Abstract
Few efforts have been made to understand antisocial-prone individuals who maintain adaptive functioning. This study identified a sample of potentially deviant but adaptively functioning persons to determine whether they differed significantly from their more conforming peers. A small sample of men was selected by Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)-defined criteria for sociopathy and compared with MMPI-defined normals of similar ages, backgrounds, and intelligence. Response variables were those cited in the literature as characteristic of sociopathic psychopathology and included measures of abilities to plan ahead and inhibit impulsiveness, sensation seeking, interpersonal performance and style, and behavior conformity. Men labeled adaptive sociopaths showed greater impulsiveness and needs for experience seeking, earned lower scores on measures of socialization and self-control, and admitted greater adolescent behavior deviance. They were not shown to be less empathetic or less able to relate interpersonally in interview. The potential role of socially constructive self-determined goals and tangible vocational rewards as mediators of adaptive behavior are discussed in terms of overcoming antisocial tendencies and attenuation of behavior disinhibition.
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This research was supported by Institutional Research Award HR-1297, 22620-A200 from the Medical University of South Carolina. Special appreciation is expressed to Dr. Anne Patsiokas, Ms. Vicki Molony-Sinnott, Ms. Pamela Thompson, and Ms. Nancy Wait for their assistance in collecting data and preparing the manuscript for publication.
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Sutker, P.B., Allain, A.N. Behavior and personality assessment in men labeled adaptive sociopaths. Journal of Behavioral Assessment 5, 65–79 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01343639
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01343639