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So, in a step away from all things virus, I decided to tell you a bit more about my study into psychopathic traits in society. Wanna know more? Of course you do!
Traditionally we think of psychopathy as meaning the baddest of the bad. But psychological research over the years has show that it is more complex than that. We now know that there are a number of people w/ psychopathic traits who never end up in prison, who never break the law.
In essence, they are entirely functional, succeeding within society. And what is fascinating, is that often their success seems to come, not in spite of their psychopathic traits, but rather because of them. These traits may help them navigate in a range of careers, and succeed
in highly stressful situations. What I am looking to achieve in this study is a greater understanding of the way in which these functional psychopathic traits affect the people who display them and what that means for those in a relationship with them.
The Triarchic model of psychopathy looks specifically at this issue, and breaks psychopathic traits down into 3 main groups. Those are:-
Boldness: a tendency to remain calm in high pressure situations, to recover quickly from stress, be confident, fearless, adventure seeking and to dominate in social situations. This trait tends to be a really useful one, leading people to cope well with difficult situations.
Meanness: a tendency to be somewhat cold, to display limited empathy for others, a tendency to disdain close relationships with others. Someone displaying these traits may also exhibit tendencies towards exploitative behaviour and callousness.
Disinhibition: a tendency to have impulse control problems, limited ability to plan or display foresight, a tendency to want immediate gratification, difficulties with behavioural restraint, impulsiveness, irresponsibility, impatience, drug & alcohol problems.
Again, I need to clarify, we are NOT talking about American Psycho! Much as I love Christian Bale. We are talking about gaining a better understanding of people who contribute to society, who are productive, capable, but who also display some of the above features.
Again, often their success will be BECAUSE of these features. There are a number of traits in this list that are really adaptive, particularly in stressful, threatening situations.
So, if you think you are someone with some of the above characteristics, I would love to hear from you. All discussions will be kept strictly anonymous and your involvement in this process can be as little or as much as you wish.
But if you think you meet any of these criteria and feel like you would like to gain a better understanding of why you do what you do (and let& #39;s face it, we could all use that!), please get in touch on dremmakavanagh@gmail.com.
Similarly, if you recognise these features in someone you know and/or love, be they a partner, a parent, a colleague, a sibling, I would love to hear from you too, so please email the above address. Remember, we& #39;re not talking about ALL of these traits, rather a selection of them
And if anyone would like to share the above thread to their followers, I would be hugely grateful. Cheers all, and stay safe. XXX
