The role of fearless dominance in psychopathy

Confusions, controversies, and clarifications.

Bibliographic Data

ID23361344
AuthorsScott O Lilienfeld (0000-0003-4501-8629, Emory University), Christopher J Patrick (0000-0002-9581-8168, Florida State University), Stephen D Benning (0000-0002-0955-1592, Vanderbilt University), Joanna M Berg (Emory University), Joanna Berg, Martin Sellbom (0000-0002-2883-6163, University of Alabama), John F Edens (0000-0002-2218-0650, Texas A&M University)
Year2012
Volume3
Issue3
Pages327-340
Publication date2012-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePersonality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1949-2715 • E-ISSN: 1949-2723
PublisherAmerican Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1037/a0026987
PMID22823232
OpenAlexW2059578103
LanguageEN
Citations received56
References cited18

Based on their 2011 meta-analysis of the correlates of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), Miller and Lynam (An examination of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory's nomological network: A meta-analytic review, Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 3, 305-326) conclude that its Fearless Dominance (PPI-FD) higher-order dimension exhibits weak construct validity, leading them to question the relevance of boldness to the conceptualization and assessment of psychopathy. We examine their assertions in light of the clinical, conceptual, and empirical literatures on psychopathy. We demonstrate that Miller and Lynam's assertions (a) are sharply at odds with evidence that well-validated psychopathy measures detect both secondary and primary subtypes, the latter of which is linked to social poise and immunity to psychological distress, (b) are inconsistent with most classic clinical descriptions of psychopathy, in which fearless dominance plays a key role, (c) presume an a priori nomological network of psychopathy that leaves scant room for adaptive functioning and renders psychopathy largely equivalent to antisocial personality disorder as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, (d) are premised on a misunderstanding of the role of Cleckley's "mask" of healthy adjustment in psychopathy, and (e) are contradicted by data-some reported elsewhere by Miller and Lynam themselves-that PPI-FD is moderately to highly associated with scores on several well-validated psychopathy measures, as well as with personality traits and laboratory markers classically associated with psychopathy. A scientific approach to psychopathy requires the question of whether its subdimensions are linked to adaptive functioning to be adjudicated by data, not by fiat.

Antisocial personality disorder · Boldness · Dark triad · Developmental psychology · Dominance (genetics) · Injury prevention · Nomological network · Personality · Personality disorders · Poison control · Psychopathy · Scale (ratio) · Clinical Psychology · Personality Disorders and Psychopathology · Psychology · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology