Heterogeneity of Adaptive Features Among Psychopathy Variants

Psychopathic personality traits can be conceptualized as a complex network of adaptive and maladaptive traits. Although general positive adjustment has been related to primary psychopathy and increased emotional stability, no study focused on the distribution of specific adaptive traits through psychopathy variants. Participants were 2,291 French college students who completed self-report questionnaires. A cluster analysis, based on a 4-factor model of psychopathy (Antagonism, Narcissism, Disinhibition, and Emotional Stability), was performed on a subsample with increased psychopathic traits (n = 378) and yielded 3 distinct groups: a primary psychopathy cluster, a secondary psychopathy cluster, and an emotionally stable-low antagonism cluster. The primary psychopathy cluster displayed the highest scores of Leadership, Logical Thinking, Focus, Management, and Money Smart, whereas the emotionally stable-low antagonism cluster had the highest scores of Composure and Extraversion. Conversely, the secondary psychopathy cluster exhibited reduced adaptive psychopathic traits. These results suggest that adaptive psychopathic traits are inconsistently distributed between psychopathy subtypes. Interaction effects between main factors of psychopathy are discussed.