Psychopathic traits do not seem to be associated with survival or some sense of fitness (biological, psychological) in the large scale of things. For instance, a population-based study found that individuals with psychopathic personality die younger than do those without this personality pathology, and the causes of death are more violent compared to healthy and non-psychopathic-offender comparison groups (Vaurio et al., 2018). Similarly, a large global study found that psychopathic traits in the general population were linked with higher mortality and infant mortality, as well as exposure to pathogen levels (Neumann et al., 2012). Also, individuals with psychopathic personality traits commit more crimes, but they do not have an advantage when it comes to avoiding arrests (Boccio & Beaver, 2018).
Still, speculation continues on whether psychopathy is an adaptive evolutionary strategy (Glenn et al., 2011). Notably, as evolutionary scientists frame it, any heritable trait in the population at a low frequency (like psychopathy at about 1% of the general population, see Neumann & Hare, 2008) implies adaptive tradeoffs (+ / -), else everyone would have it or no one would. For example, psychopathic traits correlate positively with both number of offspring and infant mortality, and thus the gain in fitness (more offspring) is offset by higher offspring mortality (Neumann et al., 2012). Simply put, there’s good evidence to show that personality pathology leads to poorer outcomes, not evolutionary superiority (see Glenn et al., 2011, for more examples of +/- tradeoffs).
At the same time, there are studies that may suggest psychopathy is positively associated with some aspect of evolutionary fitness, though in these studies the structural integrity of the psychopathy measure used can often be seriously questioned (e.g., Neumann et al., 2013).
Boccio, C. M., & Beaver, K. M. (2018). Psychopathic personality traits and the successful criminal. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 0306624X18787304.
Glenn, A. L., Kurzban, R., & Raine, A. (2011). Evolutionary theory and psychopathy. Aggression and violent behavior, 16(5), 371-380.
Neumann, C. S., & Hare, R. D. (2008). Psychopathic traits in a large community sample: Links to violence, alcohol use, and intelligence. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 76(5), 893.
Neumann, C. S., Schmitt, D. S., Carter, R., Embley, I., & Hare, R. D. (2012). Psychopathic traits in females and males across the globe. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 30(5), 557-574.
Neumann, C. S., Uzieblo, K., Crombez, G., & Hare, R. D. (2013). Understanding the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI) in terms of the unidimensionality, orthogonality, and construct validity of PPI-I and-II.
Vaurio, O., Repo‐Tiihonen, E., Kautiainen, H., & Tiihonen, J. (2018). Psychopathy and mortality. Journal of forensic sciences, 63(2), 474-477.
Still, speculation continues on whether psychopathy is an adaptive evolutionary strategy (Glenn et al., 2011). Notably, as evolutionary scientists frame it, any heritable trait in the population at a low frequency (like psychopathy at about 1% of the general population, see Neumann & Hare, 2008) implies adaptive tradeoffs (+ / -), else everyone would have it or no one would. For example, psychopathic traits correlate positively with both number of offspring and infant mortality, and thus the gain in fitness (more offspring) is offset by higher offspring mortality (Neumann et al., 2012). Simply put, there’s good evidence to show that personality pathology leads to poorer outcomes, not evolutionary superiority (see Glenn et al., 2011, for more examples of +/- tradeoffs).
At the same time, there are studies that may suggest psychopathy is positively associated with some aspect of evolutionary fitness, though in these studies the structural integrity of the psychopathy measure used can often be seriously questioned (e.g., Neumann et al., 2013).
Boccio, C. M., & Beaver, K. M. (2018). Psychopathic personality traits and the successful criminal. International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology, 0306624X18787304.
Glenn, A. L., Kurzban, R., & Raine, A. (2011). Evolutionary theory and psychopathy. Aggression and violent behavior, 16(5), 371-380.
Neumann, C. S., & Hare, R. D. (2008). Psychopathic traits in a large community sample: Links to violence, alcohol use, and intelligence. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 76(5), 893.
Neumann, C. S., Schmitt, D. S., Carter, R., Embley, I., & Hare, R. D. (2012). Psychopathic traits in females and males across the globe. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 30(5), 557-574.
Neumann, C. S., Uzieblo, K., Crombez, G., & Hare, R. D. (2013). Understanding the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI) in terms of the unidimensionality, orthogonality, and construct validity of PPI-I and-II.
Vaurio, O., Repo‐Tiihonen, E., Kautiainen, H., & Tiihonen, J. (2018). Psychopathy and mortality. Journal of forensic sciences, 63(2), 474-477.