Psychology Melissburkley Ph D Is Dexter Successful Psychopath

I just finished watching season 1 of Dexter - and I enjoy the show quite a bit. I have always been fascinated by serial killers, and while I reject capital punishment, I am also fascinated by the moral decision on who should die for their crimes. Is Dexter performing a necessary civic service? Are his killings of killers justified?

Several Psychology Today authors have contributed to a new book - The Psychology of Dexter - about this surprisingly popular series. Here is Melissa Burkley's take on it.

IS DEXTER A SUCCESSFUL PSYCHOPATH?

What does it mean to be a "successful" psychopath?

By MELISSA BURKLEY, PH.D.

Published on September 13, 2010

I was recently honored with the opportunity to write a chapter for the edited book "The Psychology of Dexter", along with several other esteemed Psychology Today bloggers (also see DePaulo's blog on this book). I highly recommend the book for anyone with an interest in the Dexter series.

Many fascinating topics are explored in the book, but one common theme several of the authors discussed is the reason why "normal" people enjoy watching a television show about a serial killer. There are lots of possibilities, but I think the reason why the Dexter series is such a successful show is that his character gives us a peek into the rarely explored and misunderstood mind of a psychopath.

When we think of the word psychopath, images from "The Shining, Silence of the Lambs" or T"exas Chainsaw Massacre" may come to mind. But in reality, psychopaths are harder to spot in a crowd than one might think (hint: he's usually not the crazy-eyed guy in the black trench coat). Here is a definition of a psychopath and as you are reading, ask yourself if this describes anyone that you know personally: "A social predator who charms, manipulates and ruthlessly plows their way through life...completely lacking in feelings for others, they selfishly take what they want and do as they please, violating social norms and expectations without the slightest sense of guilt or regret (Hare, 2003, xi)."

Odds are you know someone or have been acquainted with someone that comes close to this description (someone who perhaps resembles the character Gordon Gekko from the 1987 movie "Wall Street) "and, yet that person is not running amuck on a killing spree or serving time in a jail cell. If this is the case, this person would probably qualify as a "successful psychopath." A successful psychopath is someone who fits the criteria of a psychopath, but is largely successful in their exploitations and so is able to avoid getting caught. Such people may be lawyers, professors, or politicians, and given the recent headlines, likely have a permanent address on Wall Street.

Unfortunately, very little is known about successful psychopaths. This is because most of the psychological research conducted on psychopathic tendencies has been done on psychopaths who are incarcerated. For instance, Kent Kiehl has done some interesting research using fMRIs to examine the brains of incarcerated psychopaths. His research shows that such individuals suffer from significant impairments that affect their ability to detect emotions in others and to feel emotions themselves.

But what makes a successful psychopath different than an unsuccessful or "prototypic" psychopath? My colleague, Dr. Stephanie Mullins-Sweatt, recently examined this idea in an article just published in the "Journal of Research in Personality". Dr. Mullins-Sweatt, along with her coauthors, asked experts in the areas of psychology and law to describe an individual they knew personally who matched the description I gave above regarding a successful psychopath. These experts were then asked to rate this individual on a variety of personality characteristics. From these responses, a clear, consistent description emerged that matched the typical characteristics of a prototypic psychopath in all ways but one: Conscientiousness.

In the personality literature, conscientiousness refers to the tendency to show self-discipline, the act dutifully, and to aim for achievement. People high in conscientiousness prefer planned, rather than spontaneous, behavior and are able to effectively control and regulate their impulses. Prototypic psychopaths are quite low in this trait, unable to put the brakes on their dangerous impulses and incapable of learning from their mistakes. Given this, it is no surprise that such individuals are often arrested and convicted for their heinous crimes. However, the personality ratings of the successful psychopaths depicted a dishonest, arrogant, exploitative person who nevertheless was able to keep their behavior in check by controlling their destructive impulses and preventing detection.

Based on this insight, Dexter seems to fit the profile of a successful psychopath, and that is something that makes his character different from other psychopaths we have seen in pop culture. Despite Dexter's dark thoughts and even darker behaviors, his "work" is consistently clean, well-planned, and meticulous. He rarely acts out of impulse, and instead filters his destructive urges through a carefully organized code of conduct (i.e., "Harry's code"). In this way, Dexter is a fascinating contradiction: He is a cold-blooded killer and a warm-hearted father; an emotionally cold vigilante and a caring friend and brother; a violent assassin and a defender of innocence and justice.

Ultimately, Dexter is just a make believe character, there purely for our own entertainment, but his existence does give one pause. Given how successful Dexter is in controlling his urges and keeping his crimes a secret, it makes you wonder how many people are like him, running around in our world undetected. They could be your neighbor, your coworker, your friend, or maybe even your favorite Psychology Today blogger.

SUGGESTED READINGS:

Babiak, P., Neumann, C. S., & Hare, R. (2010). Corporate psychopathy: Talking the walk. "Behavioral Sciences and the Law."

DePaullo, B. (2010). "The Psychology of Dexter". Smart Pop.

