ChristianKl comments on Notes on Psychopathy - Less Wrong

18 Post author: gwern 19 December 2012 04:02AM

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Comment author: ChristianKl 20 December 2012 08:56:39PM 1 point [-]

The thing is, there's already selection pressure against psychopaths who can't conceal their true nature.

Unfortunately many psychopaths can conceal their true nature. There recent research that they might even be more attractive to the other sex: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=psychology-uncovers-sex-appeal-dark-personalities

Additionally a psychopaths might be more likely to leave a woman with a child alone to seek a new woman.

Comment author: gwern 20 December 2012 10:53:32PM *  5 points [-]

Additionally a psychopaths might be more likely to leave a woman with a child alone to seek a new woman.

I forget whether any of the studies in the Handbook dealt with it, but at least in The Mask of Sanity, it's really striking how many of the case-studies involve multiple marriages (between divorces, bigamy, and... trigamy & quadgamy, I guess the words would be), children, and desertion. One doubts there is much selection pressure on the subjects, even though they are the ones sufficiently uncontrolled as to land in psychiatric treatment.