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Brain Morphology of Cannabis Users With or Without Psychosis: A Pilot MRI Study
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Published on: August 18, 2020

Psychopathy, adaptation, and disorder.

Daniel Brian Krupp1, Lindsay A Sewall, Martin L Lalumière

  • 1Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Queen's University Kingston, ON, Canada ; Department of Psychology, Queen's University Kingston, ON, Canada.

Frontiers in Psychology
|April 2, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Psychopathy is linked to less violence against relatives, suggesting it’s an evolved strategy, not a mental disorder. This study clarifies misunderstandings about psychopathy and mental disorder definitions.

Keywords:
adaptationinclusive fitness theorymental disorderpsychopathysocial evolution

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Psychopathology
  • Behavioral Genetics

Background:

  • A previous study found psychopathy negatively correlates with violence toward genetic relatives.
  • This finding was interpreted as supporting an evolved life history strategy, challenging the mental disorder hypothesis.
  • Subsequent critiques raised questions about this interpretation and the definition of mental disorder.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To address misunderstandings regarding the harmful dysfunction definition of mental disorder in psychopathy.
  • To clarify the concept of nepotism in the context of psychopathy research.
  • To re-evaluate the evidence for and against psychopathy as an evolved strategy versus a mental disorder.

Main Methods:

  • Re-examination of the harmful dysfunction definition of mental disorder.
  • Analysis of the concept and application of nepotism in evolutionary contexts.
  • Critique of evidence linking psychopathy to other disorders and alternative models.

Main Results:

  • Misunderstandings regarding the definition of mental disorder and nepotism were identified.
  • Evidence presented by critics suggesting psychopathy is associated with other disorders was examined.
  • The alternative model proposed by critics was evaluated.

Conclusions:

  • Little evidence supports the view that psychopathy arises from dysfunctional mechanisms.
  • The interpretation of psychopathy as an evolved life history strategy remains a viable hypothesis.
  • Further clarification is needed on the conceptualization of psychopathy within both evolutionary and clinical frameworks.