Should we eliminate psychopaths from the gene pool?
Psychopaths make up an astounding 1 to 2 percent of the general population and occupy virtually every niche in society. Often ruthless, callous and completely devoid of empathy, they impose an incalculable toll on individuals and society. And science is increasingly learning that psychopathy may actually be a genetic disorder — one that could eventually be eliminated.
But what if it turns out that we actually need psychopaths?
As a term, psychopathy often means different things to different people. Part of the problem is that psychopathy is not a recognized clinical term, one that's defined within the DSM-IV. But this is starting to change. There's growing consensus among clinicians and neuroscientists that psychopathy does in fact exist as a meaningful and identifiable personality disorder. A growing community of experts are starting to use psychopathy as a clinical diagnosis.
Another part of the problem is that it's often used interchangeably with such terms as sociopathy and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). While sociopathy is a rather vague term, ASPD does have a strict definition within the DSM-IV — but it's not the same same condition as psychopathy. ASPD is diagnosed based on behavioral patterns, while psychopathy includes behavior but also measurable cognitive, emotional, and neuropsychological differences from neurotypical people. And thanks to fMRI brain scans, neuroscientists are increasingly showing that there is a consistent and identifiable neurological basis for psychopathy.
In terms of definition, psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by severe emotional dysfunction, especially a lack of empathy and remorse. Psychopaths exhibit consistent disregard for the feelings of others and the rules of society. They are completely unable to recognize such things as anger and fear in individuals, either based on facial expressions or verbal exclamations. In terms of behavioral traits, psychopaths are generally regarded as being callous, selfish, dishonest, arrogant, aggressive, impulsive, irresponsible, and hedonistic. At the same time, psychopaths often exhibit higher than average intelligence and a superficial kind of charm.
But clearly, given that nearly 2 in every 100 persons is a psychopath, they can't all be bad — otherwise society would have completely imploded by now. There's evidently more to this issue than meets the eye.
An underlying genetic basis
Scientists are increasingly finding a genetic basis to psychopathy. Work in genetics has revealed that the heritability coefficient for psychopathy is a shocking 50%. Psychopathy, it would appear, runs deeply in the family.
Moreover, neurologists are learning that psychopathy can manifest early in a person's life. There's an understandable reluctance to brand children as psychopaths, which is fair given the amount of stigma involved, and the fact that many children "act out" in age-appropriate ways. Consequently, therapists and researchers instead use the term "unemotional-callous" to describe what might actually be protopsychopathology.
Back in 2005, a twin study found that antisocial children could be classified into two groups: those who were influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, and those influenced by environmental factors alone. Of the two, the former group experienced the highest rankings of callous-unemotional traits.
But while genes may be a key factor, there's still plenty of room for environmental factors. It's thought that, while genetic factors may generally influence the development of psychopathy, the environment still affects the specific traits that predominate.
