Dr. Robert Hare, who did seminal work in identifying psychopaths, refers to them as “intraspecies predators.” This prompted questions from a Lovefraud reader who asked,
- If psychopaths are indeed natural predators (by implication, their design is part of nature’s plan to maintain some balance) then would we ever be able to weed them out of society?
- Do they have a purpose in the natural order of things?
In this article, I’m going to address the second question. Then, next week, I’ll suggest an answer to the first question.
I don’t know about a purpose, but there are researchers who believe psychopaths are around us today because they survived the natural selection process of human evolution.
These researchers call psychopathy “a nonpathological, reproductively viable, alternate life history strategy.” This theory is outlined in Coercive and Precocious Sexuality as a Fundamental Aspect of Psychopathy, a paper published in 2007 by Grant T. Harris, PhD; Marnie E. Rice, PhD; N. Zoe Hilton, PhD; Martin L. Lalumiere, PhD; and Vernon L. Quinsey, PhD.
Evolution
Let’s talk about the evolution idea first. The authors write that our distant ancestors probably formed stable groups, characterized by cooperation and adherence to rules, which enabled early mankind to survive and flourish. However, some humans survived through cheating and exploiting others—the alternative life strategy.
Grant et. al. write that from childhood, psychopathic personalities are fundamentally different from others, but the differences are not the result of a medical failure or injury. They point out that pregnancy difficulties can be related to schizophrenia and mental retardation, but not psychopathy. “While many adverse medical conditions and injuries lead to antisocial and violent behavior, our selectionist hypothesis suggests that they do not cause psychopathy,” they write.
The early psychopaths—cheaters then as now—put a lot of energy into acquiring sexual partners, and were willing to use deception and coercion to do it. As a result, they produced a lot of offspring. Even if early psychopaths died young because then, as now, they probably engaged in high-risk behavior, their liberal procreation was enough to get the hereditary train rolling.
Sex and criminal behavior
Psychopaths first have sex at a young age, have many partners, and are uncommitted in sexual relationships. Studies show that people who have this approach to sex also are more likely to engage in criminal and violent behavior.
Some people, called life course persistent offenders, Grant et. al. write, “begin aggressive and antisocial conduct at very young ages and persist at rates higher than any other offenders throughout the lifespan.”
People tend to think that their problem is poor social learning, that individuals who break laws against crime and violence also break social norms regarding sex. But research has also shown that delinquency and antisocial behavior are associated with early onset of puberty and sexual activity. Young people don’t learn, or decide, when to mature sexually. So why is there a connection between early onset of puberty and crime?
The study
Grant et. al. believe that “coercive and precocious sexuality” is not a result of the psychopathic personality, but a key to defining it. For the study described in the paper, the researchers predicted “early onset, high frequency and coercive sexuality would be a key, unique and diagnostic feature of psychopathy.”
The researchers studied the case histories of 512 male sex offenders. (Sex offenders were selected because their files generally contain detailed information about their sexual history.) They established the scores of the offenders on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). They also looked at the sexual histories of the offenders prior to age 15. A statistical analysis revealed correlations between early and frequent sexual behavior and sexual coercion with general antisocial behavior and elevated PCL-R scores.
“We propose that interpersonal sexual and nonsexual aggression are not best conceived of as the consequence of psychopathic personality traits, but as fundamental aspects of the condition itself,” the authors wrote.
Genetic history
The researchers’ expected that coercive and precocious sexuality were indicators of psychopathy because of their original hypothesis—psychopathy is an alternative life strategy.
“From a theoretical perspective, the present results lend some support to a selectionist hypothesis that psychopathy exists because it has been a heritable and reproductively viable condition during human evolution.”
Psychopaths, in other words, are not physically defective or medically ill. These researchers believe that they are just different, and, because they engaged in a lot of sex, were able to pass on their genes through the millennia.
Read the complete study:
Coercive and Precocious Sexuality as a Fundamental Aspect of Psychopathy
They are what they are
It’s shocking to think that there may be nothing medically wrong with these “intraspecies predators.” But in a way, the idea that psychopaths are pursuing an “alternate life history strategy” dovetails with what we often say here on Lovefraud. Psychopaths are what they are. They are cheaters and exploiters. They take advantage of others because that’s what they do.
Did nature intend this? I don’t know, but they survived.
