Comparative Analysis of Psychopath Risk-Taking Tendency: Perspective from the Evolutionary Domain-Specific Risk Scale
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61173/4x1e7r37Keywords:
- psychopath, risk-taking, trait, sex differenceAbstract
This paper examines psychopathy as an adaptive trait, exploring the influence of the environment on the development of psychopathic traits. It considers the Adaptive Calibration Model (ACM) and the Life History Theory (LHT) to explain how harsh and threatening environments may lead to the adoption of psychopathic characteristics as a survival strategy. This paper analyzes the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCLR) and the Evolutionary Domain-Specific Risk Scale (ERS) to associate psychopathy with a decreased sensitivity to stress response systems and a focus on short-term benefits in “dangerous” environments. This research delves into potential sex differences in risk-taking tendencies among psychopathic subjects, highlighting a need for consistent self-reported measures using the Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART) for future assessments.
References
[1] Hare, R. D. (1980). A research scale for the assessment of psychopathy in criminal populations. Personality and Individual Differences, 1(2), 111–119. https://doi.org/10.1016/0191- 8869(80)90028-8
[2] Frankenhuis, W., & Amir, D. (2022). What is the expected human childhood? Insights from evolutionary anthropology. Development and Psychopathology, 34(2), 473–497. https:// doi:10.1017/S0954579421001401
[3] Alper, J., Andrada, A., Bremer, A., & Shelton-Davenport, M. (2021). The interplay between environmental exposures and Mental Health Outcomes: Proceedings of a workshop--in brief. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Washington D.C. https://doi.org/10.17226/26201
[4] Del Giudice, M., Ellis, B. J., & Shirtcliff, E. A. (2011). The adaptive calibration model of stress responsivity. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 35(7), 1562–1592. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2010.11.007
[5] Ene, I., Wong, K. K.-Y., & Salali, G. D. (2022). Is it good to be bad? An evolutionary analysis of the adaptive potential of psychopathic traits. Evolutionary Human Sciences, 4, e37. https://doi.org/10.1017/ehs.2022.36
[6] Glenn, A. L., Kurzban, R., & Raine, A. (2011). Evolutionary theory and psychopathy. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 16(5), 371–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2011.03.009
[7] Wilke, A., Sherman, A., Curdt, B., Mondal, S., Fitzgerald, C., & Kruger, D. J. (2014). An evolutionary domain-specific risk scale. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 8(3), 123–141. https:// doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000011
[8] Psychopathy checklist revised (PCLR). Addiction Research Center. (n.d.). https://arc.psych.wisc.edu/self-report/ psychopathy-checklist-revised-pclr/
[9] Hunt, M. K., Hopko, D. R., Bare, R., Lejuez, C. W., & Robinson, E. V. (2005). Construct Validity of the Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART): Associations With Psychopathy and Impulsivity. Assessment, 12(4), 416–428. https://doi. org/10.1177/1073191105278740
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 by the authors.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
