The classic checklist for psychopathy(精神病态，一种人格障碍) was developed in 1980 by Prof Robert Hare, who is still the recognised giant of the territory(该领域公认的权威人物). The 20 traits, which ranged from pathological(病态的，由疾病引起的) lying to a lack of empathy, were based entirely on prison populations. This worked because not only did Hare have the benefit of a large sample, with pronounced psychopathic behaviours, but he was able to compare interviews and self-reporting with data collected about the individuals – so inconsistencies could be identified.(这种方法之所以有效，是因为黑尔不仅拥有大量样本，还能将访谈与自我报告同个人数据对比，从而发现不一致之处。)
经典的精神病态检查表由罗伯特·黑尔教授于1980年制定，他至今仍是该领域公认的权威。这20项特质，从病态说谎到缺乏同理心，完全基于监狱人群。这种方法之所以有效，不仅因为黑尔拥有大量样本，且这些样本表现出明显的精神病态行为，还因为他能将访谈和自我报告与收集到的个人数据进行比较——从而识别出不一致之处。
However, Hare knew this approach was limited. In 1976, he said that he simply didn’t know to what extent his results could be generalised(推广，概括) to non-incarcerated(未被监禁的) psychopaths, including female ones. “Research into the socially successful psychopath is badly needed(急需的),” he concluded. Even decades later in the early 2000s, when Hare wanted to look into psychopaths in politics, he still needed to go to prison to find them (Pinochet(皮诺切特，智利军事独裁者)’s henchmen in Chilean jails). Research into the higher-functioning psychopath – who doesn’t get caught, or maybe doesn’t even resort to(诉诸，求助于) crime – has proved elusive(难以捉摸的， elusive), not least because(尤其是因为) self-reporting questionnaires don’t work. Psychopaths lie; arguably, that’s their main thing.
然而，黑尔知道这种方法有其局限。1976年，他说自己完全不知道他的结果能在多大程度上推广到未被监禁的精神病态者，包括女性。“对在社会上取得成功的精神病态者的研究亟需开展，”他总结道。即使在几十年后的21世纪初，当黑尔想研究政界的精神病态者时，他仍需要去监狱寻找他们（皮诺切特在智利监狱中的爪牙）。对高功能精神病态者——那些未被抓获、甚至可能根本不诉诸犯罪的人——的研究一直难以进行，尤其是因为自我报告问卷不起作用。精神病态者会说谎；可以说，这是他们的主要特点。
It wasn’t from a forensic(法医的，法庭的) psychology but a business studies background that Dr Karen Mitchell arrived in the territory of high-functioning psychopathy. By the late 2010s, she’d spent 30 years working as a consultant on large-scale change(大规模变革) in corporate culture. Her work tended to be with organisations in crisis: “So it might be market alignment, or deaths or suicides in companies,” she tells me from her home in Australia. Observing the sheer number of problems at work that stemmed from specific individuals with predatory(掠夺性的，捕食性的) traits, she started to research those same “dark personality” behaviours in other precincts(区域，领域). “Child sex abuse in religion, coercive(强制的，胁迫的) control in human trafficking(人口贩卖) and domestic violence and terrorism,” she says. “When you look at all our global knowledge on human predators, there are so many fields and none of them interact.”
卡伦·米切尔博士并非来自法医心理学背景，而是商学研究背景，她进入了高功能精神病态的研究领域。到2010年代末，她已花了30年时间担任企业文化大规模变革的顾问。她的工作往往面向处于危机中的组织：“可能是市场调整，也可能是公司内的死亡或自杀事件，”她在澳大利亚的家中告诉我。观察到工作中大量问题源于具有掠夺性特质的特定个人后，她开始研究其他领域中同样的“黑暗人格”行为。“宗教中的儿童性虐待、人口贩卖和家庭暴力及恐怖主义中的强制控制，”她说。“当你审视我们关于人类掠夺者的所有全球知识时，会发现有如此多的领域，但它们互不交流。”