An evil person is one who exploits or harms most everyone he/she encounters; the question of the utmost importance is do evil people share certain personality characteristics? Perhaps personality type has nothing to do with evil. We all know that every person has made bad moral choices at one time or another so perhaps people who repeatedly make bad moral choices are no different than anyone else.
There are many reasons to consider whether evil people have a special or different personality type. For Lovefraud readers, the best reason is to define and learn to recognize a group of people to avoid.
The assertion that evil people share a common personality type has profound philosophical and practical implications. This assertion implies that while occasionally doing evil is part of all of us, repeatedly doing evil is not. But what does repeatedly mean? Shouldn’t everyone who has made a bad moral choice get a second chance? What about those who have made two bad choices? Perhaps if we can identify an evil person by his/her characteristics, then we can say that he/she should not be given another chance.
The PCLR is born
I believe it was this line of thinking that lead Dr. Robert Hare to develop his Psychopathy Checklist, now Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCLR). He was working in the prison system and he wanted to describe the characteristics of people most likely to re-offend. He wanted to identify the evil doers.
Dr. Hare was very successful. The PCLR does identify a group of people who are likely to re-offend and who are very evil. But, somehow this attempt to define with a rating scale, a group of criminals who are most likely to re-offend has become much more. The results of this one instrument are increasingly seen as defining a personality type called psychopathy. It turns out that fancy statistics on the answers to the PCLR reveal that some of the answers group together in “factors.” These factors have become the basis for defining psychopathy itself.
The psychopathic personality is more complex than the PCLR
As Drs. Lynam and Widiger point out in their recent paper Using a general model of personality to identify the basic elements of psychopathy, “In the original derivations, the authors (Hare and colleagues) were fairly careful about referencing the factor structure of the instrument (PCLR) rather than the composition of psychopathy”¦ Since that time, however, the measure has almost become the construct (psychopathy), and more recent authors are more likely to write about the structure of psychopathy than the structure of the instrument.”
Lynam and Widiger suggest, and I agree “that factor analyses of the PCL-R are unlikely to reveal the core components of psychopathy.” Therefore, the use of the PCLR to define the psychopathic personality is problematic. It is more useful to find out if there is indeed a “personality type” that is prone to evil. The best way to do this is to use a personality test that has been developed to understand personality in general (the NEO PI-R*, method 1), in conjunction with an inventory like the PCLR (method 2) and expert ratings (method 3). With these methods combined we can describe the personality type of those prone to evil and then extend the findings to non-criminals.
The evil personality
Using these methods, Lynam and Widiger have demonstrated that there is a personality type prone to evil. So now I will tell you who to avoid, and also more importantly who to seek out!
“We believe that these 12 traits** for which there is agreement across all three methods, constitute the core elements of psychopathy. According to these traits, psychopathy consists of extremely low agreeableness”¦The psychopath is cunning and manipulative, greedy and exploitive, oppositional and combative, boastful and arrogant, and callous and ruthless. Relatedly, the psychopath lacks interpersonal warmth. The psychopath is pan-impulsive, marked by the impulsive end of each of the personality pathways to impulsive behavior”¦ The psychopath also appears immune to embarrassment and shame, potentially important emotions for the social control of behavior. Not surprisingly, the psychopath is also undependable and unethical.”
The Inner Triangle again
I believe that the three clusters of personality traits Lynam and Widiger have identified correspond to what I have called The Inner Triangle. The lack of agreeableness and warmth relate to ability to love. Identify a psychopath by his/her inability to really love and take care of others.
Identify a psychopath/sociopath by his/her poor impulse control. Lastly, psychopaths have a lack of moral emotions- embarrassment, guilt and particularly shame. This lack of moral emotions impairs moral reasoning in the psychopath/sociopath.
The combination of poor ability to love, poor impulse control and poor moral reasoning predict evil in people with narcissistic and borderline personality disorder just as these qualities cluster and predict evil in psychopaths/sociopaths.
Who to seek out
Surround yourself with people who have a well developed Inner Triangle! Love people who are warm and have a track record of self-sacrifice for others. Trust only those who can control their own impulses. Admire only those who experience embarrassment, guilt and shame. Depend only on those who are dependable. Since sociopaths/psychopaths are con artists, get proof of these qualities by first hand observation before you ascribe them to anyone.
