Summary by Theresia Bedard and the North American Research Committee
Highlights
- Victims/survivors of individuals with Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) and psychopathic traits report that psychopathic/ASPD individuals continue to engage in antisocial behaviors after the age of fifty.
- Victims/survivors reported various harms experienced from senior psychopathic/ASPD individuals, such as anxiety/depression/PTSD, illness from stress, financial losses, and being cheated on if the perpetrator was a romantic partner.
- The majority of victims/survivors said the harms they experienced from perpetrators after the age of fifty were just as bad as or worse than the harms from before they turned fifty: perpetrators increased their lies/manipulation, displayed greater cruelty, and “the mask came off” (individuals with psychopathy appeared to exhibit a complete personality change through which they stopped hiding who they really were).
- These findings contradict the view that people with psychopathy/ASPD “burn-out” in older age.
Background:
Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and psychopathy are related conditions in that people with both kinds of conditions are more likely to violate social norms (e.g., do things that society deems unacceptable) and harm others (Andersen et al., 2022; Polaschek, 2015). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013), which is a manual used by mental health professionals to help them diagnose clinical disorders, states individuals with ASPD have a disregard for the rights of others, which is shown by being deceitful, impulsive, reckless, irresponsible, and lacking remorse.
Mental health professionals and researchers agree that both ASPD and psychopathy are conditions that last for much of a person’s life. However, some mental health professionals and researchers have proposed that antisocial behavior (defiant or aggressive behaviours that violate the rights of others, such as criminal behaviour, bullying, anger towards others) decreases in individuals with ASPD and psychopathy as they age (Black, 2015; Sadock et al., 2016). They have called this decrease in antisocial behavior “burn-out.” Research on psychopathy has found that although emotional and interpersonal traits (e.g., meanness, lacking remorse, manipulativeness) are still present as people with psychopathy get older, the behavioral traits associated with ASPD and psychopathy (e.g., impulsivity, risk-taking, antisocial behaviors) tend to decrease as psychopaths age (Harpur & Hare, 1994).
Why was the study done?
Much of the research on “burn-out” (i.e., psychopathic/ASPD individuals displaying less antisocial behavior with age) has come from studies that examined ASPD/psychopathy in institutional settings (e.g., psychiatric wards, prisons), and most of these studies only measured criminal activity. These studies have not considered the possibility of antisocial behavior of older psychopathic/ASPD individuals that has not resulted in them going to prison or becoming institutionalized. Further, researchers have not talked to victims/survivors of psychopaths about the potential that psychopathic/ASPD individuals may have antisocial behaviors that do not result in going to jail/prison or psychiatric care (Andersen et al., 2022).
How was the study done?
The researchers created a survey for victims/survivors or people who know an individual with psychopathic or ASPD features, and that asked questions about the individual with psychopathic/ASPD features who was fifty years of age or older. The researchers posted their survey on the website Lovefraud.com, since this website is for people who suspect someone they know is psychopathic or has ASPD.
There were 1,094 women (90%), 112 men (9%), and 11 people (1%) that did not reveal their gender who filled out the survey. When describing who the psychopathic/ASPD individual was, 843 said they were a current or former partner/spouse, 192 said they were a parent/step-parent, 82 said they were a family member, 27 said they were a work associate, and 50 said they were a friend/acquaintance.
These people filled out the following questionnaires for the study:
- Features of ASPD and psychopathy: There were questions asked about the individual’s tendency towards being mean, aggressive, manipulative, hostile, deceitful, narcissistic, irresponsible, reckless and impulsive.
- Negative characteristics of the relationship: These questions asked about negative experiences in the relationship with the psychopathic/ASPD person. As an example, some questions asked if the psychopathic/ASPD person lied about who they were, disappeared without explanation, or made promises they did not keep.
- Child abuse: Some questions were only for those who reported they knew a psychopathic/ASPD parent or step-parent. These questions asked if the psychopathic/ASPD individual was ever indifferent or neglectful, manipulative towards their children, abandoned their children, or did something that required child protective services to investigate.
- Rule-breaking harmful behaviors in the workplace: These questions were for those who knew a psychopathic/ASPD individual at work and asked about rule breaking at work.
- Person-oriented harmful behaviors in the workplace: These questions were for those who knew a psychopathic/ASPD individual at work and asked if the perpetrator harmed other people at work.
- Emotional and physical harm: These questions asked participants about the emotional and physical harm the psychopathic/ASPD person had done to them.
- Material and financial harm: These questions asked participants about the financial harm the psychopathic/ASPD person had done to them.
What did the researchers find?
Victims/survivors reported they experienced several kinds of harms from the psychopathic or ASPD individual they knew. Regarding direct harms that they had experienced, 88% said they became anxious/depressed, 76% became ill from stress, 70% had PTSD, 68% had financial losses, and 51% reported being “cheated on” if the psychopathic/ASPD individual was a romantic partner.
Of those who took the survey, 66% indicated they knew the psychopathic/ASPD individual both before and after the age of 50. Among these participants, fewer than 1% said the psychopathic/ASPD individual became much less deceptive, manipulative or antisocial, and only 5% said the psychopathic/ASPD individual changed to display somewhat less of these behaviors. But 36% said the psychopathic/ASPD individual displayed these behaviors to the same extent, and 57% said the psychopathic/ASPD individual was worse after the age of fifty. Thus, 93% of survey respondents reported that the psychopathic/ASPD person was just as bad or worse after the age of fifty.
They also found that men with psychopathic/ASPD traits were reported to show more harmful negative relationship characteristics than women with psychopathy/ASPD such as dishonesty, insincerity, manipulativeness, and a lack of empathy. In addition, they reported that men with psychopathic/ASPD traits were reported to caused more physical and emotional harm to participants (for example, physical injury, illness from stress, depression, thoughts of suicide) and more material or financial harm (e.g., killing/injuring pets, causing bankruptcy, having lawsuits or criminal charges brought against them).
Participants elaborated that the psychopathic/ASPD individual became more cruel in older age, increased their telling of lies/ manipulation, and also that a personality change occurred – specifically, after age fifty “the mask came off” (psychopathic and ASPD individuals stopped hiding who they really are). Very few (1%) reported the relationship became less volatile.
What are the implications?
Evidence from this study and perspectives from victims/survivors suggest that most people with psychopathic/ASPD traits do not stop their antisocial behaviors and that they can become worse after the age of fifty. Individuals with psychopathic/ASPD traits continue to cause substantial harm against others and society in older age. Thus, the study highlights the importance of gaining perspectives from victims/survivors to better understand how people with psychopathy and ASPD behave and the life-long impact these conditions can have.
The Study:
Andersen, D. M., Veltman, E., & Sellbom, M. (2022). Surviving Senior Psychopathy: Informant Reports of Deceit and Antisocial Behavior in Multiple Types of Relationships. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. 66(15), 1703-1735. https://doi.org/10.1177/
Other References Cited:
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Association.
Black, D. W. (2015). The natural history of antisocial personality disorder. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry / La Revue Canadienne De Psychiatrie, 60(7), 309-314. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lakeheadu.ca/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/natural-history-antisocial-personality-disorder/docview/1710263129/se-2
Harpur, T. J., & Hare, R. D. (1994). Assessment of psychopathy as a function of age. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 103(4), 604-609. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.103.4.604
Hirschi, T., & Gottfredson, M. (1983). Age and the explanation of crime. American Journal of Sociology, 89(3), 552-584. https://doi.org/10.1086/227905
Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100(4), 674-701. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lakeheadu.ca/10.1037/0033-295X.100.4.674
Polaschek, D. L. L. (2015). (Mis)understanding psychopathy: Consequences for policy and practice with offenders. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 22(4), 500-519. https://doi.org/10.1080/13218719.2014.960033
Sadock, B., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (Eds.). (2016). Kaplan & Sadock’s concise textbook of clinical psychiatry (4th ed., pp. 368–374). Antisocial Persona
