Autonomic stress reactivity and executive functions in successful and unsuccessful criminal psychopaths from the community

A significant gap in the psychopathy literature is the lack of studies comp aring "successful," nonconvicted psychopaths with "unsuccessful," convicted psychopaths. This study tested the hypothesis that successful psychopaths show increased autonomic stress reactivity and better neuropsychological fu nction compared with unsuccessful psychopaths. A total of 26 controls, 16 u nsuccessful psychopaths, and 13 successful psychopaths were assessed on psy chophysiological measures recorded during an emotional manipulation, the Wi sconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised subtests, a nd childhood stressors. Compared with controls, unsuccessful psychopaths sh owed reduced cardiovascular stress reactivity. In contrast, successful psyc hopaths showed heightened reactivity, better WCST performance, and more par ental absence than unsuccessful psychopaths and controls. The implications of these findings and the generalizability of existing psychopathy research are discussed.