Fearless dominance and the U.S. presidency. Implications of psychopathic personality traits for successful and unsuccessful political leadership. (2012)

“‘Fearless Dominance’, which reflects the boldness associated with psychopathy, was associated with better rated presidential performance, leadership, persuasiveness, crisis management, Congressional relations, and allied variables;

By Lilienfeld, Scott O.; Waldman, Irwin D.; Landfield, Kristin; Watts, Ashley L.; Rubenzer, Steven; Faschingbauer, Thomas R.; Emory University

 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol 103(3), Sep 2012, 489-505.

Some authors conjecture that certain features of the psychopathic personality (eg. fearlessness, interpersonal dominance) are adaptive in certain occupations, including leadership positions. The authors tested this hypothesis in the 42 U.S. presidents up to and including George W. Bush.

‘Fearless Dominance’, which reflects the boldness associated with psychopathy, was associated with better rated presidential performance, leadership, persuasiveness, crisis management, Congressional relations, and allied variables; it was also associated with several largely or entirely objective indicators of presidential performance, such as initiating new projects and being viewed as a world figure.

These findings indicate that the boldness associated with psychopathy is an important but heretofore neglected predictor of presidential performance, and suggest that certain features of psychopathy are tied to successful interpersonal behavior.

Access the original paper here: Fearless dominance and the U.S. presidency

For an overview (one of many news media articles that the paper has attracted) see: TimePresidents