Read Online The Wisdom of Psychopaths by Kevin Dutton - Free Book Online
Authors: Kevin Dutton
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Openness to Experience has been shown to play an important role in professions in which original thought or emotional intelligence is the order of the day—professions such as consultancy, arbitration, and advertising—while individuals scoring lower on this dimension tend to do better in manufacturing or mechanical jobs. Employees scoring medium to high on Conscientiousness (too high and you slip across the border into obsession, compulsion, and perfectionism) tend to excel across the board, the opposite being true for those posting lower scores. Extroverts do well in jobs that require social interaction, while introverts do well in more “solitary” or “reflective” professions, such as graphic design and accountancy. Rather like Conscientiousness, Agreeableness is pretty much a universal facilitator of performance, but shows up particularly prominently in occupations where the emphasis is on teamwork or customer service, like nursing and the armed forces, for instance. But unlike Conscientiousness, having lower levels of this trait can also come in handy—in bruising, cutthroat arenas such as the media, for example, where egos clash and competition for resources (ideas, stories, commissions) is often fierce.
Last, we have Neuroticism, arguably the most precarious of the NEO’s five dimensions. Yet while, on the one hand, it’s undoubtedly the case that emotional stability and coolness under pressure can sometimes tip the balance in professions where focus and levelheadedness have their say (the cockpit and the operating theater being just two cases in point), it should also be remembered that the marriage between Neuroticism and creativity is an enduring one. Some of art and literature’s greatest offerings down the ages have been mined, not in the shallow waters of the brain’s coastal perimeters, but in the deep, uncharted labyrinths of the soul.
But if occupational psychologists have uncovered individual differences in temperament based upon models of job performance—axes of personality that code for success in the workplace—how does the psychopath get along? In 2001, DonaldLynam and his colleagues at the University of Kentucky conducted a study to find out, and discovered that their unique personality structure conceals a telltale configuration of traits, as ruthless as it is mesmeric. Lynam asked a group of the world’s top psychopathy experts (fellow academics with a proven track record in the field) to rate, on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being extremely low, 5 extremely high) how they thought psychopaths measured up on a series of thirty sub-traits—the constituent parts of each of the primary dimensions that comprise the Big Five. The results are shown in figure 2.5 .
Figure 2.5. Experts’ ratings of the psychopathic personality profile as revealed by performance on the Big Five (Miller et al., 2001)
As we can see, the experts have the psychopaths just about flatlining when it comes to Agreeableness, which is not surprising given that lying, manipulation, callousness, and arrogance are pretty much considered the gold standard of psychopathic traits by most clinicians. Conscientiousness ratings are nothing to write home about either. Impulsivity, lack of long-term goals, and failure to take responsibility are up there, as we’d expect. But notice how Competence bucks the trend—a measure of the psychopath’s unshakable self-confidence and insouciant disregard for adversity—and how the pattern continues with Neuroticism: Anxiety, Depression, Self-Consciousness and Vulnerability barely show up on the radar, which, when combined with strong outputs on Extraversion (Assertiveness and Excitement Seeking) and Openness to Experience (Actions), generates that air of raw, elemental charisma.
The picture that emerges is of a profoundly potent, yet darkly quicksilver personality. Dazzling and remorseless on the one hand. Glacial and unpredictable on the other.
The picture of a U.S.
Openness to Experience has been shown to play an important role in professions in which original thought or emotional intelligence is the order of the day—professions such as consultancy, arbitration, and advertising—while individuals scoring lower on this dimension tend to do better in manufacturing or mechanical jobs. Employees scoring medium to high on Conscientiousness (too high and you slip across the border into obsession, compulsion, and perfectionism) tend to excel across the board, the opposite being true for those posting lower scores. Extroverts do well in jobs that require social interaction, while introverts do well in more “solitary” or “reflective” professions, such as graphic design and accountancy. Rather like Conscientiousness, Agreeableness is pretty much a universal facilitator of performance, but shows up particularly prominently in occupations where the emphasis is on teamwork or customer service, like nursing and the armed forces, for instance. But unlike Conscientiousness, having lower levels of this trait can also come in handy—in bruising, cutthroat arenas such as the media, for example, where egos clash and competition for resources (ideas, stories, commissions) is often fierce.
Last, we have Neuroticism, arguably the most precarious of the NEO’s five dimensions. Yet while, on the one hand, it’s undoubtedly the case that emotional stability and coolness under pressure can sometimes tip the balance in professions where focus and levelheadedness have their say (the cockpit and the operating theater being just two cases in point), it should also be remembered that the marriage between Neuroticism and creativity is an enduring one. Some of art and literature’s greatest offerings down the ages have been mined, not in the shallow waters of the brain’s coastal perimeters, but in the deep, uncharted labyrinths of the soul.
But if occupational psychologists have uncovered individual differences in temperament based upon models of job performance—axes of personality that code for success in the workplace—how does the psychopath get along? In 2001, DonaldLynam and his colleagues at the University of Kentucky conducted a study to find out, and discovered that their unique personality structure conceals a telltale configuration of traits, as ruthless as it is mesmeric. Lynam asked a group of the world’s top psychopathy experts (fellow academics with a proven track record in the field) to rate, on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being extremely low, 5 extremely high) how they thought psychopaths measured up on a series of thirty sub-traits—the constituent parts of each of the primary dimensions that comprise the Big Five. The results are shown in figure 2.5 .
Figure 2.5. Experts’ ratings of the psychopathic personality profile as revealed by performance on the Big Five (Miller et al., 2001)
As we can see, the experts have the psychopaths just about flatlining when it comes to Agreeableness, which is not surprising given that lying, manipulation, callousness, and arrogance are pretty much considered the gold standard of psychopathic traits by most clinicians. Conscientiousness ratings are nothing to write home about either. Impulsivity, lack of long-term goals, and failure to take responsibility are up there, as we’d expect. But notice how Competence bucks the trend—a measure of the psychopath’s unshakable self-confidence and insouciant disregard for adversity—and how the pattern continues with Neuroticism: Anxiety, Depression, Self-Consciousness and Vulnerability barely show up on the radar, which, when combined with strong outputs on Extraversion (Assertiveness and Excitement Seeking) and Openness to Experience (Actions), generates that air of raw, elemental charisma.
The picture that emerges is of a profoundly potent, yet darkly quicksilver personality. Dazzling and remorseless on the one hand. Glacial and unpredictable on the other.
The picture of a U.S.
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