From theoretical to empirical: Considering reflections of psychopathy across the thin blue line

Abstract

The majority of psychopathy research has focused on negative outcomes in criminal populations. However, psychopathy encompasses a variety of traits, and recent research suggests that certain features of psychopathy, such as a fearless temperament, may be related to psychological resiliency, "successful" functioning, and even heroic behavior (Hall & Benning, 2006; Lykken, 1995). Despite anecdotal discussion, little is known about the possible "successful" or adaptive reflections of psychopathic personality traits in ostensible heroes. This study expands on the knowledge of "successful" psychopathy by considering police recruits; we examined the degree to which these aspiring first responders share traits with psychopathic individuals. When compared with a student sample and the community and offender samples in the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised manual (Lilienfeld & Widows, 2005), the police recruits reported higher Fearless Dominance and Coldheartedness scores and lower Self-Centered Impulsivity scores. Fearless dominance traits were positively correlated with narcissism, and self-centered impulsivity traits were positively associated with covert narcissism. These findings suggest that although our police recruit sample is not classically psychopathic, the dominance and coldheartedness associated with psychopathy may be common among those beginning a police career. Further, our results imply that certain features of psychopathy may be reflected across the thin blue line in those on the verge of entering their police careers. (PsycINFO Database Record