Impulsivity, irresponsibility, alcohol and substance use differ between “unsuccessful” and “successful” individuals with high levels of psychopathic personality traits

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate what distinguishes psychopaths who commit crimes ("unsuccessful"), and psychopaths who do not commit crimes ("successful"). Most previous research has focused on neurobiological risk factors, while social and psychosocial factors have been studied to a lesser extent. Participants were drawn from the Swedish population-based RESUMÉ-study (Retrospective Study of Young People's Experiences). In total, 2500 individuals between the ages 20-24 (mean age=22.15, SD=1.38, 52.6% female and 47.4% male) participated in the study. Results showed that the “unsuccessful” psychopathy group was consuming larger amounts of alcohol and substances as well as scoring higher on the psychopathy dimension behavior (irresponsible/impulsive) than the "successful" group. In conclusion, these differences might partly explain why “unsuccessful” psychopaths commit crimes while “successful” psychopaths do not.