While researching this story, I came across another paper with an interesting perspective on what to do about it, which I’ll discuss next week.
Louise, since we don’t know what members look like, now I have a striking visual of you in my mind 🙂 ha ha ha
Donna,
Isn’t this also what Martha Stout believes. She mentions the high proportion of sociopaths in the Middle East who have ancestry from Genghis Khan, the famous sociopath during the crusades. I tend to agree with this theory because it makes sense to me. I also think that sociopathic behaviors can be the result of environmental influences or some combination, but that heredity is a large function of it.
I see it more as a spiritual evolution. How would we know what love is, how would we learn about love and compassion, empathy and human-ness if we also did not have amongst us those who show us the other side of the coin.
They have perhaps chosen to come here to teach lessons about valuing love above all, which is never more felt than when we or loved ones are hated, murdered, robbed etc etc
Without the other side of the coin we would not grow and learn how to deal with the opposite energy. For whatever there is there is it’s opposite. Light dark etc. so the survival value is not for themselves surviving and taking over, but more towards waking us up to the power of love and transmuting it
(Jesus and the crucifiction, initiation ceremony, Birth and death)
My respect for love has tripled since my experience with the psychopath, and as I get more distance from him, each day gets more precious…I have learned, deeply.
I watched a programme about a month ago. A guy who had survived a serial killer by sheer chance. He had been submerged in water as the killer attempted to drown him.He accepted his death many times over and was horribly injured and the killer decided for some unknown reason to let him go. He spoke with the most compelling voice. He had a kind of radiance about him, a quality of strength aquired through accepting his fate.
He now lives on his own with his cats and wouldn’t trust a relationship again but he was so full of truth and wisdom it was like listening to an angel he was so….I don’t know illuminated!
And listen to the voices on Lovefraud….we are base metal being ground into gold.
I’m not suggesting psychopaths are gifts, I am terrified of them and do not want anything to do with them ever again, but the only thing I want to take from my experience is I don’t understand it and possibly wont until death, and until then I just want to spend the rest of my life knowing that I am here in the midst of light and dark, and every day I choose the light.
I have 6 months no contact and dare I say life is brighter, lighter in every way like a horrible weight lifted. A weight I will never forget, that has me living alone with my cats but the beauty I find in that is a direct result of having learned an excrutiating lesson from which I am only beginning to emerge.
If he appeared around the corner tomorrow I would fight him off with my life, I would sound every alarm bell, tell as many people and even move to where he could never find me.
Oh and just to say, as it stands out as important. The guy who survived the serial killer was deeply haunted and traumatised, and he felt compelled to visit the killer in jail (death row) and to ask him why…why he did it? and why did he not kill him ? can you imagine the courage it took for him to go and confron this guy….and the killer started talking bout how bad the food was in prison. Yes he could only talk about prison and what it was like for him!! and he wouldnt answer. More torture.
Donna, apologies for miscrediting this to Dr. Leedom. It’s a wonderful article and a fascinating topic.
Kathy
I am wondering something … whether psychopathy really is a good trait for spreading one’s genes. I would imagine a lot of women wouldn’t go ahead if the P was already unreliable?
The article and subsequent thread is SO interesting for me. I have a gut feeling that the genetic transmission of psychopathy is valid. As to it being better or worse, I am not sure, but it feels part of a bigger cycle of genetic survival (I ordered the selfish gene book, hope it educates me, as I know little about genetics/evolution). Perhaps it waxes and wanes, depending on a number of variables (like proportion of psycho’s to non-psycho’s, non-psycho ‘awareness’), that may continue to repeat, ad nauseum.
It seems like the thrust of the research was to influence the components of the PCL-R test, so it works better. And perhaps also to lend credence to the ‘strategist’ theory/model (whatever it is, I don’t know about it!) in psychology. It certainly didn’t seem to be pointing to ‘normalizing’ psychopathy, or trying to lessen it’s perceived seriousness and consequence to society.
Though it is a bit difficult for me to allow myself to see psychopathy as a ‘survival’ strategy, after experiencing it as so personally devastating–it does make sense. After all most viruses eventually kill individual hosts, and survive well and fine. And the ability of the spathole I knew, to survive (though not genuinely thrive) is pretty awesome (in a “I cannot believe this shit!” kind of way). Given how rudimentary his skills, his acheivements, and his communications were/are, it is amazing that he can, again and again, use the same techniques and live almost exclusively as a parasite. Hand to mouth though it is, he ensures his personal survival. Interesting to think this may likely be driven by thousands of years of genetic impulse to procreate and ensure the survival of ‘his’ particular gene-set.