Mullins-Sweatt, S. N., Glover, N. G., Derefinko, K. J., Miller, J. D., & Widiger, T. A. (2010). The search for the successful psychopath. "Journal of Research in Personality, 44," 554-558.

Tags: Psychology, psychopathy, television, culture, murder, Dexter, Bella DePaullo, The Psychology of Dexter, contradictions, cold-blooded killer, warm-hearted father, emotionally cold vigilante, caring friend, brother, violent assassin, defender of innocence, strange justice, serial killer, Melissa Burkley, Is Dexter a Successful Psychopath?, Psychology Today

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The Startling Accuracy Of Referring To Politicians As Psychopaths

"THE STARTLING ACCURACY OF REFERRING TO POLITICIANS AS 'PSYCHOPATHS'"

by The Atlantic

"In this presidential election season where, as usual, the fur is flying and name-calling is in full swing, one invective seems to be gaining currency- psychopath. A web search for "Romney" or "Obama" and "psychopath" (or, more generally, "politician" and "psychopath") yields millions of hits. While it's tempting to dismiss this phenomenon as mere venting by angry voters, the rantings of conspiracy theorists, or even bloggers trying to drive traffic, it is worth at least asking the question: could they be right? If these pundits mean that the targeted office-seekers are evil or "crazy," probably not. But if they are pointing out that politicians and psychopaths share certain characteristics, they could be on to something.

Psychopathy is a psychological condition based on well-established diagnostic criteria, which include lack of remorse and empathy, a sense of grandiosity, superficial charm, conning and manipulative behavior, and refusal to take responsibility for one's actions, among others. Psychopaths are not all the same; particular aspects may predominate in different people. And, although some psychopaths are violent men (and women) with long criminal histories, not all are. It's important to understand that psychopathic behavior and affect exist on a continuum; there are those who fall into the grey area between "normal" people and true psychopaths.

The question, then, is whether it is reasonable to believe that people with serious abnormalities in the way they interact with the world can be found running for (and winning) office. However unsettling as this may be, the answer seems to be yes. It's possible for psychopaths to be found anywhere- including city hall or Washington, D.C. Remember, psychopaths are not delusional or psychotic; in fact, two of the hallmarks of psychopathy are a calculating mind and a seemingly easy charm.

In his landmark book on psychopathy, "The Mask of Sanity," researcher Hervey Cleckley theorized that some people with the core attributes of psychopathy- egocentricity, lack of remorse, superficial charm- could be found in nearly every walk of life and at every level, including politics. Robert Hare, perhaps the leading expert on the disorder and the person who developed the most commonly used test for diagnosing psychopathy, has noted that psychopaths generally have a heightened need for power and prestige- exactly the type of urges that make politics an attractive calling.

There is more at work than just the drive to seek office, though; psychopaths may have some peculiar talents for it, as well. Research has shown that disorder may confer certain advantages that make psychopaths particularly suited to a life on the public stage and able to handle high-pressure situations: psychopaths score low on measures of stress reactivity, anxiety and depression, and high on measures of competitive achievement, positive impressions on first encounters, and fearlessness. Sound like the description of a successful politician and leader?

Doubtless, it's easier to see some leaders as psychopaths than it is others. Presumably, no one would dispute the notion that Hitler and Stalin were psychopaths at the extreme end of the spectrum: completely unconstrained by empathy or guilt and willing to say or do anything to accomplish their goals. This, though, reinforces the perception of psychopaths as out-of-control madmen who are evil to the core. Might there be other, more mainstream political leaders who have psychopathic traits but fall closer to the "normal" range? Some have certainly thought so.

In 2003, neuropsychologist Paul Brok argued that Prime Minister Tony Blair was a "plausible psychopath" who was ruthlessly ambitious, egocentric, and manipulative. Respected psychologist and researcher David Lykken has written: "If we can believe his biographer, Robert Caro [...] Lyndon Johnson exemplified this syndrome. He was relatively fearless, shameless, abusive of his wife and underlings, and willing to do or say almost anything required to attain his ends."

In any event, the idea that a psychopath could reach the heights of power is nothing new. Over a century ago, famed American philosopher and psychologist William James said, "When superior intellect and a psychopathic temperament coalesce [...] in the same individual, we have the best possible conditions for the kind of effective genius that gets into the biographical dictionaries." Perhaps, then, that's the key; it's the combination of other talents with certain elements of psychopathy that can make an effective leader. Which brings us back to those currently tossing about the label of psychopath- ironically, some of them may not be denigrating the candidates as much as they suppose."- http://www.sott.net/oEDITORS COMMENT: And don't forget Dubya, a psychopath if ever there was one: "Textbook descriptions of George Bush reveal psychopathy, and much worse. Bush is a Psychopath." While some psychopaths do become politicians, for the most part politicians are mere figureheads playing second fiddle to the 'big kahuna psychopaths', 'eminences grises pulling the strings from the shadows (usually on Wall Street and throughout the international banking system).

Read "Political Ponerology" to understand the scale and depth of the root problem of everything that is wrong with our world.

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