Investigating the prosocial psychopath model of the creative personality: Evidence from traits and psychophysiology

•Study 1: Narcissism and Psychopathy were positively correlated with CAQ scores.•Study 2: Psychopathic Boldness was positively correlated with CAQ scores.•Study 3: SCR during the IGT was negatively correlated with divergent thinking.•Results support the claim that emotional disinhibition is related to creativity.

The prosocial psychopath model of creativity (Galang, 2010) proposes that some highly creative personalities share certain neuropsychological features in common with people who are described as having psychopathic traits. A key part of the model predicts that psychopathy-related traits such as risk-taking behavior and lowered autonomic response as measured by electrodermal activity (EDA) in the context of risk will be related to creativity. Three studies are reported here that show evidence for the model. The results of Studies 1 and 2 indicate that traits related to psychopathy, specifically Boldness, correlate with creative achievement. Study 3 demonstrated that reduced EDA lability during the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT; Bechara et al., 1994) predicted better divergent thinking scores. Together, studies support the basic claims of the model regarding the link between emotional disinhibition and creativity.