Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Fearless Dominance

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences

Synonyms

Boldness; Fearlessness; Parmia

Definition

Fearless dominance is a broad set of traits encompassing a lack of sensitivity to potential threat, physical and interpersonal boldness, social poise and persuasiveness, relative immunity to stressors, and emotional resilience. The relevance of fearless dominance to psychopathic personality has been a flash point of contention in the literature.

Introduction

Psychopathic personality (psychopathy) is a condition characterized by a distinctive constellation of interpersonal, affective, and behavioral features (Cleckley 1941/1988; Hare 1991/2003). Specifically, psychopathy is marked by superficial charm and poise conjoined with grandiose narcissism, callousness, guiltlessness, dishonesty, manipulativeness, emotional detachment, and poor impulse control, among other traits. This combustible combination of traits places psychopathic individuals at heightened risk for antisocial and criminal behaviors, although such actions are not...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Benning, S. D., Patrick, C. J., Hicks, B. M., Blonigen, D. M., & Krueger, R. F. (2003). Factor structure of the psychopathic personality inventory: Validity and implications for clinical assessment. Psychological Assessment, 15, 340–350.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Benning, S. D., Patrick, C. J., Blonigen, D. M., Hicks, B. M., & Iacono, W. G. (2005). Estimating facets of psychopathy from normal personality traits a step toward community epidemiological investigations. Assessment, 12, 3–18.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Blonigen, D. M. (2013). Is fearless dominance relevant to the construct of psychopathy? Reconciling the dual roles of theory and clinical utility. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 4, 87–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cattell, R. B., & Eber, H. W. (1966). The sixteen personality factor questionnaire manual. Champaign: Institute for Personality and Ability Testing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleckley, H. (1941/1988). The mask of sanity. St. Louis: Mosby.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crocq, M. A. (2013). Milestones in the history of personality disorders. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 15, 147–153.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Douglas, K. S., Lilienfeld, S. O., Skeem, J. L., Poythress, N. G., Edens, J. F., & Patrick, C. J. (2008). Relation of antisocial and psychopathic traits to suicide-related behavior among offenders. Law and Human Behavior, 32, 511–525.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, J. R., & Benning, S. D. (2006). The “successful” psychopath: Adaptive and subclinical manifestations of psychopathy in the general population. In C. J. Patrick (Ed.), Handbook of psychopathy (pp. 459–478). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hare, R. D. (1991/2003). Manual for the Revised Psychopathy Checklist (2nd ed.). Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lilienfeld, S. O. (1990). Development and preliminary validation of a self-report measure of psychopathic personality. Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lilienfeld, S. O. (1998). Methodological advances and developments in the assessment of psychopathy. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 36, 99–125.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lilienfeld, S. O., & Andrews, B. P. (1996). Development and preliminary validation of a self-report measure of psychopathic personality traits in noncriminal population. Journal of Personality Assessment, 66, 488–524.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lilienfeld, S. O., Waldman, I. D., Landfield, K., Watts, A. L., Rubenzer, S., & Faschingbauer, T. R. (2012). Fearless dominance and the US presidency: Implications of psychopathic personality traits for successful and unsuccessful political leadership. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 103, 489–505.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lilienfeld, S. O., Latzman, R. D., Watts, A. L., Smith, S. F., & Dutton, K. (2014). Correlates of psychopathic personality traits in everyday life: Results from a large community survey. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 740.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lilienfeld, S. O., Smith, S. F., Sauvigné, K. C., Patrick, C. J., Drislane, L. E., Latzman, R. D., & Krueger, R. F. (2015a). Is boldness relevant to psychopathic personality? Meta-analytic relations with non-psychopathy checklist-based measures of psychopathy. Psychological Assessment, 28(10), 1172–1185.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lilienfeld, S. O., Watts, A. L., & Smith, S. F. (2015b). Successful psychopathy: A scientific status report. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 24, 298–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lykken, D. T. (1995). The antisocial personalities. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lynam, D. R., & Miller, J. D. (2012). Fearless dominance and psychopathy: A response to Lilienfeld et al. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 3, 341–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcus, D. K., Fulton, J. J., & Edens, J. F. (2013). The two-factor model of psychopathic personality: Evidence from the Psychopathic Personality Inventory. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 4, 67–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. D., & Lynam, D. R. (2012). An examination of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory’s nomological network: A meta-analytic review. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 3, 305–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neumann, C. S., Malterer, M. B., & Newman, J. P. (2008). Factor structure of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI): Findings from a large incarcerated sample. Psychological Assessment, 20, 169–174.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Patrick, C. J., Fowles, D. C., & Krueger, R. F. (2009). Triarchic conceptualization of psychopathy: Developmental origins of disinhibition, boldness, and meanness. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 913–938.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sellbom, M., Lilienfeld, S. O., Fowler, K. A., & McCrary, K. L. (in press). The self-report assessment of psychopathy: Challenges, pitfalls, and promises. In C. J. Patrick (Ed.), Handbook of psychopathy (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, S. F., Lilienfeld, S. O., Coffey, K., & Dabbs, J. M. (2013a). Are psychopaths and heroes twigs off the same branch? Evidence from college, community, and presidential samples. Journal of Research in Personality, 47, 634–646.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, S. T., Edens, J. F., & McDermott, B. E. (2013b). Fearless dominance and self-centered impulsivity interact to predict predatory aggression among forensic psychiatric inpatients. International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 12, 33–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verona, E., Patrick, C. J., & Joiner, T. E. (2001). Psychopathy, antisocial personality, and suicide risk. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 110, 462–470.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Visser, B. A., Ashton, M. C., & Pozzebon, J. A. (2012). Is low anxiety part of the psychopathy construct? Journal of Personality, 80, 725–747.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vize, C. E., Lynam, D. R., Lamkin, J., Miller, J. D., & Pardini, D. (2016). Identifying essential features of juvenile psychopathy in the prediction of later antisocial behavior: Is there an additive, synergistic, or curvilinear role for fearless dominance? Clinical Psychological Science, 4(3), 572–590.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Scott O. Lilienfeld & Ashley L. Watts

Authors
  1. Scott O. Lilienfeld
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ashley L. Watts
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Scott O. Lilienfeld .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Virgil Zeigler-Hill

  2. Oakland University, Rochester, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Lakehead University, Orillia, Canada

    Beth A. Visser

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Cite this entry

Lilienfeld, S.O., Watts, A.L. (2016). Fearless Dominance. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1075-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1075-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation