Abstract
Psychopathy is widely understood to be a uniquely antisocial disorder as it is well-established that those high in psychopathic personality traits are responsible for disproportionate rates of societal harm in various forms (e.g. criminal behaviour, violence, etc.). Research has identified a small subset of the population who appear to deviate from this norm, avoiding undesirable outcomes and in some cases obtaining objective success. This phenomenon is often referred to as successful psychopathy. To date, relatively little is known about what differentiates successful manifestations of psychopathy from the prototypical unsuccessful psychopath. A number of theoretical perspectives have been developed in an effort to explain such differences, two of which, the moderated-expression model and the differential-configuration model, show particular promise both conceptually and empirically. However, empirical research directly examining these theoretical perspectives remains limited and has largely focused on refraining or desisting from engagement in criminal behaviour. As a result, such research has done little to elucidate psychopathic success across other meaningful life domains. In addition, previous research has tended to be cross-sectional and over-reliant on inappropriate conceptualisations of psychopathy to address questions regarding success. In light of these limitations, the current thesis sought to build upon existing literature by conducting a comprehensive investigation of both the moderated-expression and differential-configuration models in an effort to identify factors that explain the emergence of successful manifestations of psychopathy. A wide range of potential moderators were considered including environmental factors, cognitive factors, temperamental factors, and differential configurations of psychopathic trait domains. In doing so, the current thesis relied upon two large, longitudinal datasets that enabled observation of the relationship between potential moderators, psychopathy, and success over time. While study one took a relatively traditional, albeit longitudinal, approach by examining non-criminal psychopathy, the subsequent studies extended upon this work. Specifically, studies two, three and four took a strengthened methodological approach in which success was broadly conceptualised and operationalised based on criminal behaviour, wealth, health and relationship outcomes over time. Across these four studies, findings supported the moderated-expression and differential-configuration models as theoretical perspectives that contribute to an understanding of successful manifestations of psychopathy. Moreover, the findings identified specific environmental factors, cognitive factors, and differential configurations of psychopathy that differentiate between successful and unsuccessful psychopathy groups. The findings of the current thesis have important theoretical implications for the conceptualisation and understanding of successful psychopathy going forward which are summarised in the unified model proposed in this work. It is hoped that this synthesised theoretical perspective might provide further clarity regarding successful psychopathy and inform future research in the area that can further elucidate the lived experience of those with psychopathy and attenuate the stigma associated with the disorder. Moreover, the current findings have implications for the development of more efficacious preventative measures and clinical psychology practice to mitigate the harm associated with the disorder and enhance the lives of those with psychopathic personality traits.