The life history of psychopathy: A distinctive role of boldness

Previous research of psychopathic traits in the context of life history were limited by using single-score psychopathy measures and analyzing only some aspects of human life history. In the present study, we explored the associations between triarchic psychopathy traits (Meanness, Boldness, and Disinhibition) and a large number of life history indicators (childhood environment, age of menarche and first sexual intercourse, short and long-term mating, intra-sexual competition, and reproductive motivation) using a data from a community sample (N=486). We used network analysis to estimate the associations between the variables and their centrality indices in the network. The results were mostly in line with the hypothesis that psychopathy represents a set of behavioral traits that depicts a faster pace of life. However, some differences between psychopathic traits in the life history traits also emerged, showing different associations between psychopathy traits and life history indicators, especially regarding Boldness trait. Furthermore, Boldness showed a markedly higher centrality in the network compared to other psychopathy traits. Taken together, the results suggest that Boldness has the highest adaptive potential of all psychopathy traits. The findings are implicative for understanding psychopathy’s pace of life and adaptive potential of psychopathic characteristics.