* The NEO PI-R has been used to develop the five factor model of personality. This model can be remembered with the acronym OCEAN: O-openness to experience, C-conscientiousness, E-extraversion, A-agreeableness, N-neuroticism. Openness to experience (O: fantasy, aesthetic, feelings, actions, ideas, values), Conscientiousness (C: competence, order, dutifulness, achievement striving, self-discipline, deliberation), Extraversion (E: warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness, activity, excitement seeking, positive emotions), Agreeableness (A: trust, straightforwardness, altruism, compliance, modesty, tender mindedness), and Neuroticism (N: anxiousness, angry hostility, trait depression, self-consciousness, impulsiveness, vulnerability)
**Twelve traits were consistently identified by Lynam and Widiger as either low or high in psychopaths. The psychopath is low in 5 facets of A (Straightforwardness 1, Altruism 2, Compliance 3, Modesty 4, Tender mindedness 5, three facets of C (dutifulness 6, self-discipline 7, and deliberation 8), and one facet each of N (self-consciousness 9) and E (warmth 10); the psychopath is high in impulsiveness 11 from N and excitement seeking 12 from E.
thank you, Oxy, I don’t know what to think. I try to tell myself to not overreact, but my choices are bad genes or exposure, or WORSE. Thank you for understanding….
Dear ceampuff,
I wish I had a “simple” answer for you. I’ve “been at it” off and on back and forth for decades. My first cue was “Without Conscience” nearly 15-6 years ago, at least. Can’t remember exactly, but about 1994 was I think about when I read it the first time. I compared my p-son’s behavior to the descriptions of a P. I didn’t apply it consistently, and kept thinking, like you said that “blood” would out–but eventually, nearly 5 years ago when the BIG CHAOS started, and not quite a year later when I had to run for my life, I realized that I had been in and out of denial about one P or another most of my life.
It didn’t come suddenly and I waffled back and forth, like most of us do. I wish I could tell you that it just “comes to you” and you get it and act on it, but it never worked that way for me. I know that I am still highly vulnerable to to stress after the continual high stress for years and years! It takes a toll on your body and soul…and takes time to heal and not be so Vulnerable, but it is getting better. I’m not in a state of high alert 24/7 like I was for so long.
I had to learn to set boundaries and to actually decide for myself what I COULD tolerate and what was TOO MUCH. I had some “friends” that were abusing my “help” and literally stealing from me, etc. and I finally realized that I had to set limits with them. I did. They did NOT like it! I stuck with the limits, they violated the limits, I set stricter limits, they violated those and finally I made it CLEAR that they were out of my life and I was not responsible for fixing their problems. The first time I set a limit I cried for 2 days before I told her (it was a couple!). The last time I set a limit, called them on lying to me about why they did not keep their word and firmly informed them what the limit was. THERE WAS NO HESITATION at all. I didn’t even feel guilty at all or waffle about it at all. I think it is like learning to ride a bicycle, you just have to practice setting limits. Then sticking to them.
Part of the problem with this couple was my husband adored them before he died. My son D adored them. The chit they were pulling was directed toward ME (just like your Step dtr and dtr Ps) and none toward my husband or son D. Eventually, I caught her stealing and set a limit. She was not to ever come to my home when I (me personally) was not home. My son D and husband had a difficult time believing she was a thief when I had plenty of evidence. And I understand their doubts! Anyway, after his death I felt “obligated” to put up with them for son D’s benefit…and they kept taking more and more advantage. Eventually, son D SAW what they were doing but I was so afraid of upsetting HIM (got to protect everyone else, remember? That’s my job to keep everyone happy and pretend we’re a nice normal family, not let anyone get upset….except me of course!) But finally, my son D got it, and he is also NC with them. Done with them. WE are done with them, and I realize that the problem with me setting and enforcing limits and boundaries was WITH ME and my ideas that I had to keep “peace”—-which wasn’t really peace, just a pretense. So, I no longer am a PEACE KEEPER. I mayy make peace, but not keep peace. I LISTEN TO MYSELF now, and I don’t have to have someone else VALIDATE my opinion of anyone. I can VALIDATE MYSELF and if you like them and think I am wrong, that’s your right, but it will not influence the way I treat them or how I set boundaries for them with me. NO MATTER what your and my realtionship is.
In other words, I will not let your friends/family abuse me in order to apease you. I’m not trying to put anyone “in the middle” but if someone does care about me, they will want me to protect myself as I see fit. If that makes any sense.
I don’t remember where you read about the fruit trees having two kinds of fruit (CRS!) LOL
Anyway, I hope that answers somewhat your questions. (((hugs)))
Getting it,
I don’t think the “bad genes” have had time to kick in to a toddler in LEARNED BEHAVIOR.
He has obviously at least SEEN something. I wouldn’t make a “big deal” out of it to him though, just make sure that you hold him firmly and lovingly when he tries to do those things and tell him that those things are NOT OK (appropriate) for MOMMIES AND BOYS TO DO TO EACH OTHER. That way you aren’t telling him that sex is “wrong” just not with mommie. If you get what I mean. I would take him to a counselor who is specialized in young children who may have been abused ASAP. At this point I wouldn’t get the law involved but get some help with this for YOU as well as for your baby. The counselor can advise you about what legal ramifications are and who if anyone should be reported to.
