterizes psychopaths often removes one inhibitor to evil, but not all psychopaths are evil.

And not all evil individuals are psychopaths.

In recent years there have been a few papers criticizing the link between psychopathy, violence, and recidivism. But they bring little data and they run against a much larger body of evidence that does link psychopathy to a much higher incidence of violent behavior (Scott McGreal).

When Good and Evil Intersect

It does seem that the positive heroes have a set of personality traits that make them more likely to get in trouble and cross into the “bad side of the river” a bit more often.

According to Andrea Kuszewski, a behavioral therapist writing for Scientific American, people who are more likely to engage in acts of heroism are also more like to be:

• Impulsive
• Argumentative
• Rule breakers
• Authority-challenging

As you can see heroes are not likely to be good, quiet, and peaceful the way a Dalai Lama or Gandhi would be (albeit Gandhi was allegedly abusive with his wife).

But a bit more similar to a character such as Indiana Jones or Han Solo.

However, that is not to say that good and bad are very similar.
And that is not to say that psychopaths are also heroes.

Common Traits of Heroes & Psychopaths

Heroes and psychopaths do have some traits in common, including:

• Low impulse control (acting without thinking of consequences)
• Boldness (remaining calm in threatening situations, associated with self-assured and assertiveness)
• Sensation seeking (engaging in risky practices for the thrill)
• Fearlessness

Much of the overlap indeed seems to be in the “ability to take bold and uncommon actions”, including putting themselves in danger of facing long-term consequences.

Research on Heroes & Psychopaths

Here is some academic evidence to help us make sense of this topic:

#1: Psychopaths and Heroes From Same Branch

A study by Smith, Lilienfeld, Coffey, and Dabbs aptly called “Are psychopaths and heroes twig off the same branch?” set out to investigate Lykken’s hypothesis.
And it says:

(…) These findings raise the possibility that some psychopathic personality traits are modestly associated with heightened levels of heroic altruism (…)

Let’s unpack it.

Overall traits related to fearlessness, fearless dominance, and boldness had modest positive correlations with heroic actions.

Traits related to disinhibition also showed mixed results. Impulsive non-conformity showed modest positive correlations. And traits such as ‘carefree nonplanfulness’ showed modest negative correlations.

Measures of antisocial behavior and delinquency had some of the strongest correlations in the surveys, and antisocial behavior and delinquency showed moderate positive correlations with heroism.
Scott McGreal, commenting on the survey on Psychology Today, notices that the survey doesn’t say when the antisocial behavior happened. Based on more research and data, he speculates that it seems likely that the antisocial behavior happened early in life.

Some evidence points to the contrary, and extraordinarily brave heroism was unrelated to personality dimensions (Walker, Frimer, & Dunlop, 2010), including those associated with psychopathy (Benning, Patrick, Salekin, & Leistico, 2005).

However, overall, there seems to be some truth to the claim.
Fearless Dominance is also associated with engagement in occupations involving high levels of physical risk (Lilienfeld, Latzman, Watts, Smith, & Dutton, 2014), suggesting that some individuals with psychopathic traits may channel their propensities for venturesomeness and risk taking in prosocial directions.

Conflating ‘good’ aspects of psychopathy with antisocial psychopathy

But one of the biggest risk here is conflating the potentially more positive aspects of psychopathy, with the more antisocial ones.

In the original study itself, core psychopathic traits related to meanness (ie.: ‘coldheartedness’) showed small to moderate negative correlations with heroism.
And Miller & Lynam (2012) found that the trait of fearless dominance measured by Smith et al. is only weakly related to antisocial behavior, which may undermine the link between heroism and antisociality.

#2. Sensation Seeking and Psychopathy

Recent research suggests that there is a strong correlation between antisocial behavior and sensation seeking.

Sensation-seeking is the tendency to engage in risky practices such as unsafe sex, excessive drinking, drug abuse, and reckless driving.
And there is some evidence -but far from final- that sensation seeking might also be linked to pro-social behavior and heroism.

For example, Israeli war veterans decorated for bravery were higher in sensation-seeking than non-decorated veterans.
However, I personally would be very wary of considering war decorations as a sign of pro-social behavior.

Scott McGreal says that people who score high in sensation-seeking see risks not only as exciting opportunities but also as challenges that they can cope with.

Naturally, that can lead to an increase in both anti-social and pro-social behavior.

#3. Psychopath & Heroism In First Responders

The study Psychopath & Heroism In First Responders investigates the relationship between psychopathic traits and heroic behavior in emergency workers VS a control population.

There was a small positive correlation between antisocial personality disorder and heroism (similar to the first paper that found that a history of antisocial behavior has a small correlation with heroism).

But among the supposedly psychopathic traits, only boldness and fearlessness were positively related to heroism (and only in the community sample, not in the first responders).

Within the first respondent population, meanness and disinhibition were negatively correlated to heroism and other altruistic behavior.

Research Conclusions

Although the research is not very deep, it seems that the overlap between heroism and some psychopathic traits is limited.
The fact that one of those traits is fearlessness says little about the link with psychopathy because, by their very nature, most heroic acts require some fearlessness.

