The adaptive side of psychopathy: Investigating adaptive characteristics associated with the psychopathic personality

Guillaume Durand

Research output: ThesisDoctoral ThesisExternal prepared

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Abstract

Psychopathy is commonly defined as a disorder characterized by a lack of empathy, impulsivity, and callousness. While generally regarded as maladaptive, past findings support an association between specific adaptive traits, such as fearlessness, and psychopathy. The present dissertation focused on two goals: examining which adaptive traits are associated with psychopathy and developing an instrument to measure those adaptive traits. Our findings suggest that a large array of adaptive traits is associated with the concept of psychopathy. Furthermore, the numerous studies relating to the development and subsequent validation of the Durand Adaptive Psychopathic Traits Questionnaire support its efficacy and incremental validity over existing instruments assessing adaptive psychopathic traits.
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • Maastricht University
Supervisors/Advisors
  • Rutten, Bart, Supervisor
  • Lobbestael, Jill, Co-Supervisor
Award date5 Sept 2019
Place of PublicationMaastricht
Publisher
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

Keywords

  • Psychopathic traits
  • Adaptive traits
  • Test development
  • Cognitive abilities

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