One of the problems with YOUNG child abuse is that the kids are so lacking in verbal ability to describe what has gone on or what they have seen. I am hoping it is at worst seeing things a child should not see. ((((hugs)))) Please keep us advised here at LF how things are with you. You are in my prayers.
i was thinking this am that i need to review the ways that the ppath could possibly shame me when we go into battle.
i wrote a bit about it tonight and thought i could get some info from emails. i’ve made it through 30 days of email so far. the things i remember as being red flags are there. just as odd as they were before. i am reading the email with my emotional antennae turned way down. i am noticing that, not being attached and wanting to be with that person changes how i read the text. and knowing what i know now about ppaths and who this @.......#$%^&*() is REALLY, i am not seeing the love.
i had a few flares of anger – the very first time we were to meet – about a year ago – and how she set that up and slithered out of it…took her 2 weeks about, to slither out of it a day at a time. !@.......#$%^&*(
there was one email i felt like printing here. just to put it out there and take the @.......#$%^&* magic off it. but, you know – she would know it was me posting here regardless, but i don’t have to make it easier for her.
i was so jerked around by her. and by that i mean – he was always dying and falling apart mentally. and i was running around with mental @.......#$%^&* duct tape, going please sir, can i GIVE you more. F**K.
ans she did SO MUCH to try to evoke jealousy in me. i can see it now. that’s incredibly cruel. i knew the parameters of the (FAKE) relationship before me, so i didn’t go there. and at least not that i let her know much about. i know now, from piecing together what she usually does when she scams people and the things i didn’t understand then, but do now, that inciting jealousy is one of the things she LOVES to do. !@.......#$%^&*()_)(*&^%$#$%^&*()(*&&. ahem.
she’s just a nasty piece of crap inside a little box. and i still do hate her.
you are gonna love this…form one of the emails from the boy, ‘mimic is common in me,’ lord love us all…
and there is trauma after trauma listed. firs this then that…it’s a wonder i could still function. but i am good with weird. it has been a problem in my life.
enough for tonight.
Thank you. I will follow your advise. I think it’s most reasonable and have already contacted few people for possible referrals. I want to make sure it isn’t some crook and I want to make sure that if a push comes to shove, their word will matter in the court of law.
I will try your suggestion with my baby. I was so shocked that I probably overreacted. But, something tells me there will be other similar issues coming up 🙁
getting it – i doubt you over reacted. glad you are pursuing getting some help – both for your toddler’s health and the necessary ‘professional’ witness.
GettingIt:
My niece has done the same thing to me several times over the past year.
PLUS, there have been other incidents where she has articulated sexual knowledge that a child her age would NEVER have unless someone told her.
My Mother and I have been taking care of this child ever since she was a baby, and she never learned any of these things from us.
I am horrified by this.
My situation is different than yours because it’s my niece…she is not my daughter.
But you are the child’s mother.
So if I were you, I would definitely take the child to a pediatrician or child psychiatrist and get him examined.
I have considered having a conversation with my niece’s pediatrician about what has been happening in my family as well.
My Mother tells me not to do it, because it won’t change anything.
In my situation, the child is being abused by her own biological mother.
It’s very difficult to have a child taken away from its own mother.
Especially when the “mother” is a nurse, active at school, has created the illusion of trustworthy, etc. You get the picture…..the mask is firmly in place right now.
My advice for you is to take your child to a qualified professional and have him thoroughly examined.
So sad for you Rosa. Sometimes, it feels like it’ll never stop…
My (older) child admitted to me that he loved the P too. he also stopped having any friends – that at a time when all teens think friends to be most important. he is a great student and a very high achiever but says my experience taught him what it should have taught me – not to trust people. This isn’t the message I want my children to get: the world isn’t a bad cold place. But, the P is… Thank you for your support: I knew I’d get understanding here. It behooves me to think that my baby’s father exposed him to this… But, sadly it is in line with what Dr. Leedome wrote about the Ps creating their “legacy”
great article and interesting posts
I especially love the part about who to surround ourselves with, especially admiring the capacity to be embarrassed and feel shame.
When I think of the P (and not a day goes by 2 years on that I don’t think of him) I see and feel him as Dr Leedom so brilliantly put it:
“When the psychopath wakes up in the morning and opens his eyes, he says to himself, it’s showtime!”
Not only is it evil, but its evil in action
So when Jim Carrey puts on the Mask, and states “It’s SHOWTIME!!!” is this a bit of the sociopath at work??? Hilarious, but nowhere near the evil they are actually capable of.
FBN