But it brings up some interesting questions:
1. Will it take an imbalance of psychopaths to non-psychopaths before the genetic strategy for survival is tipped the other way, with a period of die-off? As in too many psychos vs. non, so that they don’t have enough sources to ensure their gene survival, and the pendulum swings the other direction, with more procreation of nons?
OR, rather than waiting for natural selection…….
2. Could this mean that they are here to stay till we nons become ‘enlightened altruists’, essentially learning to go ‘no contact’ (quit grooming after the first time of no reciprocity)? Meaning that non-psychopaths could have, over a Loooooong Period of Time, an effect on the elimination of psychopathic genes, but only through sustained enlightenment and self preserving/loving behaviors?
Either way it is withdrawing the sources of survival for the psychopath, either by waiting for nature to take it’s course, or by consciousness enhancement and proactive behavior. Perhaps spreading ‘civility’ (food, shelter, medicine, etc) for all is another key. Giving each individual the opportunity to look beyond survival, toward ‘higher’ self-actualizing goals (Maslow’s hierarchy).
I like the second option, as I don’t know if nature would eliminate the gene, or if we would end up in an endless cycle of booming #’s of spatholes, followed by die-off….wash, rinse, repeat.
Donna, really looking forward to the next article. This has my brainjuices flowing!
Slim
Apologies, Donna!!
Some of the reading I have done about altruistic vs selfish monkeys and apes, (wish I could remember WHERE I read it) says that the FEAR of revenge, rather than altruistic impulse, is more the reason why an ape will reciprocate with grooming or sharing of food etc.
Jane Goodall’s research seems to bear this out as well. Plus, there are also “psychopathic” and deliberately cruel apes as well as humans. Dominance behavior can be very cruel.
If you look at what happened in Haiti today with looting, gangs taking over some areas, and increasing robberies, you will see what happens when resources are in scant supply–the strong take from the weaker. Though there is a tremendous outpouring of altruism in the people going there to help and in the native populations helping each other, there is also a rising level of violence and “dog-eat-dog” survival tactics. My prediction is that it will get worse before it gets better, and only a strong level of police action will have any impact on these human predators who will prey on the weaker people.
My heart breaks for this country and those that are the “prey” of the smaller percentage of human predators.
Slimone – I like the point you make about Maslow’s hierarchy. My experience has shown me that they live in the lower spectrum of self actualization, as if in a pre-civilized survival mode that they are incapable of rising above. One of the things the ex sociopath from my own life repeated constantly after I left him was the word “survive”. Everything was and still is and I’m pretty certain, for ever will be for him, about sheer survival, without conscience.
pollyannanomore – I find your theory of abortions very interesting. The other woman the exSpath I was with got pregnant with him. She aborted. Why she did this I can’t be sure, since I haven’t asked her. But, I know this – He HATES kids, has never had any of his own and makes it clear he does not want kids. He does, however target women who are already mothers knowing, I’m sure that it’s a way of control and manipulation.
bulletproof – I find wisdom in what you’ve written. I do believe that there is good and evil or light and dark in this world. I also believe that the dark or evil that psychopaths embody teach us how to get in touch with what we need to strengthen in ourselves – THE LIGHT.
Lastly, I would like to say something about selfishness and altruism. I don’t think it’s an either/or thing. I do believe that’s where a lot of the answers lie in the battle that psychopaths put us in. I am moving toward an understanding of a an enlighened middle ground between total selfishness and unprotective altruism. There IS such a thing as enlightened altruism, that does not do harm to oneself. This type of altruism would be balanced with a HEALTHY SELF INTEREST or selfishness. At least, this is what I’ve learned.
Peace
I watched a documentary on similar topic.
It was about monkey research…actually orangatangs…
in the end….the bully, alphas died due to Turboculosis.
the whole tribe got into an abandoned camp and ravaged through tainted tossings…..
the alphas had spent their lives being mean ot all others and not ‘giving’ , grooming others, stealing food etc…Most of the tribe got sick, but the research showed only the alpha bullies died…..because no other Orangatanges helped them out in time of need…..
I thought this interesting and could easily apply to humans…..