Differences: Psychopaths Are Not Heroes

Albeit there are some commonalities, the differences may be even larger.

Lykken claims that empathy -the capacity to empathize with others’ pains and feelings- is the main feature that differentiates psychopaths from heroes.

However, there is more.
Psychopathy can include several traits that are antithetical to the concept of heroes.

• Meanness
• Lack of empathy
• Lack of remorse
• Cold-hardheartedness
• Interpersonal antagonism
• Selfishness

Selfishness in particular may stand in contrast to heroism.
Psychopaths are driven by personal gain and personal wins against others.
That does not make psychopaths positive heroes.

I also asked a self-identified psychopath about whether they would risk themselves to help others. Their response, ‘Certainly not, we’re very selfish’, aligns with the general understanding that psychopaths prioritize personal gain.

This is a single perspective, but it aligns with general tendencies of psychopathic self-interest.

Short-term Heroes vs. Lifelong Taking

While it’s possible that the boldness/fearless aspect of psychopathy may promote ‘heroic’ behavior in the short term, the ‘full suite’ of psychopathic features still tends to promote a life history that’s more self-serving, and potentially predatory.

Write Widiger and Crego in The Handbook of Psychopathy:

Although it is not difficult to imagine a psychopathic person without a criminal record (…) it is perhaps difficult to imagine a psychopathic person not having a history infused with unethical, predatory, and other disreputable acts.
Skeem and Cooke (2010) made a distinction between criminal and antisocial behavior. “Criminal” behavior is sanctioned by the legal system, whereas “antisocial” behavior is more inclusive (…) “Snakes in suits”may not in fact break many laws, but they significantly bend, massage, and work the rules to an unfair, self-serving advantage.

Conclusions: Some Heroic Behavior, But More Generalized Selfishness & Taking

In summary, Lykken’s initial insight has some merit, but it’s simplistic, only partially valid, and, in many important aspects, incorrect.

Specifically, the fearlessness/boldness facet that some consider related to psychopathy can promote heroic behavior more than in non-psychopathic ones, especially compared to more fearful and inhibited people. But not everyone considers boldness to be the ‘core’ of psychopathy, and the ‘full psychopathy suite’ comes with more facets that promote selfish and predatory behavior rather than heroism.

An extreme version of the belief ‘psychopathy promotes heroism’ may be naive.
Excessive relativism is a distortion of reality and, potentially, a weakness that increases naivete and increases the odds of predation.

For a sobering wake-up call and what the psychopath’s selfishness and amorality can lead to, please take a look here:

• The psychopath: profiling of a sexual predator 

TPM’s Mission: Making Good People ‘Selectively Bad’

At TPM, we explore how fundamentally good individuals can strategically cultivate traits often labeled as ‘bad’. Not for exploitation, but to protect themselves, stand up to predatory behavior, and as strategic tools for self-advancement.

I believe indeed that the world needs fundamentally good people who know how to be bad. Otherwise, the lever of power will always go to the most unscrupulous, unethical, and immoral of individuals among us.

This research strengthened the view that the possible overlap between good and bad shouldn’t extend to the point where we confuse the two. Ultimately, people with a good predisposition are more likely to help others and add value. People with a predatory predisposition are less likely to support others and more likely to take value.

References

• Dunlop, W. L., & Walker, L. J. (2013). The personality profile of brave exemplars: A person-centered analysis. Journal of Research in Personality, 47(4), 380-384. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2013.03.004
• Miller, J. D., & Lynam, D. R. (2012). An examination of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory’s nomological network: A meta-analytic review. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 3(3), 305-326. doi: 10.1037/a0024567
• Patrick, C. J., Fowles, D. C., & Krueger, R. F. (2009). Triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy: Developmental origins of disinhibition, boldness, and meanness. Development and Psychopathology, 21(Special Issue 03), 913-938. doi: doi:10.1017/S0954579409000492
• Smith, S. F., Lilienfeld, S. O., Coffey, K., & Dabbs, J. M. (2013). Are psychopaths and heroes twigs off the same branch? Evidence from college, community, and presidential samples. Journal of Research in Personality, 47(5), 634-646. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2013.05.006
• Franken, R. E., Gibson, K. J., & Rowland, G. L. (1992). Sensation seeking and the tendency to view the world as threatening. Personality and Individual Differences, 13(1), 31-38. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0191-8869(92)90214-A
• Mann, F. D., Engelhardt, L., Briley, D. A., Grotzinger, A. D., Patterson, M. W., Tackett, J. L., . . . Harden, K. P. (2017). Sensation seeking and impulsive traits as personality endophenotypes for antisocial behavior: Evidence from two independent samples. Personality and Individual Differences, 105, 30-39. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2016.09.018
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  Patton, C. L., Smith, S. F., & Lilienfeld, S. O. (2018). Psychopathy and heroism in first responders: Traits cut from the same cloth? Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 9(4), 354–368. https://doi.org/10.1037/per0000261
• Neria, Y., Solomon, Z., Ginzburg, K., & Dekel, R. (2000). Sensation seeking, wartime performance, and long-term adjustment among Israeli war veterans. Personality and Individual Differences, 29(5), 921-932. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(99)00243-3